Jesus – Authority to Teach!

Introduction

Good morning, everyone. It’s good to see you. If we haven’t met before, my name’s Miles, and I’m on staff here, and it is preaching time. Just before we pray and get into it, many of you know I was meant to preach last week, but my wife, Morgan, and I ended up taking our daughter, Ivy, to hospital on Saturday and Sunday. She’s happy and healthy and safe and healing. She’s in new kids right now, probably talking at a million decibels. She ended up needing surgery. It all went well.

It’s worth saying what a joy it is to be part of a church that has a family-like community. Many of you were praying for us. Many of you messaged us. Someone here cooked us a really delicious lasagna that we had for dinner and then lunch the next day. Someone else here kidnapped our dog with permission after church on Sunday and looked after him all afternoon. Dan jumped in and prepared and preached a sermon last minute, and it’s just a beautiful example, a beautiful story of family-like community, which is what we want our church to be like and to become more like. We want everyone to know and feel like you belong here and that you’re a part of this family. Thank you for helping Morgan and me and Ivy experience that this week. Let’s pray as we get into preaching time.

Heavenly Father, would you help us now to listen to what you have to say? Would you help us to recognize and put aside our assumptions about Jesus, and instead, would you help us to submit to you and what your word says about him? We pray particularly for those here who are weary, who are battered and drained, for those who are running on empty. Would you please restore them? Would you please heal them? Please would you give them the strength now to hand those burdens to you that they might be refreshed by your word and by our church community. Amen.

Beginnings are significant. The way that something begins often sets the tone for how it’s going to go. A few years ago, I started reading The Stormlight Archives. It’s a fantasy book series. It’s an excellent book. Book five came out just a few weeks ago, and so it’s going to end the big first story arc. It’s hard to put that book down. It’s 11:30 at night, just one more chapter. I don’t want to give you any spoilers. At the very start of book one, King Gavalar is assassinated by this strange man with a strange sword, and it’s all very mysterious. At the start of book two, the assassination of King Gavalar is told again, but from the perspective of someone else who was there. Book three, another perspective. Book four, another perspective. Now in book five, we get to read about King Gavalar’s assassination from his own perspective. When I read it a few weeks ago, it blew me away. A few of my questions were answered, but so many new questions. The tone of the book was set. This is going to be big revelations, big resolutions, big plot twists, so exciting. It’s a hard book to put down.

It’s the same with the Gospel of Mark. On the screen here, you’ll see Mark 1:1-3, and Mark is quoting from Isaiah 40. That’s how he starts. Right at the start, he’s going to quote Isaiah chapter 40. Now, I don’t know if you know much about the book of Isaiah. It’s a very long book, and you can basically cut it in half. The first 39 chapters are judgment and frustration and peril. God’s people are a vineyard, and they were meant to bear good fruit, and they’re bearing bad fruit, and now the vineyard’s going to be trampled. There are some glimmers of hope, but mostly chapters 1 to 39 are judgment. Things are not good. Then chapter 40 starts with comfort. God is comforting his people, and suddenly there’s all these extravagant promises and pictures of hope and joy and prosperity that basically continues for the rest of the book. Mark starts his gospel with, “Hey, everyone, remember Isaiah 40? Remember how after 39 chapters of judgment and frustration and peril, God comforts his people? Remember all the extravagant promises and pictures of hope and joy? Let me introduce you to Jesus.” The tone of the Book of Mark is set. It’s hope, it’s comfort, it’s prosperity, it’s joy. Mark’s showing how all these extravagant promises are going to be fulfilled. Mark aligns much more closely with the second half of the book of Isaiah with comfort and hope.

It’s good that we’re looking through Mark together because what we all need to experience and be reminded of and be immersed in is the reality that the Lord Jesus is the source of true comfort and hope. Only true comfort and hope can transcend circumstance. Only true comfort and hope can remain whatever the world news headlines are saying. Only true comfort and hope can break through the darkness, and the only place to find it is with Jesus. Here’s the plan. We’re going to look at this passage under three headings. The first one is, “The Whispered Hope is Amplified.” The second one is, “The Suspicious Hope is Verified.” The third one is, “The Distant Hope is Realized.”

