The Gospel isn’t meant to be gulped down on Sunday morning, but gnawed on through the week so it really becomes a part of us. You’ve got to work at it, like a dog with a good bone! Here’s the Gospel for this coming Sunday — the Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany — with food for thought on rebuking evil and finding the image of God in every single sibling of the human family. Gnaw away!

Mark 1:21-28

They came to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and began to teach. The people were spellbound by the teaching, because Jesus taught with an authority that was unlike their religious scholars.

Suddenly, a person with an unclean spirit appeared in their synagogue. It shrieked, “What do you want from us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!”

Jesus rebuked the spirit sharply: “Be quiet! Come out of that person!” At that the unclean spirit convulsed the possessed one violently, and with a loud shriek it came out.

All who looked on were amazed. They began to ask one another, “What is this? A new teaching, and with such authority! This person even gives orders to unclean spirits and they obey!” Immediately news of Jesus spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

The Backstory – What’s Going On Here?

As we’ve already noticed in Mark, Jesus doesn’t let any moss grow under his feet. No sooner has he called some disciples than he is busy in Capernaum (also on the Sea of Galilee, where he found his fisherman disciples) preaching and teaching.

This story is notable for several reasons. First, that he taught in the synagogue shows that he already had some standing … but most important was the reaction … that he “taught with authority.” Jesus is immediately asserting himself as a force to be reckoned with … over and against not only the synagogue leadership but other forces as well.

And as soon as he begins to assert his authority, something happens … opposition arises. There is a safety to lying under the radar. There is a safety to playing small and abdicating authority. Jesus doesn’t play it safe … and forces of evil notice right away … and react in fear.

A few things to chew on:

*Jesus teaching elicits a fearful reaction from an “unclean spirit” (pneuma akatharton, if you’re interested in the Greek!) The term is usually interchangeable with demon, but the particular use of the word “unclean” emphasizes a certain aspect of the spirit. Anything that is unclean cannot be touched and must be separated from the community. An unclean spirit has power because it not only controls, it isolates and separates. Jesus is about reconciliation. In casting out the spirit he is making the community whole. It is not just a healing of an illness but a restoring of unity to the wider body. What experience of unclean spirits do you have … spirits that control, isolate and separate?

*Later on in the Gospel, Mark tells the story of Peter’s confession of Jesus. In words it is not that different from when the unclean spirit says”you are the Holy One of God.” Yet the two confessions of Christ could not be more different. St. Augustine puts it this way:

“Call to mind with me the time when Peter was praised and called blessed. Was it because he merely said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God?’ No, he who pronounced him blessed, regarded not merely the sound of
his words, but the affections of his heart. Compare that with the words of the demons who said almost the same thing: ‘We know who you are, the Son of God,’ just as Peter had confessed him as ‘Son of God.’ So what is the
difference? Peter spoke in love, but the demons in fear … So tell us how faith is to be defined, if even the devils can believe and tremble? Only the faith that works by love is faith.” (Augustine, Sermons on the New
Testament Lessons 40.8)

Try This:

Jesus taught “as one with authority” because there was no gap between what he said and who he was. He reached a Gospel of changing your life and becoming attuned to the inbreaking presence of God because that’s what he was … fully attuned and part of the inbreaking presence of God.

This week, take five minutes at the beginning of each day and think of one small thing you can do for no other reason that you are living God’s love for the world. One small thing you can do that can help you speak with authority as a follower of Jesus.

Then at night, when you go to bed, review how you did.

Seeing the difference.

“The image of God is on every person … every one … only on some it is in deep, deep disguise.” – Hays Rockwell.

So many times, the interruption is the real work.

Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. He is on a roll. He’s got the crowd right where he wants them. The people are “spellbound.”

Suddenly, he is interrupted. A person with an unclean spirit starts shouting at him.

And what does Jesus do?

He doesn’t call for the bouncer … or the usher … or the verger.

He doesn’t reject or cast out the person.

He recognizes that this person is a beloved image of God, just like him, just like everyone else in the synagogue, just like everyone else everywhere.

Only this person is in bondage. There is a spirit that is possessing him. A spirit that is preventing him from being fully alive. A spirit that is preventing him from living into that true self. A spirit that keeps that image of God in deep, deep disguise.

So Jesus stops. And he sees deep into the person. And Jesus sees the difference.

Jesus sees the difference between the beloved image of God and the spirit that is holding them captive. With the spirit he is merciless – the spirit is evil and must be stopped. He rebukes the spirit strongly and orders it out of the person.

The spirit did not come out easily. The spirit convulsed the possessed one violently, and with a loud shriek it came out.

This is how we are called to follow Jesus.

There is evil in the world. And when we speak the Gospel truth with our lips and with our lives, we can expect the evil in the world to rear up. We can expect it to call us out. We can expect it to try to make us very, very afraid.

And there will be very real people – with faces and voices and names – people who say evil things and who act in evil ways and are parts of evil systems.

Sometimes, that person will even be us.

And the evil must be rebuked in no uncertain terms. We cannot allow evil to go unnamed and unchecked.

AND … Jesus reminds us that we must always remember that even the person speaking and acting in the most evil way is a beloved child of God. Yes, we are responsible for our actions (this isn’t “the devil made me do it”) AND no human being is disposable.

We rebuke the evil. We call it out. We order it to leave. We lay our very bodies on the line in solidarity with all whom evil targets. And we never forget that even the people who are speaking and acting in the most evil way need to be liberated from the very evil they are perpetuating.

We rebuke the evil. We call it out. We order it to leave. We lay our very bodies on the line in solidarity with all whom evil targets. And we do it in deep, abiding love for EVERYONE – even those (perhaps especially those) out of whose mouth and actions the evil proceeds.

And as we do this, the people will be amazed. They will know that we have a new teaching. One that is truly saving for all creation. And the news will spread. And empires will fall. And the beloved community, the kin-dom of God will come on earth.

Gnaw on This is a weekly publication written by Mike Kinman, Rector of All Saints Church, Pasadena