Listen here.

Mark 1:21–28

²¹ And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. ²² And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, ²⁴ “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.” ²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷ And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” ²⁸ And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This Sabbath probably began like every other Sabbath in Capernaum. Families were scrambling to get ready and out the door so they could to go to synagogue. Fathers hounding their kids to finish breakfast and get their teeth brushed because they already running late. Mothers arguing with daughters about what was and what was not appropriate to wear to synagogue. Sons complaining that the services were too long. Elderly people trying to prepare themselves for another boring sermon. Boring sermons are nothing new.

People entered the synagogue and nestled themselves into the benches that served as pews (pews aren’t new either). The liturgy began. Opening prayers taken from the Psalms were prayed. The hymns were sung. The creed confessed. The Scripture lessons read. With the Scriptures still ringing in their ears, it was time for the sermon. Normally, the preacher would cite rabbi after rabbi. “Rabbi so-and-so learned from rabbi so-and-so who learned from rabbi so-and-so who learned from rabbi so-and-so that this text means….” Scintillating, isn’t it?

But this seemingly normal Sabbath would take a turn. Things would never be the same for the faithful of Capernaum. Today, they would hear a message from God unlike any other. They would hear God speak. They would hear God’s word from the lips of the Prophet that Moses spoke of (Dt. 18:15-19). But this Prophet was more than a prophet. His words were the words of God spoken by the Word of God made flesh.

This particular Sabbath, Jesus preaches. But Jesus doesn’t preach like anyone else. Jesus preaches with authority, “You have heard it said of old… but I say to you (Mt. 5:21ff). Oh, and by the way, the time is fulfilled and reign of God is here. Get rid of your sin. Confess it. I’ll take it. I’ll deal with it, and it will be gone forever. Repent and believe the Gospel.”

The people are sitting there in their pews and thinking, “Whoa. This is different.” Some find it refreshing; others find it disturbing. The best way to get people riled up is to change something at church. But as disturbed as the people sitting in the pews were. Satan and the demons were even more upset.

Right in the middle of Jesus’ sermon, all hell breaks loose – literally. A man with an unclean spirit – a demon – was present in the synagogue that day. In the middle of holy worship, a demon cries 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 keeps right on preaching. He preaches directly to the demon. He doesn’t use swift spiritual ninja moves to shut the demon up. He simply uses words, “Be silent, and come out of Him.” And the evil, unclean spirit obeys. The demon threw the man into convulsions. And the screaming – can you imagine how violent this would have looked? And all of this is happening right in the middle of church! But the evil spirit leaves and the man is unharmed (Lk. 4:35).

The normal reverence of the service was gone. People erupted in astonishment. “What is going on here? We hear this new teaching – these Gospel-filled words – and now we see evil spirits obeying this Guy? This is crazy!” It was the talk of the town. The news spread. Twitter lit up. People throughout the region were hearing about this Jesus who uses words with authority.

Today, we tend to hear stories like this and think of some bygone era when miracles took place. We wonder where the epic battles between God and the forces of hell are taking place today. Maybe we wish something like this would happen here at Christ the King. If we could see this happen, then we would have a story for our friends and neighbors, “Hey, you’ll never guessed what happened at church this week…” Maybe then more people would come and we’d have to add those extra spaces to our parking lot. Maybe we’d even have to add a second service or build a larger sanctuary. But here we are with nothing but our same old liturgy, the same old sermons, the same old words.

But hold on now; just a second. The same Jesus who teaches with authority and commands evil spirits is the same God who is speaking through the liturgy, through the sermons, through the same words.

The demon asked Jesus, “Have you come to destroy us?” The answer is, “Yes.” Jesus came to destroy the power that Satan, the demons, death, sin, and all evil has over His creation. These few verses from Mark are a microcosm of what Jesus, the Holy One of God, does here and now.

You see, there are only two kingdoms – a kingdom of darkness and a kingdom of light. A kingdom of evil and a kingdom of holiness. You are either under the lordship of Satan or under the lordship of God. There’s no such thing as dual citizenship.

The forces of hell assail our worship today. Demons are here. You have brought them with you into this holy place. Your demons of drunkenness, your demons of gossip, your demons of adultery, your demons of hatred, your demons of laziness, your demons of despising the Word of God. Don’t just give them little pet names. Call them what they are! They are evil, wicked, damnable sins. They too need to be silenced and ripped out of you. And that is precisely why Christ is here – to remove your demons with His words.

And that is precisely what Jesus has done. He has conquered sin, death, the devil, and all of hell’s strength through His death and resurrection. And Jesus still wages war on evil through His Words. He’s been doing it all through our service. Through the Absolution, Jesus speaks His words to you that you are forgiven, freed, and made holy. Through this simple sermon, Jesus speaks to you that you are delivered by His prefect life, His atoning death, and His glorious resurrection. And, soon, the climax of it all, when you will come to this altar, when you will be fed the body of your Savior. Where your thirst for righteousness will be quenched by the blood of your Redeemer.

Are you unclean? Absolutely. But that’s no problem because here’s Jesus – for you. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.