And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes

 

 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel."

And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.  And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.  

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.  And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit.  And he cried out, saying, "Let us alone!  What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?  Did You come to destroy us?  I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!"  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.  Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this?  What new doctrine is this?  For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."  And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.

 

- Mark 1:14–28 

 

Yesterday we started reading the Gospel according to St. Mark:   The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  As it is written in the Prophets:   "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You."  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.' "  John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.  Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came  from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

 

 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel." My study Bible tells us that Mark's written emphasis on John being put in prison before Jesus begins preaching reveals  that a key purpose of the old covenant -- preparing the people for Christ -- had been completed (Galatians 4:1-5).  Once Christ came, then, the time of preparation was fulfilled.  My study Bible also notes that to repent is to do a total "about-face."  In Greek, "repentance" is μετανοια/metanoia, and it means literally to "change one's mind."  To repent is a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart -- a complete reorientation to a life centered in Christ.  Therefore, it's something that can be ongoing throughout our lives.

 

And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.  And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.   John's Gospel makes it clear that these men had already heard the preaching of St. John the Baptist (and were earlier his followers) and had been prepared to accept Christ immediately (see John 1:29-51).  Because of this they were prepared to accept Christ immediately.  Although they were illiterate and unlearned in religion, my study Bible says, these "people of the land" whom Jesus calls will be revealed at Pentecost to be the wisest of all. 

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.   We see the word immediately occurring several times already in this first chapter of St. Mark's Gospel.  My study Bible comments that it occurs almost forty times in this Gospel, nearly all of them before Christ's entrance into Jerusalem at Holy Week.  This sense of urgency and purpose as Christ journeys toward Jerusalem in order to fulfill His mission of redeeming the world fills St. Mark's Gospel, helping to make it both the shortest and most direct of the Gospels.  Here, Jesus begins teaching and healing on the Sabbaths, as St. Ambrose of Milan says, to show that "the new creation began where the old creation ceased."

And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  The prophets of old and the teachers of Christ's day taught in the third person, either quoting from Scripture ("the Lord says") or the commentary of a famous rabbi.  But Christ teaches in the first person, speaking of His own authority.  

 

Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit.  And he cried out, saying, "Let us alone!  What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?  Did You come to destroy us?  I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!"  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.  Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this?  What new doctrine is this?  For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."  And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.   As if to confirm His teaching with authority, Christ heals a man and casts out an unclean spirit, who recognizes and obeys Christ's command to "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  But even with evident authority, Christ wishes His identity as Messiah to remain unspoken until the proper time.  My study Bible says this refusal to fully disclose His messianic identity is foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  It gives several reasons for this secrecy:  first, the growing hostility of the religious leaders; second, the people's misunderstanding of the Messiah as an earthly, political leader; and finally, Christ's desire to evoke genuine faith not based only on marvelous signs.  

One thing we may notice already in St. Mark's Gospel is a line of delineation, a sort of separating out of one thing from another.  Often, making something sacred is aligned with "setting apart."  In Genesis we read that all was chaos until God began on the first day to separate one thing from another, such as the water from the land, and so to put things into order.  In this sense of putting things in order out of chaos, we should remember that Christ is also called the Logos (John 1:1), the Word.  His authority isn't simply one of power and control, nor a kind of assigned role or elected office by popular acclaim.  Christ's authority comes "of Himself," so to speak.  His very power is the power to set in order, to give meaning, to put things right, to make sense of things so that life can thrive and blossom.  One way things are set in order is that Christ is notably master of time.  Things must happen at the right time, and in the right order.  Moses and the Law came first, preparing the people for Christ.  But now that John is imprisoned, it is time for His public ministry, and Jesus preaches, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel."   The word repent (a command here, if we may so note) is itself one that delineates boundaries, sets down priorities, and reorients all toward this singular pole of the truth and the Source of good.  The gospel or "good news" is the place all eyes should go, and all ears should hear.  The difference between Christ and the unclean spirits makes the difference clear; even the unclean spirits recognize Jesus' authority as that of the Holy One of God, and fear the time has come for their destruction. Even in this spiritual sense of the unseen (according to human eyes), things are put in order, set apart, a line is drawn, and Christ's authority is exercised for a purpose, to heal so that creation may flourish and grow.  Christ's authority is the center and the focus of this action of the good, that which sets apart, puts in reasonable order, gives clarity, and allows room for life to bloom -- and all of this is linked to truth, to our understanding of what is the truth.  It is an illustration of Christ's statement about Himself, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), for in Him, His authority, and the order He establishes, we see all of these set down and revealed to us.   Ultimately, what Jesus' ministry has begun to do is to establish why we try to reach toward Him as our goal in our lives and in terms of our faith and even or communities.  In other words, in our communion with Him, and a deepening reconciliation and union to Christ, we find the "good order" we need in our lives in order to have life abundantly.  Using His authority, Christ commands the disciples, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."  It is in that growing communion and reconciliation to Him that these disciples become the fishers of men that it is possible for them to be.  Let us follow their example.