The Whispered Hope is Amplified

Grab your Bible out, grab your Bible app out, head back to Mark 1:14 and 15. Here is Jesus’s message: “The time promised by God has come at last. The kingdom of God is near, so repent of your sins and believe the good news.” Let’s just break that down into smaller pieces. There is a time promised by God. We already talked about this with Isaiah, but it’s in the whole of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is filled with promise and prophecy about God’s kingdom arriving, and Jesus’s language is that the kingdom of God is near. God promised that his kingdom would come, and now it’s time. It’s worth focusing on the end of the first sentence. Jesus says, “The time has come at last.” Finally, it’s about time. God’s people had been waiting for centuries for this to happen. Isaiah was written about 700ish years before Jesus, and so 700 years before Jesus, that’s when God was saying, “Comfort my people. Here’s what’s going to happen.” Most biblical scholars would agree there were about 400 years of silence before Jesus where, as far as we know, God didn’t really speak to his people at all. That is a distant promise.

Just yesterday, on my family WhatsApp group, my mom shared a picture of her dad. He passed away 10 years ago, my granddad. I was there with my daughter, Ivy, and I was showing her. I was like, “This is your great granddad.” She was like, “Oh, TV remote,” because that’s all she wants to play with at the moment. Although my granddad was born in 1923, and that’s about 100 years ago, and although he and Ivy never met each other, they were never alive at the same time, my mom and me can connect them and talk to each other about them. That is much harder over 400 years. 400 years is a much longer time, many more generations. 400 years of silence, of waiting. Although God’s people were steeped in tradition, and they were reading and copying and memorizing the Torah, the Old Testament, it’s easy to imagine how God’s promises might feel distant, how they might feel more like a whisper. It’s been hundreds of years now. The Romans are in charge, and they’re taxing us, and there’s division and tension between all these Jewish groups. Is this really going to happen? Then along comes Jesus, and he says, “The time promised by God has come at last.”

It’s no wonder why so many people came to see him and hear him.

The Suspicious Hope is Verified

It’s Right to Be Suspicious

It’s right to be suspicious when something seems too good to be true. It seems like just yesterday we were all getting emails from Nigerian princes who wanted to give us $10 million. All we had to do was send them $1,000 and verify that our bank account would work. Too good to be true. It still happens today, of course. Recently, I read a really sad story. There’s a woman in France who was tricked into sending money to, well, she thought it was Brad Pitt, and scammers used AI to create photos of him in hospital, and he needed money for it. They used fake news articles with this exclusive interview with Brad Pitt. He was like, “Yeah, I have this secret exclusive relationship.” She paid hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was a terrible story. It’s right to be suspicious when something seems too good to be true. When Jesus comes along after hundreds of years of silence, it makes sense that God’s people would be skeptical. Excited, yes, of course, but skeptical. They’re thinking, “Who is this Jesus? Does he really have the authority to say these things? Is he really going to fulfill all of God’s promises?” Jesus verifies himself. He selects all the pictures of the crosswalks, and he proves that he’s not a robot. He really is who he says that he is.

Jesus Can Heal the Sick

We’re going to work backwards through the passage. Have a look at verses 29-31. Jesus goes into Simon and Andrew’s home, and Simon’s mother-in-law is sick. To the disciples’ credit, they tell Jesus straight away. Jesus goes up to her, takes her by the hand, helps her sit up, and then he heals her just like that. This amazing little story about Jesus. Jesus can heal the sick. Jesus has authority over sickness. Jesus is verifying this suspicious hope.

Jesus Can Defeat the Enemy

Take a look at verses 21-28. This is classic Jesus. He goes to a new town, he goes to a synagogue, he starts to teach, and his teaching is amazing. Notice the people say he taught with authority. Then along comes this man who’s possessed by an evil spirit, and this evil spirit cries out and questions Jesus, “Have you come to destroy us?” Which is a question that only makes sense for the evil spirit to ask if it knows that Jesus really does have the power to destroy it. Jesus tells the evil spirit to be quiet, doesn’t answer the question, be quiet and get out, and that is exactly what happens. Jesus can defeat the enemy. Jesus has authority over Satan, over his powers. Jesus is verifying the suspicious hope.

