Daily Bible Reading Wednesday 12th August 2020
Mark 1:14–28
Jesus Begins His Ministry
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;1 repent and believe in the gospel.”
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”2 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit
21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 “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 out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
Footnotes
[1] 1:15
Or the kingdom of God has come near
[2] 1:17The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women (ESV)
Teaching by Rev. William Moody
We begin today looking at some of Jesus’ miracles in Mark’s Gospel to coincide with the current Sunday morning series in worship.
In this miracle the keyword is authority. There is authority first in teaching (v21-22). This came from who Jesus was (the Son of God), the power He had (the Holy Spirit), and the message He proclaimed (God’s Word).
The scribes based their teaching on what other men said but Jesus taught what God said. Today for the church to thrive we need to pray for teachers to teach God’s Word with authority that will cause people to listen and obey. People want to be entertain but God’s preachers are to open His Word.
The second area where we see Jesus’ authority is in casting out evil (v23-28). Satan and his demons have great power to attack and destroy, but they are totally unable to stand against Christ. We see the fear the demons have of Jesus (v24) and with a word He drives them out.
As we consider the great evil that surrounds us and is maybe still so active in our own lives and families, we need to look to Christ in faith and prayer for the victory.