Encountering Jesus: The Only Authority Over Evil

Here is a post from the ministry I work with, Rebirth: East St. Louis. This is a recap of the latest Bible study we had this past Wednesday night. Mark 1:21-28 is an amazing passage with much to teach us. 

“And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered into the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the religious teachers. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an evil spirit. And he cried out, ‘What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be Silent, and come out of him!’ And the evil spirit, convulsing him and screaming, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with real authority! He commands even the evil spirits and they obey him.’ And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.”

Mark 1:21-28

One of my favorite things about teaching Bible studies with our guys is the opportunity to be personally amazed by the passage of Scripture we are going through. This week, we continued our“Encounters with Jesus: How God Changes Everything“ series by going through Mark 1: 21-28. Even now, as I reflect on this passage, I am amazed at the Bible’s inexhaustible nature. There is so much great stuff jam packed into these 8 short verses. When considering the length of the entire Bible, Mark 1: 21-28 can seem quite miniscule. Yet, this passage tells us so much about who Jesus was, what He came to do, and how encountering Jesus is the only hope for the world.

After going through the story, I asked our guys, “why were the people so astonished and amazed at Jesus’ teaching and actions?” One of our students hit the nail on the head, “Because they had never seen anything like that before.” And that is exactly right. This story is much more than a vivid look at spiritual warfare or a story that proves that demons exist. Much more than that, this passage tells us that Jesus is the eternal, long awaited solution to the evil that exists in the world.

This scene would have astonished people not because they hadn’t seen or experienced evil face to face. No, that is something we all see and experience every single day. Jesus’ actions were astonishing because He is the only one in the history of mankind that had exercised such authority and power over evil.

Further, this authority over evil is something we all inherently long for. We all desire a day when we don’t have to live in fear of disease and death. We all long for the day when we don’t have to fear abuse and pain. When I asked our students about the evils they see and experience everyday, they had no problem identifying some. They are surrounded by death and poverty. And just like the rest of the world, they desire a day when evil no longer has the final say. Together, we long for someone or something to save the day.

In Mark 1:21-28, the people who were watching Jesus would have had the same hope and desire. They were astonished at Jesus because they had never seen someone who could actually fulfill that hope. Since evil entered the world, humans have tried again and again to find a solution. Whether it be trusting in political powers to bring peace, or a personal zeal to overcome evil, all man made attempts to defeat evil have come up short. Jesus is the only solution to our problem of evil and sin. He is the only authority over evil. Whether it was 2000 years ago in Capernaum, or present day East St. Louis, Jesus invites us to trust in him as the Holy One of God who has defeated all the powers of evil.

Welcome to the Church of Brand Jesus

"A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God."

Romans 2:28-29

Commenting on these verses, Tyler Wigg Stevenson, author of Brand Jesus, asks, "...why are so many self-proclaimed Christians buying into the religious lifestyle, image, and identity, but not making the radical spiritual-ethical commitment to discipleship? How is it that there is so much Christian hypocrisy?"

The heart of these verses is that being part of God's family (Jew in the Old Testament, Christian in the New Testament) is not primarily an external matter, but is rather an internal matter with external fruit. In these verses, the Apostle Paul is critiquing the Jews of his day who claimed God, but did so only externally. They were good Jews because they were circumcised. Paul counters by saying that the external act of circumcision is ultimately meant to be an external mark of an inward reality, namely a life that has been transformed by the Spirit of God. 

Stevenson applies these verses to the contemporary Church by pointing out our tendency, much like the Jews in Paul's day, to rely on external marks as the evidence of our faith. For example, we might believe ourselves to be Christians merely because we belong to a church, or were baptized, or align with the religious right politically. We have external badges of honor, but our hearts are far from God. 

The problem, according to Stevenson, is that the Jesus we claim to believe in, is in fact, not Jesus as all:

"The startling question is, then, is Jesus Christ actually the one whom many self-proclaimed Christians have accepted? Or, as seems to be the case,  have consumer-minded Christians been led from the narrow road, drawn by the promises of an impotent spiritual commodity masquerading as the power of God? Welcome to the church of Brand Jesus." pg. 101

Stevenson's point: External badges of religion are insufficient. As Paul stated in Romans 2, the mark of a true believer is a circumcision of the heart, or, a transformed life. External badges (church membership, political affiliation, occasional acts of charity) are insufficient because they don't have any power. They give the mere appearance of Godliness, but are just as Stevenson describes 'impotent spiritual commodity masquerading as the power of God." These badges are not the result of a radical internal transformation. They are not the result of totally new, born again life in Christ. No, they are the rather feeble attempts to construct our self-justification. 

The only solution to this problem is the true gospel of Jesus Christ; namely, that our attempts to build our own kingdom, wherein we attempt to build our own identity, our justification, and our very sense of life before God is completely insufficient. But, in his great mercy and love, Christ came to give us life. Through his life, death and resurrection, Jesus has come to free us from this death sentence of self-sufficiency. 