Jesus Can Call People to Follow Him

Take a look at verses 16 to 20. Jesus is walking by the sea, and he spots Simon and Andrew, and he says to them, “Come, follow me,” and they do. Later on, he sees James and John, and he says to them, “Come, follow me,” and they do. I really love this moment because it’s so jarring to every person. For people from a culture that elevates career, money, success, stability, the response of Simon and Andrew is bizarre. It’s crazy. Verse 16 says that they fished for a living, but then verse 18, they just leave their nets at once and follow him. They don’t pack up their nets and store them just in case this whole following Jesus scene doesn’t work out. They just give up their job, and they follow Jesus. Also, for people from a culture that perhaps elevates family and honoring family, the response of James and John is bizarre. Verse 20, they immediately leave their father in the boat. They don’t seem to ask for permission. They don’t explain their decision. They don’t even go find some more hired men. They just leave and follow Jesus. Jesus can call people to follow him, and then they do immediately. Jesus has authority over people. Jesus is verifying the suspicious hope.

Jesus has authority over sickness, over the enemy, over people, but there’s one more display of authority which Jesus shows. It’s a bit hidden in our passage, but I think it’s the most significant one, and it’s in verse 17. In verse 17, Jesus calls to Simon and Andrew and says to them, “Follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people.” Here’s a question for you. Why fishermen? Why does Jesus go and find some fishermen to be his first disciples, and then he says he’s going to teach them to fish for people? Why did Jesus not go find some harvesters, and then Jesus is going to teach them to harvest people? That would sit pretty well with his teaching in Luke 10, where the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Why did Jesus not go find some shepherds, and Jesus is going to teach them to find and protect people like sheep? That would sit pretty well with a theme in the Bible as well. Why does Jesus go and find fishermen as his first disciples? It would make sense to go see what the Old Testament says about fishermen, especially fishermen fishing for people. Jesus is all about fulfilling the Old Testament, but the only example I could really find was in Jeremiah 16, and it’s not a positive image. I’ll show it to you here. It is on the screen. In Jeremiah 16, God is judging his people for worshiping other gods. Here’s the reference to fishermen: “But now I am sending for many fishermen who will catch them,” says the Lord. “I’m sending for hunters who will hunt them down in the mountains, hills, and caves. I’m watching them closely, and I see every sin. They cannot hope to hide from me.” That’s not a positive picture of fishing for people.

