Mark 1:21-25

Mark 1:21 (KJB)
And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.

Capernaum was on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. The disciples which Jesus chose from that area would have been familiar with that town. Then Jesus went into the local synagogue on the Sabbath day and it is a custom for visiting Rabbis to bring a message. The word “taught” in the Greek is in the Imperfect Tense which means a continual past action. This means that Jesus was teaching in the synagogue for a long period of time. Notice the text also tells us that Jesus “immediately” on the Sabbath day entered the synagogue to teach. Jesus teaches us here that we are to waste no time or opportunities to get out the Gospel.

Mark 1:22 (KJB)
And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.

Astonished - Amazed or overwhelmed

Here is a very important verse for every Christian. If you notice that when Jesus was teaching that He literally astonished or amazed His hearers. The reason for that is because He was teaching as one that had authority. Now we know that Jesus is identified as the living word of God. (John 1:1 KJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. As the living word of God, He began to teach things which were hidden in past times called a mystery. (Eph 6:19 KJV) And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, That mystery was the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Jesus would have taught having first hand knowledge of it. It was something the people did not hear before and as a result, they were amazed at what was being taught. The doctrines which were being taught was the truths of the Gospel which would not have been taught under the Mosaic Law. Jesus taught as one having authority in contrast to the Scribes who taught the same things under the letter of the law along with their legalistic additions. They were only teaching out of the commentaries like the Talmud which would have been a dead teaching because it did not bring out the way that one obtains eternal life. The Gospel of Christ is dripping with eternal life and the difference between the Gospel and the same old warmed over commentary based teachings would be like the difference between life and death. This is why it is important for the Christian to teach the Scriptures because with them you are speaking with the authority of God, provided you are not twisting the meanings to make them fit some belief system.

Mark 1:23 (KJB)
And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,

As Jesus was teaching in the synagogue there was also a man possessed of a devil who had cried out. The words “cried out” in the Greek carry with it the meaning of “scream aloud or shriek.” It must have been a loud shriek. This also brings up a main principle that the devils are comfortable where false gospels are taught but when the true Gospel is taught, it causes the devils to cry out. This is the principle behind many church rejections of the true Gospel. A church which teaches a liberal gospel that does not center on Christ will be a favorite resting place for devils because they will not be disturbed. Let a person into the church which has the true Gospel and the whole church will come against them because the devils holding that assembly in sinful captivity will lead the charge and unfortunately the people will follow and even some spiritually neutered Christians will follow the charge.

Mark 1:24 (KJB)
Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

The devils began to hold a conversation with Jesus and they do know that their “doom is sure” as Martin Luther put it. (Mat 8:29 KJV) And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? The devils knew exactly who Jesus was and they did their best to try and take authority over Him. It was done like this because in ancient times, names were very sacred and they normally represented the essence of the person. Not like today where designer names mean nothing. For example, Jacob means supplanter. Didn’t his name describe him perfectly? So the devils knew who Jesus was because they knew Him in Heaven before they rebelled with Satan. What the devil said here is definitely not a confession of faith but it was a dialog between two kingdoms, God’s and Satan’s. They tried to get Jesus to leave them alone because they wanted to stay inside the man they were in. Now that the Kingdom of God has come to earth in Christ, the devils are not going to have their way anymore and will be expunged from the people they indwell. This will be done in modern times not by some phony priest who thinks he has authority over Satan but by the Gospel preaching. In the synagogue, Jesus taught as one having authority and that authority of the Scriptures is available to the Christian today and when a person becomes saved, the devils must flee because now the Holy Spirit indwells that person. Just as the devils had to flee when Jesus came on the scene, they also have to flee when the Holy Spirit comes on the scene.

Mark 1:25 (KJB)
And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.

Jesus rebuked that devil who spoke because Jesus was not going to be confessed by evil beings. He knew that this confession was out of evil intentions and was not appropriate because Jesus was not receive any praises from devils or else people could begin to think that the Pharisees were right in their indictment of Jesus. (Mat 9:34 KJV) But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils. Jesus then makes two commands: The first was for the demons to be quiet and stop talking and then the second command was for the devils to come out of the man.

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