Shrieking in Church?

February 1, 2015, joint bilingual service． Epiphany 4


Mark 1:21-28 Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit
21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee. (NIV)

Who is Jesus? And, how do you react to Jesus? As we read the Gospel of Mark, the Holy Spirit guides us to know Jesus and to respond to him.

Who is Jesus? The Book of Mark opens with these words, “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” The next answer in the Book of Mark is the words of John the Baptist, 7 “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” In other words, Jesus was the One who brings salvation through the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, at the Baptism of Jesus, there is the Voice of God the Father who tells who Jesus is. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Then last week we read how Jesus called the first four disciples. It will take them about 16 chapters into the Book of Mark to fully understand who Jesus is. But half way through the Gospel Book, in Chapter 8 verse 29, St. Peter will confess, “You are the Christ.”

Today we read about how Jesus gave his first public sermon. The people did not yet know he was the Christ, but this was their reaction: “22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.” They saw in Jesus, his wisdom and understanding. They were amazed because Jesus taught as if he knew the Scriptures first hand; he was an authority, as if he were the One who wrote them. And of course that is pretty close to the truth.

And then there was another who knew who Jesus really was. That was the man who was possessed by the evil spirit. He said, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” It was not the man himself speaking, but rather the evil spirit who was in him. The devil and the devil’s angels or spirits know who Jesus is. They also know the mission of Jesus. They know that Jesus came to destroy them.

The New International Version (NIV) translation of the Bible has a translation that I thought was perfect in Mark 1:26. “The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.” Usually the word shriek is translated directly from the Greek as “loud voice” or even “loud scream.” But translation always has interpretation in it. I think the word “shriek” here is excellent. We usually use the word like this. A woman comes into a room and sees a mouse, she shrieks! A girl finds a cockroach in her cereal bowl, she shrieks! You see a ghost, you shriek! You cut your finger off with a butcher knife, you shriek! Sudden fear, horror, surprise, shock. You feel you might die! And so when the evil spirit came out of the man, he was face to face with the worst of his nightmares. He screamed! He shrieked! Oh, woe is me! He was face to face with the one who could destroy him by sending him back to hell.

And how would you react if you suddenly met Jesus and knew he was the one who could destroy you and send you to hell? If we think of our sin, our disobedience, and our failings, then we should fear, we should shriek! But when we believe in Jesus as our Savior, then it is not an evil spirit that lives in our hearts, but rather it is the Holy Spirit. Then, when we meet Jesus, the Holy Spirit leads us in shouts of Hallelujah and Hosanna! Then we are like the crowds that met Jesus when he entered Jerusalem. We raise our voice and join in the cry of Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Earlier we read Psalm 111. It is a song of faith and praise. “Praise the LORD. Hallelujah. I will extol the LORD with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.” We are not afraid of Jesus. We are not shocked, because we know who he is. He is the Holy One of God. He is our Savior. He is the lord of our lives who leads us and our church. Today we have our annual church meeting. We see his authority to lead our church. To him we pray that he would purge our evil, and give us the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


Sermon Index