Mark 1:21-28 (Epiphany 4B)
St. John, Galveston 1/28/2024
Rev. Alan Taylor

+ In Nomine Jesu +

Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

As I was preparing the message for this morning, I came across a prayer of a pastor on Facebook. Granted it was intended to be humorous, it was, after all, printed in cartoon form. Still, I thought it was somewhat relevant to the Gospel reading for today, mainly since the text deals with the subject of authority and, in this case, Jesus’ authority. The pastor prayed, “And Lord, I’m not asking for much, but please make me supremely confident, phonetically impeccable, exegetically immaculate, historically meticulous, emotionally powerful, and culturally relevant to a contemporary society…preferably by Sunday.”

Again, I found that prayer to be humorous. After reading it a few times though, I began to think about the contrast between that prayer and a prayer Martin Luther offered each time he entered the pulpit to preach. It’s known as his sacristy prayer. “Lord God (he said), You have appointed me as a Bishop and Pastor in Your Church, but you see how unsuited I am to meet so great and difficult a task. If I had lacked Your help, I could have ruined everything long ago. Therefore, I call upon You: I wish to devote my mouth and my heart to you; I shall teach the people. I myself will learn and ponder diligently upon Your Word. Use me as Your instrument — but do not forsake me, for if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all.”

To fulfill the charge of his office, Luther expressed his absolute dependence on Christ and His having sent him to preach His Word in the Church and to the world. “Preach the Word.” It is a verse from 2 Timothy that is prominently displayed in the logo of the seminary I attended in Indiana. It is God’s charge to the Pastor. “Preach the Word.”

I have a question for you though. Why does anyone listen to the preacher? I suppose there are a lot of ways to answer that question. Some would say, “as a matter of fact, they don’t,” thus the declining numbers in Christian churches around the globe. Perhaps then I should rephrase the question. Why do YOU listen to the preacher? In your answer, I would imagine that the word “authority” would probably be either expressly stated, or at least implied. The preacher preaches the word of God by the authority of God, thus, you listen to and heed what he has to say because he speaks for God. And, as long as his words are in conformity with the word of God, you hear him as it were God Himself speaking.

Authority, as we know it in this world, is, for the most part derived. In the temporal realm, I think we understand that quite well. For instance, a police officer, by his or her authority as an officer of the law, detains, or arrests a person who has broken the law. His authority is derived, in this case, from the city or municipality he serves.

Authority in the spiritual realm is derived too. Whatever the pastor does in carrying out his ministry, he does by the authority of Christ. And so, he forgives you your sins in the stead and by the command of Christ. It’s this and only this derived authority that makes the words of absolution, or the preached word in the divine service salutary, and not an abomination before God. For, “who can forgive sins, but God alone.”

In the Gospel reading for this morning, the Pharisees questioned Jesus’ authority. “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.” It would seem though that the Pharisees comment wasn’t so much a criticism of Jesus’ authority as it was a brutal slap in the face to the scribes. “Jesus taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” It sounds as if the Pharisees were questioning the authority of the scribes, and perhaps asking the fundamental question of ‘why do we listen to them, anyway?’

What the Pharisees were actually doing though, was acknowledging a fundamental difference between Jesus’ authority and the scribes authority. The scribes authority was derived, in this case, not so much from God, but from the religious hierarchy. Jesus authority, on the other hand, was not derived at all. He spoke with the very authority of God. And so, in the course of time, they would witness Him use His authority to control nature and sickness, and even evil itself, by the sheer command of His voice.

God’s words, whether from the mouth of Jesus, or as they are written down for us in the Bible, carry an authority that is both powerful and without question. You may or may not be aware, but last year was the 50 anniversary of the “walk out” that took place at our LCMS seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. Most of the students, as well as the faculty “walked out” and formed what was known as “the Seminary in Exile.” Most of them were eventually absorbed into what is now the ELCA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Some insist that the skirmish in the early 1970’s was purely political. While it is true that political forces were at work, the issues were ultimately deeply theological, dealing with the question of the authority of God’s word. A school of thought called “Gospel Reductionism” had moved some to interpret the Scriptures as divine and as authoritative only when they dealt with the Gospel itself. God’s word was held hostage to human reason and speculation. The Scriptures could only even be considered accurate when dealing with the Gospel, with the forgiveness sins and redemption in Christ.  

Fortunately, our Synod took a stand. Those who “walked out” were declared in error, and thus, not to be followed. The Scriptures are God’s word in all of their parts. More than that, the Scriptures are, in all of their parts, about Christ and about God’s redemption of the world. Jesus Himself, as well as the Scriptures, speak with an authority that is unmatched in this world. And that authority is closely tied to God’s forgiveness of sinners in Christ Jesus.

There is a passage in Matthew’s Gospel about a man who was paralyzed. You may recall that the man’s friends lowered him down through the roof of someone’s home in order to put him in front of Jesus. Jesus looked at the man, and He first forgave Him his sins. It was a remarkable thing for Jesus to do because everyone no doubt expected Jesus to address the man’s physical malady first. Many of the people objected to Jesus forgiving the man’s sins. To which Jesus responded, saying, “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And the man rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid as were the Pharisees in today’s reading, But here, they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Jesus says, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” Jesus doesn’t waste words. When He speaks, His words accomplish the thing of which they speak. It’s astonishing, isn’t it. Jesus says, “your sins are forgiven,” and no matter how improbable that may seem to you, your sins are, in fact, forgiven.

“Word eternal, throned on high,
Word that brought to life creation,
Word that came from heaven to die,
Crucified for our salvation,
Saving Word, the world restoring,
Speak to us, Your love outpouring.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +