Mark 1:21-28
They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you 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 unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
The writer we know as Mark gives us a couple of things to think about here. First is authority.
Jesus goes to this new town, right, and he walks into a synagogue and starts teaching. This would not have been unusual at the time. Pretty normal. I think it would be pretty cool if random people came to our church and started teaching, but I digress. Jesus teaching in a synagogue isn't particularly interesting. What is interesting is their response to it. The text says 1) "They were astounded," 2) "he taught them as one having authority," and 3) "and not as the scribes." Yes, Mark is knocking the scribes. Yes, he is talking about Jesus being special. But no, we don't really know what is meant by authority here.
What Mark is doing with the authority question here is setting us up for what Jesus's authority is really about at the end of the passage. The authority really does have to do with the unclean spirit. Let's look at that interaction. The unclean spirit calls out Jesus here and threatens to reveal Jesus's identity. I think it would be really easy to see Jesus as silencing the unclean spirit, especially in light of the following passages. Maybe its gangster movies or the like, but the image in my mind is of Jesus keeping his identity secret by attacking the stoolpigeon.
I don't think, however, that this is Mark's intention. Flip the image around for a second. The unclean spirit isn't threatening the revelation of identity, but impurity. He may as well be shouting "You do-gooder; you wouldn't dare threaten your own salvation by coming near me!" Like one of Jesus's most famous parables (the Good Samaritan), a good, spiritually-strong, upstanding Jew could not allow himself to be tainted by evil--he must prevent it from contacting him. He must not only avoid it, but condemn it. Except that Jesus calls this what it really is: a load of bull. The scribes support the belief that the purity codes imply that we must avoid anything that would cause impurity. Jesus, on the otherhand, supports the belief that being pure is all fine and good when things are fine and good; but when they're not (someone in trouble, for instance), we have to act. We not only sacrifice our own purity for someone else, but we do so out of love. This is what is truly amazing about Jesus's teaching, amazing them in the synagogue and in exorcising this unclean spirit: he suggests that our purity can be renewed by God--that's no excuse to keep from getting our hands dirty.
And the authority? Well, that's demonstrated by his relationship with the spirit. He doesn't treat it as a superior--out to get him--or as an equal--that could corrupt him--but as inferior. He is able to command an unclean spirit and it has no choice but to obey.
This is one of several healing/exorcism stories for the ensuing weeks. I think it is easy to find ourselves talking about a metaphysical world in which angels and demons wrestle for our souls (and other zoroastrian concepts) while avoiding the teaching and the incredible good news in the Gospel According to Mark.
Jesus breaks what was a pretty important rule for Jew (the purity code) in this passage. Even the unclean spirit knows this to be the case. And yet, Jesus does it anyway. But instead of giving the typical defense (I had a higher purpose), Jesus seems to demonstrate something about the purity code and about the way we interact with each other. The purity code is nothing compared with the plight of those in trouble.
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