Back in Mark chapter 1, I don’t think Jesus picked fishermen as his first disciples because of an Old Testament reference to Jeremiah. I think Jesus picked fishermen as his first disciples because of a different Old Testament reference, because of a reference in Genesis and in Exodus and in Isaiah and in the Psalms and all throughout the Old Testament, and actually into the New Testament as well. When Jesus says that he’s going to teach his people to fish for people, what’s the image there? Where are Simon and Andrew and every disciple going to rescue people from? It’s the water, the sea. All throughout the Bible, often the sea represents chaos and death. In Genesis chapter 1, cast your minds back. What is there before God says, “Let there be light,” and then he creates and orders everything? Here it is on the screen. Have a look. Chapter 1, verse 2, the deep waters. That’s what’s there, chaos, uncreation, disorder, uninhabitable. Then God creates and brings about order. The waters represent chaos. Genesis 6, what happens? There’s a flood. That deep water, the flood overwhelms me. There is no flood. David isn’t singing this song submerged in water, and he’s harping under the water. He’s doing his best. There’s no flood. If we read on, it’s clear that he’s overwhelmed by his enemies. His enemies are the flood. His enemies are chaos and death. Have a look at Psalm 46. God’s our refuge and strength, so we will not fear when earthquakes come, the ocean roar and foam, let the mountains tremble as the waters surge. This isn’t about natural disasters. As the psalm goes on, it’s clear it’s about the nations and the kingdoms at war with God and each other. There’s chaos and death going on. That is the raging waters. I could keep going. Have a look at Isaiah 17. The armies of many nations are like the roaring sea. In Jeremiah 51, Babylon is going to be destroyed by the rising sea and the crashing waves. Again, this doesn’t mean that when the Persian army came and defeated Babylon in 539 BC, they didn’t bring their fire trucks and drown the city. It just means they came and they crushed the city. They just brought chaos and death. That’s what the water means. This is not just in the Old Testament either. Think forward all the way to Revelation 21. We’re given this glorious picture of heaven, the new city of Jerusalem coming down like a bride, and now God is home with his people, and he’s going to wipe every tear. It’s glorious, it’s beautiful, and right at the start, there’s just this weird detail. The sea is also gone. Now, does that mean that in heaven there will be no sea, and therefore God’s B will have no fish, or it’ll only have freshwater fish? That’s not what the verse is talking about. What the verse is saying is there will be no more chaos and death. The sea is gone. The reason that every tear will be wiped away, and there will be no more sorrow and death is because the sea is gone. Chaos and death are gone. You see what I mean? The sea is chaos. The sea is death. Jesus’s first disciples are fishermen. He’s going to teach them to fish for people, to rescue people from the sea, from the waters, to rescue people from chaos and from death. He’s going to send them out just like he sends us out today to pull people out of the water, to tell people that same message that Jesus told in verse 15, “Repent and believe in Jesus, because God’s kingdom is here.” This is what happens when someone follows Jesus. When they start following Jesus, they’re fished out of the water. They’re rescued and brought to the shore, and now they’re safe, and they’re secure. They’ve been rescued from chaos and death. Jesus has authority over sickness, over the enemy, over people, and even over chaos and death. Jesus has verified the suspicious hope. He selected all the crosswalks. It’s true. He really is who he says he is. The long-awaited promises are being fulfilled. This really is happening.

The Distant Hope is Realized

When I was growing up, we had a Super Nintendo. It was a great time. I was the youngest of five siblings, and so I used to play with my older brothers, and they would all crush me at all the games. My favorite games were Mega Man X, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country 1 and 3. We didn’t have Donkey Kong Country 2. Just recently, I found our Super Nintendo in a box in our house. I think everything there still works, and all the games are there. I don’t really need to try it because over time it’s just become obsolete. It’s less powerful by comparison. I can play all of those games on my Nintendo Switch. They’ve all been remade, and I can hold the switch and play them. It’s great and portable. Over the years, our Super Nintendo has become less relevant, less powerful. It really was at peak performance in the mid-90s.

Jesus is not like a Super Nintendo. Jesus wasn’t more powerful 2,000 years ago. He wasn’t more relevant, more loving, more humble. He’s the same then and now and forever. Connecting that to what we’ve seen in our passage, Jesus wasn’t more comforting 2,000 years ago. He didn’t bring about more hope or have more authority. The same Jesus that showed his authority over sickness, over the enemy, over people, over chaos, over death, he still has that authority today. The hope that can be found and experienced and enjoyed in Jesus isn’t distant, isn’t locked in the past. It hasn’t been reduced or faded or diminished. The distant hope that was revealed 2,000 years ago is realized. It still exists today, and it still will exist forever. It’s just as potent, just as wonderful. Jesus’s verification of his authority in Mark chapter 1 still stands today over sickness, over Satan, over people, over chaos, over death.

We don’t need to look back and imagine, “Oh, what would it be like to sit with Jesus? What would it be like to see his power and authority with our own eyes? Imagine being comforted and filled with hope by him back then.” That’s not how this works. Instead of looking back, we can look up and receive it all in full. We can look up at him and find hope and comfort and joy despite circumstances. We can look up at him and find salvation from chaos and death. We can be pulled up out of the water. We can look up at him and find certainty. Our Lord Jesus, who has displayed all authority. Friends, don’t look back with longing, look up with confidence. He’s right there.