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Week:05, Season:1,
2012
Posted on Saturday by PCT
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The Teaching with Authority
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Scripture：《
Mark 1:21-28
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21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 25 “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. 27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
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Be a mentor of modern Bible study
A son of the Presbyter at church was baptised in his middle age. Each year the church gave each baptised person a present of the Bible in Today's Chinese Version (TCV). As this brother was unwell, he could not receive his present, therefore the minister sent his Bible with the latest edition of the magazine Reading the Bible with New Eyes and invited him to begin his Bible study by using this magazine with other brothers and sisters at church. This brother said emotionally, “I come from a family that has believed in God for nearly 50 years, and I am the son of the Presbyter but I did not know how to read the Bible…Once there was a Catholic sister gave me a Bible. She said whenever I finished or I did not want to read anymore then to return it to her since this Bible is what she used to teach the gospel. Somehow this Bible is still here with me because I did not know how to start my reading…”
Therefore, the minister opened the Bible given as a present and led this brother to read through the contents. He suggested to this brother to read the Bible in the following way “If you want to start from the New Testament, you can read the Book of Luke first then the Acts. This will help you understand how the gospel has been spread widely. After that, you can read from the Book of Matthew and then finish the New Testament. If you want to start from the Old Testament, read Psalms first since they are poems of prayers people use to praise, to worship, to pray and toseek help from God. This will help you learn to pray. After that read Proverbs and then read from Genesis onwards until you finish the Old Testament.” The minister also encouraged him by emphasising that as well as Bible study, we Christians also need to attend church services regularly and worship with other Christians to receive God’s teaching relevant to our current circumstances.. The minister’s sharing of this inspired this brother to restart his journey of faith.
The difference between the teaching of the teacher of the law and Jesus？
In the scripture we read today, it records the work of Jesus in Galilee. Let us think about John the Baptist again before we discuss further. What he was wearing and eating were the same as the poorest people in society then but he was equipped by God’s power. The presence of John was never surrounded with glory but he served the Lord with his great ability. How could Jesus’ teaching be so inspiring and encouraging at the synagogue in Capernaum？ This is a lesson worth reflecting on. Jesus practiced God’s words in his daily life. Like John the Baptist, he never highlighted his unique identity but spoke about God’s words truly and taught people how to put them into practice.
Mark 1: 23-26 mentions the time when Jesus drove out an unclean spirit which provoked a lot of debate. When we read through this passage carefully, we find that this person possessed by an unclean spirit was in the synagogue. This is different from what we have read in other stories “in the wilderness, field or grave.” When this person saw Jesus, he cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth？ Have you come to destroy us？ I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” This event lets us reflect one thing that even in a synagogue (church), if we do not praise Jesus, the unclean spirit will still attack and even control us.
After Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and ordered it come out of the person, this provoked people’s discussions again. Reflecting about this today, do we really know the one we believed, we knew and we followed？ The Jesus we saw is filled with great power: firstly, he has the power to explain God’s words. Jesus truly expressed God’s words clearly. He did so without extravagance, without the judgement of anyone’s identity, without irrationality, without imagination and without seeking his own benefit. He did so with his whole heart and mind. He spoke God’s words and practiced them. The power of his achievement came from God. Additionally, Jesus has the power of curing disease and driving out the devil. The unclean spirit recognised Jesus, feared him and rejected him because the authority Jesus has comes from God. The unclean spirit surrendered before Jesus. After driving out the unclean spirit, Jesus healed people and helped them turn back to the original image in which God made us and restored human dignity. in this way people can regain the human virtues of kindness, justice and love.
The teaching with authority
A priest coming from the aboriginal tribe once visited our youth leader and invited him to attend the indigenous conference. The priest said, “I am going to lead you young people from the Presbyterian Church to see what the real powerful worship is. We have invited a specially gifted priest to say prayers and a worship team with special power in this conference… What they have are what you do not have in your church. The worship style is completely different from your worship. Come to join this conference and it will make you completely different for God is asking you to change!” Hearing this invitation, the youth leader at our church asked, “How is it that this priest said that they have things that we do not have？ Does the Bible say so？”
What is the authority which we people pursue？ Whose truth is taught by ministers and priests？ If we reflect on today’s church in Taiwan, aren’t we facing this worship style argument so often？ Do we delude ourselves by dazzling worship styles and the performance of the passionate worshipping band？ Do we pursue the miracles which meet our own needs; including emotion, power, fortune, beauty, and fame…thus we have lost the judgement of our faith？ The source of our concern is that we only put the focus on ourselves and we exalt our names by borrowing Jesus’ name. Didn’t the leaders of the synagogue, the teachers of the law, the Pharisees, and the person oppressed by the unclean spirit all put their focus on their own good？ Let us consider again whether we do truly believe in witnessing to Jesus and honouring his name？ Or do we make exalt ourselves by simply borrowing his name and the gifts he gave us？ We have been given salvation from Jesus so that our body, soul and mind are healed and are capable of serving him. Therefore, when we use our authority and abilities coming from God, we need to think again whether we do this in the fear of God？ Do we do this with the altruism, the kindness and the renewal of our life shared with others？ What does teaching with authority mean？ Does it have class distinction？ Do we really need a certain identity, gift and spiritual glory？ When we speak of the spiritual authority, we need to reflect again on the value of life given to us from God. We can still seek the spiritual gifts from God even if we are not a minister, a Presbyter or a deacon. The point is for what do we seek this gift？ Is it for honouring our Lord and benefiting others or for our own advantage？
No matter which church you belong to, let us encourage each other and worship our Lord with a honest mind. Let us seek God’s words with our mind and soul with the help from Reading the Bible with New Eyes in our everyday life. Let us know our Lord Jesus more and love to practice his teaching.
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For discussion：
1.What do you think are the characteristics of the diverse worship elements in Taiwan’s church？ What do you think is the most important element of worship？
2.What are the characteristics of your church？ Do you think these characteristics can help the work of spreading the gospel？
Please pray for：
1. Pray for brothers and sisters who feel confused about their faith. Ask the Lord to give them the appropriate chances to share the life witness with each other though encouragement, caring and prayer.
2. Pray for the ministry of the practice of family altar (Bible study and worship God with your family) in your church this year.
Prayer：
Lord Jesus who paid for our life, thank you for always giving us your teachings. We receive guidance how to live from your words and also the true peace from you. Thus we give our thanks to you. We do not seek a blessing for ourselves but we ask a blessing for those who continue to follow and serve you. We ask a blessing for those who have been loyal to your teaching and talked about your gospel. May we open our eyes to you, seek your guidance through Bible study and understand your will through our daily prayer. We pray for all of the readers of Reading the Bible with New Eyes in every corner of the world. May we share your love, praise your name and worship you even if we are in different places. May we become more like you in our lives and more sensitive to your teachings. May we walk in your way. In the name of the Christ we pray. Amen.
Something you can do：
1. Promote “read” the Bible movement in your church and use Reading the Bible with New Eyes as the Bible study material in your fellowship and team.
2.Make the family home a place of prayer, worships and meditation and use the “Fellowship of the Least Coin,FLC”. Dedicate your life to God and live his teaching in your life.
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