4 Epiphany, Year B

“THE KINGDOM COMES, WITH AUTHORITY AND POWER”
Deuteronomy 18: 15 – 20; Psalm 111; I Corinthians 8: 1b – 13; Mark 1: 21 – 28
A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, February 1, 2009

And so, the Kingdom of God comes, with authority and with power.

Today’s gospel text recalls for us the first public act of Jesus’ ministry, an act which brings into reality God’s kingdom.

The kingdom comes with authority: Notice that the bystanders who hear Jesus’ teaching remark that He teaches “with authority, not like the scribes.”

The kingdom comes with observable power: the man with the unclean spirit is freed of the spiritual bondage that the forces of evil exercise over him as Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit, saying, “Come out of him!”.

But lest we get ahead of ourselves, let’s back up a little, to the very beginning of Mark’s gospel account (only 20 verses beforehand – remember that Mark’s writing style is concise and to-the-point), and trace the events that have brought us to the confrontation which is before us today.

My purpose in retracing our steps is to bring to our consciences the opposing forces of God and evil, and how that affected the man in possession, and us.

So, beginning at Mark 1: 1, we read, “The beginning of the Gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” There it is, plain and simple.

Next, Mark retells the story of John the Baptist, and of Jesus’ baptism by him in the River Jordan. As Jesus is coming up out of the water, Mark tells us that He “saw the heavens torn open, and the spirit descending on him in the form of a dove, and a voice from heaven, ‘Thou art my beloved son, with thee I am well pleased.’”

From there, Mark tells us that Jesus was driven into the desert for His temptation, for forty days.

Then, last week, Jesus announces the coming of the kingdom, saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

So, with Jesus’ baptism, at which time the Father announces His presence with the blessing pronounced upon the Son, and with the coming of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, the fullness of God has come among us. The full presence and power of God enters into our world, ready to reclaim for God the human beings God created and whom God loves. God reclaims them and us from the forces and clutches of the powers of evil. (More on that in a minute.)

Now, we turn to the acknowledgement of the unclean spirit of Jesus’ identity.

Upon seeing Jesus enter the synagogue at Capernahum, the unclean spirit 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.”

Notice the voice of the unclean spirit, who identifies himself in the singular, saying, “I know who you are.” Yet, the unclean spirit might well be speaking for others (perhaps the entire cosmos of unclean spirits) when we hear these words, “Have you come to destroy us?”

And so, the battle is joined.

The forces of God (remember, the fullness of God, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit) confront the forces of evil, not just this singular unclean spirit, but the entire cosmos of evil spirits, and their mentor, Satan.

But where is the man who is possessed by the unclean spirit?

Where is he in all of this?

Is he in a “no man’s land”, able only to dig a foxhole in hopes of avoiding the rounds which will shortly fly over his head?

No!

For the man, remember with me, is possessed. He is in the enemy’s camp, held prisoner.

In a real sense, the man is caught up in the battle, vulnerable. He will shortly become the focus of the battle itself.

But Jesus comes to rescue the prisoner, to set him free from the evil powers from which he is unable to free himself.

And so, the unclean spirit releases his hold on the man, as the possessed man is convulsed by the departure of the unclean spirit.

You and I are in the same predicament as this possessed man.

“Ah,” we may say, “I’ve never been possessed by an unclean spirit.” (In truth, some of the accounts in the Bible which are described as possession might well be known today as a mental disorder or a physical malady such as epilepsy, but the truth remains that demon possession is real, and must be taken seriously, though it is a rare occurrence.)

“Good!” we say in thanksgiving to God.

And yet, we are in the same situation as the possessed man, for the powers of evil still try to entrap, ensnare and capture us, holding us – if not captive – then under their influence. Outright, total possession by an unclean or evil spirit is rare. But the influences of the powers of evil are commonplace. These influences affect you and me, day in and day out. These influences intensify whenever we draw nearer to God. For, you see, the powers of evil do not want to give us up to the freedom that God promises in Christ without a fight.

So. like the man in today’s account, we are unable to free ourselves from the influences of the forces of evil which seek to destroy body, soul and mind, and in the process, to separate us from God’s protection and God’s love.

As we reflect back on it, that’s exactly the same situation that confronted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (see Genesis, chapter three)….They, too, were ensnared by the forces of evil, and were separated from God’s love and God’s presence, subject – as are we all who are their descendents – to the powers of evil, and prone to lead sinful lives, which separate us from God.

But, with today’s action, the kingdom of God swings into action.

How does it do so? Does Jesus, with a sweep of His arm, banish all the forces of evil, all the unclean spirits, and yes, even Satan himself?

No.

You see, the kingdom of God comes one person at a time. God, through Christ, reclaims us, one-by-one, from the clutches of evil, and He does so in the world at large, one person at a time.

“Thy kingdom come,” we pray each Sunday in the Lord’s Prayer. “Yes, thy kingdom come,” we continue to pray, one person at a time, beginning with your heart and my heart, then spreading to the person next to us, and then to the person next to them.

Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

AMEN.