But herein lies the problem. Stevenson's point is that if you look at the life of the American Christianity, it is clear that we are not living or preaching this true gospel, wherein lives are truly transformed. Rather, we are preaching and living a different faith; the faith of Brand Jesus. 

And this Brand Jesus fits in perfectly with our consumer mindsets in that it gives us exactly what our sinful selves want, all the while wearing a mask of true spirituality:

"Brand Jesus takes the promise of the Kingdom of God and offers another pseudo-Christian vision instead...Brand Jesus takes the tragedy of sinful life and without asking us to change our behavior in the plot, promises a happy ending. Brand Jesus takes everything our species' depraved imagination wants to believe is true about the world and feeds it back to us." pg. 104

"We are in fact, wholly conformed to the pattern of this world. So, while Christians should be radically different from everybody else, we find that Christians are no more different from practitioners of other lifestyles than those folk are from each other. We've made discipleship into one option among many, when it ought to stand separate, as different from other ways of living as Christ was from the world." pg. 103

In short, the American Church has submitted to a form of Christianity (Brand Jesus), wherein they are allowed to continue in their current desired lifestyle without any real transformation. Although they may have external badges, there is no power behind it. There is no real knowledge of the God. There is no real experience of God's grace. It is a pseudo-Christianity, giving the people enough religion to soothe their spiritual conscious, but denying the very nature of Jesus Christ. 

The only answer is to run to the gospel of God's grace. 

Tyler Wigg Stevenson, Brand Jesus: Christianity in a Consumerist Age (Seabury Books, New York, 2007). 

A Due Consideration

“There are two things that are suited to humble the soul of men, a due consideration of God, and then of ourselves. Of God, in his greatness, glory, holiness, power, majesty, and authority; of ourselves, in our mean, abject, and sinful condition.”

John Owen, Sin and Temptation, abridged and ed. By James M. Houston (Vancouver, B.C.: Regent, 1995), xvii. 

This due consideration of both God and ourselves is either terrifying or exhilarating. Apart from the gospel, this due consideration is terrifying. Terrifying that because of our sin and rebellion, we stand as objects of God's wrath. With the gospel, this due consideration is exhilarating. The all powerful, majestic, and holy God of the universe, with whom we were once enemies, has died on a cross to reconcile us. This due consideration is a marvelous reality to live in. 

Wealth and the Gospel

 A certain ruler asked him (Jesus), “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 

You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”  

“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. 

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Luke 18:18-25

For anyone who reads the Bible with an open heart, these are extremely hard words to swallow, especially for those living in the present Western World which is considered by many to be the wealthiest context in all human history. What does Jesus mean in this passage? Does he mean that if you are rich, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God unless you literally sell everything you own? 

As I've been going through the Gospel accounts, I am amazed at how frequently and directly Jesus approaches the topic of wealth and possessions. Jesus gets right at the heart and holds no punches back. At first glance, most of us (myself included) will mistakenly read this text in either a moralistic or relativistic way. What I mean is this: In a moralistic reading, we take Jesus' command to "go sell everything and give it to the poor" as a universal rule that must be literally followed by anyone who truly considers themselves to be a Christian. The story is then a direct moral imperative to be followed literally and universally. The other end of the spectrum many of us will fall on (especially if we have great deal of wealth), is a relativistic reading. We read Jesus command and instantly think that there is no way this applies to me or actually demands a change from me. Jesus didn't really mean what he said. In this reading, we relativize the text in such a way as to protect our self from being faced with our own sinfulness. I think it is important that we examine our hearts and be honest with ourselves in regards to where we fall on the spectrum. Like I said, for those who hold on tightly to their wealth, and are consumed with building their own little kingdoms of comfort, you are probably going to fall on the side of relativism. On the other hand, for those who are often discontented with the status quo of 'safe, individualized, lifeless, consumeristic Christianity', you might find yourself imposing pharisee like rules on people. For the person who struggles deeply with self-righteousness (like me!), you might read the text in a moralistic way as a way to justify yourself. 

At the end of the day, both of these ways (relativism and moralism) are incorrect ways to understand what Jesus is really getting at. The proper way of understanding this text is a third way, lets call it a 'gospel' reading of the text. When we read this text in light of the whole gospel story, it is evident that Jesus is getting at something much deeper than a simple moralistic formula for how to deal with wealth and possessions. Rather, Jesus is getting at the radical way in which the gospel completely reorientates everything in our lives. In other words, Jesus is saying "the gospel changes everything." Being in the Kingdom of God is a complete reordering of everything in our lives. 

