Mark 1:29-39
I would like to have heard Jesus preach. How do you think His message would be received today? He had no building, no public address system and I sure can’t picture him using notes. Stranger yet; His gospel did not directly contain Himself as one who had been crucified or raised from the dead. What were listeners supposed to do with Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom which did not mention Himself as One who should be invited into the heart? What was the “good” news that Jesus was preaching? Well, we know what those privileged to hear Him thought. My NAS translation says, “they were amazed….., for He was teaching them as one having authority…“. The Message translation puts it this way;
Everyone there was incredulous, buzzing with curiosity, What’s going on here? A new teaching that does what it says? He shuts up defiling, demonic spirits and sends them packing!
The saying (or preaching) and the doing were perfectly aligned in Christ’s life and the result was Jesus having the upper hand over demonic powers and illness. If they would have had print media, the headlines of the Galilean Times would have read; THE WORD HAS BECOME FLESH; Demons Silenced and Evicted in Jesus’ Presence”. So,..the sense of amazement was not just a response to His excellent sermons; it was their response to the powerful manifestations of God’s Life as it was being displayed before them.
We have great communicators and communication technology today that are assisting in the gains being made in our mission to preach what we have come to understand as the gospel. I have wondered though; if the earth today were exposed to Jesus’ version of “good news” would we be as dependent on media? Maybe, but the results-oriented gospel that Jesus preached was doing pretty well without the power of public relations. The scriptures tell us that, when Jesus ministered;
….immediately the news about Him (who He was in word and deed) went out everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.
Scripture tells us Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.” We may not know the exact content of all His messages but we do know, (because of His deeds), the kingdom of God was at hand. It was accessible and in it, there was a “now“-authority over the powers of darkness. I believe this is an element of the good news we have somehow lost. Without the now-ness of the kingdom, I fear we are left with only a then-ness. How much of the bad fruit of our apathy and indifference might be traced to this root? What a powerful demonic strategy; to get the called-ones to adopt a “then“-is-the-day-of-salvation“ attitude.
I know I have read the Bible with a “that was then, this is now” mindset. While I may confess with my lips a fuller, more powerful gospel, I too often live complacently as if the kingdom will be “then” at hand with a “then” authority rather than live responsively and responsibly toward the kingdom as a “now” reality. So today, as I hear Jesus say, “repent and believe in the good news“, I believe He is telling me to repent of my blasé attitudes about His “now” kingdom and His “now” authority and my fatalistic projections of where I perceive the trends of an evil society are taking us. Yes, the trends do seem obvious; hopelessness is in the air we breath but, scripturally speaking, where there is evil is not grace to abound all the more?
Did Jesus say it was better that the Holy Spirit come and indwell us just so that He could collectively affirm (by our absence of power) a dispensation of Christianity focused on buildings, programs, or on our knowledge of the Bible, or the further refinement of our character? Is the Holy Spirit contentedly residing quietly inside us, as we halfheartedly (or whole-heartedly) embrace a Christianity that is lean (or completely barren) of kingdom authority?
I can only explain the relative impotency of my Christianity (and that of my generation in the west) by considering that the demonic spirits have not yet been silenced nor have they been sent packing. They are still present. Here in western culture they may not be flinging as many of their writhing victims into fires but they have (in their current strategy) embedded their defiling lies in our culture, encouraging unbelief within and without the church. As to the effectiveness of Satan’s agenda, there is certainly evidence of much writhing within the collective soul of society. I suspect it will be a shock one day to discover just how accommodating we have actually been to the enemy’s lies.
Father, may the renewing of our minds include an upgrade in our perception of Your kingdom government which we know will continue to increase until You place all your enemies beneath Your feet as a footstool. Please impart to us a righteous indignation where the kingdom of darkness is outshining the kingdom of light. Amen.
A question. Is it possible that the restlessness that is being documented among churched-ones (which is usually interpreted by leaders as mutiny or rebellion) is actually life stirring within the cocoon? Note; If you are unaware of restlessness as a trend within Christendom, check out Revolution by George Barna. On Amazon, see the books that others bought who purchased Revolution. May I recommend a few authors (from different camps) whose own restlessness (and even scholarship) are driving them to now kingdom thinking and living: When Heaven Invades Earth by Bill Johnson, You Were Born For This by Bruce Wilkinson. I also hear a challenge from NT Wright to rethink what we have assumed to be normal Christianity. Note: These authors may not be speaking at the same conferences but they are brothers with kingdom DNA alive in their hearts.