I bet they had a good crowd at worship the next week. What an interesting thing to have happen in the middle of the sermon.
I once had the organ player have a bit of a spell during the sermon. She swooned a bit. We stopped what we were doing and attended to her. The rest of the sermon was gone. I preached it, but no one remembered it. They were all watching our organ to player to see if she was okay.
Jesus had a similar problem at the synagogue that day. Notice the Scripture does not give us any clue what he taught. The only thing we remember from that day was this remarkable outburst and exorcism. Here, indeed, was the real teaching of the day.
Where the messiah goes, the demons flee.
Advertisement
I had a similar experience one day as I was getting ready to preach on this (or a very similar) passage from Mark. Before the service began, Phillip, the mentally ill son of one of our faithful choir members, showed up in church. I knew Phillip since I had visited in the choir member’s home; but I had never seen him in worship. As the people were gathering, Phillip was walking up and down our center aisle talking crazy. He was not mumbling, he was not angry; but he was quite distracting and drawing attention to himself as the people gathered. I spent a year as a CPE chaplain intern in a psychiatric facility, so I was not particularly freaked out by this. However, I KNEW what the scripture text was for the day, and I was a bit freaked out by the absolute appropriateness of Philips actions in the context of our reading. The thought passed through my mind that perhaps I should “practice” what I was about to preach. But I had never actually seen an exorcism or participated in one at that point. I was NOT comfortable with that kind of daring. (I have since attended several charismatic services where exorcisms were occuring, and I have even joined in such prayer.) My way of handling the situation was to walk quietly over to the choir member, and ask her to take Philip home. She did, and the service started and proceeded normally. That Sunday, I pretty much stuck to the written, prepared script of my sermon. I was too freaked out myself to become too extemporaneous. Interesting memory. Thanks for sharing, John.
we do know something of what he taught. In verse 14 we are told Jesus’ keynote that follows him everywhere he goes “the Kingdom of God has drawn near… the good news of God.” so although we do not have the specific content of the sermon Jesus’ kingdom preaching arouses an unclean spirit. This makes sense given that the Kingdom coming is not good new for everyone, some will hear it as bad news.
Excellent point, Jeff. Thank you for adding that.
I’m not Jesus, Holly, so I do not presume I can do the same things he can do. Some are gifted with such gifts, but not all.
The gifts should be used as often as a situation comes up. God, through Jesus, by the Holy Spirit will direct you. I am sure you have been used for more than one or two gifts. In the case of the mentally challenged boy, what if before Holly asked his mother to take him home, she went with the mom to the boy, prayed first, then let him go. What if he quieted down? How would that have given testimony to the lesson? Sometimes instead of asking right away “what do you want me to do Lord” we handle the situation ourselves, I’ve done that one. The Lord still let things turn out ok, but how much better would it have been with my intervention instead of my interference ?
The lady in your congregation that had a ‘spell’, ‘what if’ you were lead by the Spirit to change your sermon for that moment and talk about the everyday blessings we have being among God’s people, how he provides a safe and loving place to minister to his children. Would that given attention to what you were saying? I believe we have choices every moment of every day, we don’t always take the right path, God still loves us and continues to teach and guide, for we are just like children who need their loving Father.
Jesus promised that by the power of the Holy Spirit we would “do greater things” than he did. It is not presumption to ask God for the power of the Holy Spirit. It might be presumption to think “I” am powerful. God heals, converts, does miracles, and sanctifies people. We don’t do it. It is all grace and all a gift, that God grants when he will.
Amen Sister, Have we become to complacent? Yes we are expected to do greater things, than he did.
Sometimes I get tired of hearing, that was then and this is now. I am not a preacher, I am a local area leader. I expect times to come up when all I can count on is “what Jesus did”. I will be used any way He see’s fit, with the help of His Holy Spirit! MS
John, your comment about ‘a good crowd at worship next week’ reminds me of Mark 2:1-12, where it is implied that the next time Jesus comes to town he gets more than a full house (though it seems the crowd couldn’t wait for Sabbath but were jamming into a private home after ‘it was noised that he was in the house’).
Mark doesn’t make it clear how many weeks went by between the two appearances, but I like Luke’s addition to the scene of the paralytic’s healing, “and there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem” (Lk 5:17).
What Jesus said that second day was both a challenge to the authorities and an adequate sign of his own authority and divinity – and the essence of the Gospel, in my opinion.