The story of the Rich Young Ruler is piercing because along with the heart of the young man in the story, our hearts are also revealed. In the story, the young ruler goes away sad because he realizes that the cost of following Jesus is too high; he is not willing to sell all that he has to follow Christ. The problem here wasn't so much that the man had possessions or power, but that he loved and trusted his wealth above God. His hearts orientation was out of whack. His life was out of order. The purpose for this story isn't ultimately that we might all sell our possessions, but that we may see the way we, like the young ruler, trust and love things (like wealth) more than God. We put other things (in this case, wealth) at the top of the pecking order. When Jesus says that you can't enter the Kingdom of God if you are rich, this means that only way you can enter the Kingdom of God is if you are living under the loving and righteous reign of the King. For a disciple, or a person living under God's reign, all other compartments of life fall under this ultimate allegiance. Money, possessions, relationships, work, family, time, energy, food, religion, they all must be orientated under God. They all must be submitted. We can see by the rich young ruler's response that this is a hard pill to swallow. Here was a man who kept all the rules and who zealously tried to live for God, but there was just one area of his life that he trusted and loved more than God.

So, the take away isn't so much a moralistic rule to follow, but a paradigm shift. The gospel of Jesus Christ brings us into a completely new worldview. Wealth is no longer something that needs to grip our hearts affections, but is something to be freely given to our God. This story is a way to ask ourselves, "what is it that I trust and love in more than God," "what do I look to in order to gain significance," or "what compels or controls me?". For this man, it was his wealth and power. That was the barrier between him following Jesus. Is this true of us? How we respond to Jesus' challenge, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it," (Luke 9:23-24) reveals where are hearts are at. 

To close, there is good news in all of this. Just thinking about this now, I realize all the ways I fail to orientate my life completely under Christ's Lordship. It seems impossible. The crowd following Jesus thought the same thing. Read how the story finishes:

"Those who heard this asked, 'Who then can be saved?'

Jesus replied, 'What is impossible with man is possible with God'"

Luke 18:26-27

The good news is that Christ died in our place, and resurrected, that we, along with him could be resurrected to new life. Jesus lived, died, and rose that in him, we might receive a new heart, one that is orientated toward God. In our own strength and religious zeal, this is impossible. With God's supreme power and unfailing love, this is possible. 

Why Keep it Hidden?

"Because of Jesus' sacrificial love, we are safe to begin a process of being completely truthful about ourselves. We are met by a capable physician who comes to us and says, 'I already know.' When Jesus asks the disciples questions, he is not seeking to gain information. Rather, by asking, he seeks to trigger a process of self-understanding. When Jesus asks, 'Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?' (Mark 8:18), he confronts them with themselves. He pursues the ultimate purpose of cleansing their hearts so that their inner eyes and ears would open and be amazed by two things: how sick they really are and how powerful and good Jesus really is. We are called to full honesty because the One who has power to heal us already knows our condition. We can rest assured that we will not surprise our Master with anything he will discover in our souls. So why keep it hidden? Why live with it anymore? Why continue a divided life between the outside (pretense) and inside (reality)? Why continue the hopeless battle when, in fact, the One who calls us has power to overturn our self-centeredness?"

Bayer, Hans F. A Theology of Mark: The Dynamic Between Christology and Authentic Discipleship. (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Pub, 2012), 71-72. 

In All Areas

"When people become Christians, they not only experience repentance, salvation and transformation on a personal level. They experience repentance, salvation and transformation in all areas of their worldview, their cultural values, their social affiliations and so on."
--Eckhard Schnabel, "Paul The Missionary", 412.

Paul, in his letter to the church at Rome writes that the gospel is "the power of God" (Romans 1:16). In other words, the gospel is explosive. It is explosive beyond anything we can fully comprehend. It is explosive in the kind of way that Schnabel describes here. The gospel isn't a ticket out of hell. It is the explosive power of God that resurrects poor helpless sinners from spiritual death unto life. It is a worldview shattering event. That is why Schnabel is right in saying that if you are a Christian, the gospel has penetrated all areas of life.

The Lord Wins

Came across this verse in the story of Israel crossing the Red Sea.

Exodus 14:14

"The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."

Preceding it, Moses says to Israel in verse 13, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today..."

Proceeding it, the Lord says to Moses in verse 17b-18, "And I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen."

We know the plot.

The chapter ends in verse 31, "Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord..."

....

What jumps off the page is the Lord's perfect nature to make a promise, and get it done. No questions, no plan B's. He chooses to rescue Israel. He declares his will to do so. And accomplishes the task.

Also, what we see in this story like so many others in scripture, is the Lord's characteristic purpose in PROCLAIMING HIS NAME and REDEEMING HIS PEOPLE.

What a mighty God we serve. What an incredible confidence we have in His power not only to act for us, but then bring us to Himself.

