The Passage<\/p>\n
And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he (Jesus) entered the synagogue and was teaching.\u00a0 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.<\/p>\n
And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.\u00a0 And he cried out, \u201cWhat have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?\u00a0 Have you come to destroy us?\u00a0 I know who you are \u2013 the Holy One of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, \u201cBe silent, and come out of him!\u201d\u00a0 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.<\/p>\n
And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, \u201cWhat is this?\u00a0 A new teaching with authority!\u00a0 He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.\u201d\u00a0 And at once his fame spread everywhere all the surrounding region of Galilee.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0[English Standard Version]<\/p>\n
In the Name of Christ + Jesus Our Lord<\/p>\n
If a person falls into the healthy and rich habit of reading through the psalms on a monthly basis, such an individual is struck by the continuing references to the wickedness which surfaces in the world\u2019s life.\u00a0 Those references not only tie us in with the unclean spirit that Jesus confronts in a synagogue, they also remind us of the origins of this wickedness.\u00a0 In one of the psalms assigned to the morning of this day, Psalm 135, we see the Lord showing compassion to his people while also pointing out that the idols of this world are silver and gold, elements crafted by human beings.\u00a0 The Lord points out that these idols have mouths, but they cannot speak; that they have eyes, but cannot see; that they have ears, but cannot hear; that there is no breath coming out of their mouths.\u00a0 The Lord concludes that the people who craft these idols are just like them and so are all those who put their confidence in them!<\/p>\n
This outtake from Psalm 135 strangely mirrors the way this world treats wickedness.\u00a0 Its realities fill all the media, bubbling through its news and commentaries.\u00a0 The world\u2019s treatment stumbles badly and tragically, however, because it ignores the source of its wickedness and makes the mistake of thinking it can do something about it!<\/p>\n
Consequently, it is more than healthy that the Lord\u2019s people this weekend are running into this passage from Mark.\u00a0 It is Saturday (the Sabbath) and Jesus is teaching in a synagogue.\u00a0 The worshipers are astonished at what he is saying; it is unique to what they are accustomed to hearing.\u00a0 For thousands of years the Sabbath was the day set aside for faithful Jews to come into the Lord\u2019s presence, to have his Word tumble out of the Torah and to learn what the Lord\u2019s Life was teaching them.\u00a0 It is striking how much similarity exists between the Sabbath and the practices of the Lord\u2019s faithful people today.<\/p>\n
Mark states that there is a person with an unclean spirit in that gathering, much like our parishes today whose members stream in to worship while heavily immersed in the details of their own lives.\u00a0 Grabbing hold of our attention is that the unclean spirit knows who Jesus is!\u00a0 That is shocking!\u00a0 Such a spirit may know more than the worshipers in that synagogue!\u00a0 One could speculate how that may apply to the worshipers of today.\u00a0 Do the details of being wrapped up in one\u2019s self recognize what occurs when they are confronted by the Lord himself?<\/p>\n
After the significant words pouring out of the unclean spirit, Jesus rebukes that spirit and forces him to leave the man.\u00a0 And the spirit does!\u00a0 This is quite an event, one that has not occurred in prior Sabbath gatherings.\u00a0 The worshipers are amazed and the occurrence causes the worshipers to pass on to others what has just happened.<\/p>\n
There are key words in this passage which speak of our Lord\u2019s rescuing activity.\u00a0 They include the astonishment and amazement among the worshipers.\u00a0 It is striking that the words are passive, that is, the worshipers are reacting to Jesus\u2019 activity, they are not creating these realities!\u00a0 Also, the unclean spirit is described in the Greek as \u201cimpure\u201d and \u201cvicious,\u201d connecting clearly with the wickedness swirling through the world\u2019s life.\u00a0 This is why Jesus confronts that reality, rebukes it and, in a convulsive way, brings its exercise of that man\u2019s life to an end.\u00a0 His teaching and rescuing work help us understand why the worshipers responded so strongly and enthusiastically to Our Lord.<\/p>\n
On this particular Sunday we are two-thirds of the way through the Epiphany season.<\/p>\n
During Epiphany the Lord\u2019s faithful people note how the Son\u2019s Incarnation on 25 December steadily makes its way into the life of this world, rescuing and restoring its people!\u00a0 That Incarnation leads to the full emergence of his Life from the Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension, making its way into the wickedness of this world\u2019s life and rescuing the people trapped by it!<\/p>\n
This wickedness surfaces because, when we are born, the world imbeds us in the desire to always have life wrapped around ourselves.\u00a0 Yes, we discuss such wrapping all the time, but it should be taken seriously.\u00a0 It\u2019s what drives the world to be self-destructive and, ultimately, to die.\u00a0 In spite of that we push on, thinking we have to endure it or make it go away.\u00a0 With Jesus\u2019 rescuing action in a synagogue today, we can confront such wickedness!\u00a0 And it is done not just for our sakes, but for the sake of others!\u00a0 It pulls us away from being consumed by such wickedness and carrying it into the lives of those around us!<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why the Lord mercifully surrounds us with the holy realities of his Scriptures along with his Sacraments of Baptism, Forgiveness and Eucharist.\u00a0 This Life barges into the world from the parishes of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, immersing people in the Lord\u2019s rescuing, sustaining and creating ways.\u00a0 These ways confront the wickedness that swirls around our lives and free us from its choking grip.<\/p>\n
Those ways seize our attention during this Epiphany season and stir us to go easy on what we think and what we do.\u00a0 It is a time where we, in spite of the wickedness that surrounds our lives, make our way faithfully to the Lord\u2019s holy places.\u00a0 The continual exposure to his Life is vital for us and the world\u2019s people.\u00a0 We have tried to live for ourselves, but such attempts only flounder and empty our lives.<\/p>\n
There are people who see no need to be rescued from the destructive and deadly realities of the world\u2019s life.\u00a0 But who do they think gave them their lives and abilities?\u00a0 It is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit who have!\u00a0 Granted, this is not always obvious to those around us, but we press on, reflecting their Life to all those being hammered and squeezed by the world\u2019s natural wickedness!\u00a0 The Holy Trinity, working from their holy places, will always seek to loosen the grip that wickedness has on our wrapped-up lives!<\/p>\n
Now may the peace of the LORD God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus Our Lord<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Pr. Carl A. Voges, Columbia, SC; carl.voges4@icloud.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Epiphany Four (Revised Common Lectionary) | 01.28.24 | Mark 1:21\u201328 | Carl A. Voges | The Passage And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he (Jesus) entered the synagogue and was teaching.\u00a0 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,1032,157,853,173,108,110,633,349,3,109],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-19447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-markus","category-4-so-n-epiphanias","category-beitragende","category-bibel","category-carl-a-voges","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-01-chapter-01-markus","category-kasus","category-nt","category-predigten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19447"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19449,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19447\/revisions\/19449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19447"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=19447"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=19447"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=19447"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=19447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}