The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany is Mark 1:21-28.
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| Pharisees by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff |
They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, "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." 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching-- with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
Does anything surprise you about this text?
What questions do you have?
How might it apply to our life today?
I would like to know how the scribes were teaching them before. Why were they shocked at someone who taught with authority?
ReplyDeleteMakes me feel like maybe we should all be questioning authority a bit more. Why doesn't it surprise us that almost everyone with even a small amount of power (deserved or not) speaks with authority and most of us follow it blindly?
Did I completely miss the point of this....
What a great insight, Abbie. I think you're right on about how we "decide" someone has authority. Is it charisma, or ideas we agree with, or a position, or something that completely blows our minds? I think it's interesting that we don't get to know what Jesus said--Mark simply reports that he teaches with authority and not as the scribes (who also had lots of power and authority!). Definite food for thought!
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