Completely Defeated

"having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in the cross"

Colossians 2:13-15

         In writing about the record of debt that stood against us, and the powers and authorities that we battle against, Paul is acknowledging their reality. Paul is acknowledging the existence of sin and evil in the world, and their power. His encouragement isn't that they don't exist, but rather that they have been dealt with. They have been COMPLETELY defeated. The record of debt stood against us in that it brought condemnation. It is the record of debt that calls us 'sinner', 'law breaker', 'criminal'. The record of debt that rightly says we deserve death. This debt was true. Also, the rulers and authorities of evil are real. They once had dominion over our lives. We once belonged to them. We were once their slaves. 

        But thanks be to God, that through the cross, there is no more condemnation. Christ took the record of debt that stood against us and nailed it to the cross. The righteous punishment that we deserved for our law breaking, for our sin, for our wickedness, Jesus took. He absorbed the legal debt that stood against us. Jesus took the punishment of condemnation so that we could be free from its grip. More so, through the cross, the power of sin has been completely defeated as well. The word that Paul uses for 'disarm' renders a meaning of 'completely stripping something' or a 'complete disarm'. In other words, every power that sin had over us in our former life, has now been COMPLETELY STRIPPED. In his death and and resurrection, Christ's victory was so decisive, so complete, that Sin, that once powerfully ruled us and had tyrannical dominion over our lives, is now put to open shame, stripped naked of its power, and displayed publicly as defeated. This victory was decisive. It was complete. 

        Also, when we ponder the way in which God accomplished this victory (the cross), we can see how great His love is for us. The Son, though being infinitely powerful, became man, subjected himself to life on earth, and emptied himself of power, being hung on a cross. He became powerless, in order that through faith in him, he could empty sin over its power in our lives. On the cross, Christ became a curse, taking the punishment of a condemned criminal. He did this, so that we, being condemned criminals, could be free. Lastly, Christ died the most shameful death, being put on public display on the cross, in order to defeat the power of sin in our lives, and put sin to open shame by publicly displaying it as defeated. 

Raw Power

"because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit..."

1 Thessalonians 1:5

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" Romans 1:16

Power: 'The ability to do something. The capacity to direct or influence.'

The gospel is power in its pure essence. The gospel doesn't come unnoticed or quietly. It doesn't compromise. Rather, it comes in power. It's impossible to come into any real contact or knowledge of the gospel and not be completely transformed. It is explosive. It takes everything. It completely consumes. If power is defined as the ability to do something, or the capacity to direct or influence, I offer that the gospel is power in its pure essence. Nothing transforms like the gospel. Religion can make a person behave a certain way for a while. Trying hard can cause someone to be pretty moral. But only the gospel takes people who are literally dead and makes them alive. Only the gospel can take a blind person and give them sight. Only the gospel can melt the heart of stone. Only the gospel , which is the power of God, can resurrect and give new life. That's why you can tell when someone is a Christian. They've been hit with the power of the gospel. I want this power more and more. The beautiful part is that IN CHRIST, we have full access.

I am thankful that God was graciously pleased to reveal this gospel to my blind eyes. God has taken this self-loving God hater, and given me new life. Through the gospel, my debt is removed, I'm forgiven, and I've been given a new heart. Through the power of the gospel, I can truly say, 'I have been crucified with Christ. It is not longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.' (Galatians 2:20)

This is power.

Blaise Pascal's passion

This is an excerpt from the book, "The Call", by Os Guinness. He is writing in regards to Blaise Pascal's passion for God.

"Nearer our own time Blaise Pascal was another such person on fire with a passion for God. Mathematical genius, inventor, grandfather of the computer and modern risk theory, renaissance thinker, well versed in physics, philosophy and theology as well as mathematics, among the most elegant prose stylists in the French language, Pascal is one of the supreme human thinkers of all time.

But almost no one in Pascal's day and still too few in ours know of the experience that kept these achievements in perspective and lay at the core of his brief, intense, pain-filled, flame burst of a life. On the evening of Monday, November 23rd, 1654, he was 31 years old and just experienced a close brush with death in a carriage driving accident. That night he had a profound encounter with God that changed the course of his life.

Pascal's experience lasted from 10:30 PM to 12:30AM. He could only title his experience with one word: Fire. But the experience was so precious and decisive to him that he sewed the parchment record of it into the lining of his doublet and wore it next to his heart. For the remaining 8 years of his life he took the trouble to sew it into every new doublet he bought, and it was only found by his sister, who felt the odd bump it formed, after his death in 1662. It read,

'God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob,

not of philosophers and scholars.

Certainty, certainty, heartfelt, joy, peace.

God of Jesus Christ.

God of Jesus Christ.

My God and Your God.

Your God shall be my God.

The world forgotten, and everything except God.

He can only be found by the ways taught in the Gospels.

Greatness of the human soul.

O righteous Father, the world had not known thee,

but I have known thee.

Joy, Joy, Joy

tears of joy.'