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Saved To Rest…To Serve Part 2

“And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” Mark 1:21-22 (ESV)

So a crazy guy barges into synagogue and immediately goes up to Jesus and challenges Him…”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.” For most Pastors this isn’t really a normal beginning to Sunday service but for Jesus it’s going to be a great start to a not-so-normal Sabbath day in Israel. To jump right into something to note here is that after the Israelites returned from their time in Exile or Captivity they had brought back “The Talmud” and according to the Talmud there had to be at least 10 people gathered to consider this a synagogue service.

And each synagogue had a Ruler, Delegate, Servant, and Interpreter of the Synagogue. These men (who we would consider Elders) would represent the Synagogue at the local tribunal known as “The Sanhedrin”. So with that being said it is safe to say that those who understood the Law of Moses were in the midst when this crazy person burst into Synagogue. The second thing to note is that while everyone in this assembly is so astonished by what Jesus is teaching that what normally should be happening gets skipped over. Things like…Getting the crazy guy outta the building, this dude is not only possessed but he is UNCLEAN …DEFILED and he needs to go, NOW!!

But instead of kicking this guy out Jesus delivers him from the bondage of this demon. Could we see this healing as working on the Sabbath? If we remember from the previous Freedom Fighter I wrote (you can look through the blog site archive) doing anything that has the appearance of working is a no-no back in these days. This coulda been a synagogue service gone to a stoning real quickly. However, from my view point I think Jesus is keeping it holy by purifying the demon-possessed man. In this passage found in Mark Jesus says “Come out of him” I don’t think speaking is working.

Besides, the people that were in the synagogue that were meeting together for worship, were more astonished, not only at His doctrine, as He preached and taught, but at this miracle and power of Jesus in casting out devils. They not only observed the authority with which He delivered His teaching, but the authority with which He could cast out this mini-devil, just by a word spoken. Their own Rabbi’s couldn’t do their exorcisms (like they really knew what they were doing) in the way Jesus just did in front of them all. So as far as gathering stones had been concerned these people just over looked the whole matter of punishment.

And this is just one of a few things that Jesus did on this Sabbath day. If I had been around to see this at this happen, as far as I’m concerned, I’ve just done church. How cool of a thing it is to know that THE King of kings started His day serving those around Him. And it doesn’t stop there…oh no, not by any means, there is more to come. So I hope you read the next event that occurred on this Sabbath day but until then ponder this, is what is happening in your church on Sabbath morning astonishing you? Are you being sensitive to the teaching coming from the pulpit or waiting for Pastor to say something outta context? I ask this because that is what happened then and I believe it happens now. It may be that in that we may be missing the miracles displayed by Jesus every Sunday morning. Amen? – Chris Hughes blogs weekly for Freedom Fighter and is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 36-39

Think About This:“There are many in our assemblies who quietly attend under merely formal teachers; but if the Lord come with faithful ministers and holy doctrine, and by his convincing Spirit, they are ready to say, like this man, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth”! No disorder could enable a man to know Jesus to be the Holy One of God. He desires to have nothing to do with Jesus, for he despairs of being saved by Him, and dreads being destroyed by Him.” —Matthew Henry

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17