Rev. Tucher

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

Why is it that I am the only one who preaches here on a regular basis? Why is that the congregation not take turns to preach? It all comes down to who has authority to preach and who doesn’t. As we look at our Gospel reading, we see Jesus entering the synagogue and begin teaching. But there is one problem with this picture: Jesus does not have the authority to teach in the synagogue because He is not one of the teachers of the Law. As far as authority goes, he has as much authority as the next Jewish male to begin teaching, which is none. As Mark records for us, “And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” What Jesus’ specific message was on this particular Sabbath, Mark does not tell us; he does tell us about the impression His preaching made on the worshipers. They were amazed, for Jesus did not teach as the teachers of the Law. They always appealed to the interpretations of past rabbis and were particularly adept at breaking down God’s Word into any number of legalistic regulations. Jesus instead always proclaimed the Gospel of God. He quoted no experts but proclaimed the good news on His own authority.

What did that say about the teaching of the scribes? What was at the heart of their teaching if it wasn’t the Gospel? Imagine the scribes when they heard Jesus teaching. What a humbling experience that must have been, or rather, should have been. Remember what was at the heart of their teaching: adherence to the Law in order to bring about salvation. Again, without knowing what Jesus said or taught, you can only imagine that it was not, “If you keep this law and that law, then you will be saved.” Rather, I imagine that the message of Jesus was all about the forgiveness that comes through the gracious mercy of God.

It is solely the authority of God that brings about salvation. It is not the authority of man. It surely was not the authority of the scribes and their strict adherence of the Law, or at least strict adherence in their own eyes. They were the ones who were trained to know what the Scriptures said. However, merely knowing what the Scriptures say and teaching what they say are two different things. One has the authority of man attached to it and the other has the authority of God.

It is no wonder that Jesus taught as one who had authority because He WAS the authority. As the very Son of God, everything that the Scriptures spoke of concerning the Messiah were fulfilled in Him. Every prophecy, every mention of salvation was the result of Jesus as the Christ, the promised Messiah.

Not only had the people gathered realized that Jesus had authority, so did a particular man with an unclean spirit. He called Jesus out on the spot, telling everyone who He was: “I know who you are – the Holy One of God.” For Jesus, the cat was out of the bag. His identity had been revealed to everyone who was there, whether He wanted it known or not. Jesus was just beginning His ministry. He had just begun to call His disciples as we remember from last week’s Gospel reading. Even there we see Jesus exercising His authority when all He has to say is “Come, follow me” and Simon, Andrew, James, and John immediately leave their boats and what they were doing to follow Jesus.

The time had not come and it was not right that the true identity of Jesus be revealed, and so He commands the demon, “Be silent, and come out of him.” As Mark records for us, the demon obeyed and left the man. Why did the demon leave the man so quickly? Why didn’t he try to put up a fight and retain his hold on this man? The answer was because Jesus had the authority and the demon did not. Jesus has all authority as He says in Matthew, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” The words which Jesus spoke were words that commanded authority. They commanded authority because they were not His own words, but they were the words of God. They were the words of promise; they were the words of forgiveness.

Those who were gathered recognized that there was something new to the teaching of Jesus. His teaching was not the same as that of the scribes and rabbis. They recognized that what He taught had authority behind it. It wasn’t made up of fluff, of things that didn’t matter. Those people had heard the Word of God and now here they were confronted with the Word of God made flesh for them. They were amazed at the authority of His words and His work. It was teaching that was focused on the Word of God, with the authority of God behind it. Why did it have the authority of God behind it? Because Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh.

This authority that Jesus Christ asserts over the demon, the authority that He uses to teach in the synagogue, the authority that He uses in performing miracles; in short, the authority that He asserts throughout His life and ministry is the authority as the very Son of God.

As Jesus speaks, we see His authority in action. As Jesus speaks, something happens. Jesus speaks to the blind and they receive sight. Jesus speaks and the lepers are cleansed. Jesus speaks and the lame walk. Jesus speaks and the thief on the cross enters paradise. Jesus speaks, “It is finished,” and your sins are forgiven. It is that blessed Word of God that has such great power and authority.

Even today, we see that authority of God’s Word at work as Gary/Jude came to the waters of Holy Baptism and was made a child of God. What was it that made this possible and earned him that forgiveness? As Luther says, “Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God’s word, the water is plain water and no Baptism.” It is God’s Word that gives it authority.

God’s Word is the final authority. In our case, God’s Word does not cause evil spirits to come out of us. Instead, they are words with the authority to restore. Three words, “I forgive you,” from the mouth of God, dispel all gloom and sadness and bring on joy and gladness. It is joy and gladness in knowing that we have been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ, that all of our sins have been forgiven, and that we have been given life eternal with Jesus Christ. There lies true authority: authority of Jesus Christ to forgive and to make holy. In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.

The clock and calendar dictate much of our behavior. It’s time to eat; time for the news; time for school; time to go to work; time to start working on taxes. The new year has already lost its magic glow as our new year resolutions have already been broken. Time is the eternal taskmaster and everything must take place at the appointed time or else everything falls apart.

Jesus too follows time and follows it to the letter. Everything He does happens at exactly the right time, not a moment before or a moment after. What occurs in our text is no different. Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Did you catch the first command Jesus gives in Mark’s Gospel? First, He says the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. The time has come; not a moment too early and not a moment too late. Then comes Jesus’ command: repent. Repent is the first thing Jesus tells people to do. That word becomes the key word whenever He meets someone. It’s kind of a summary of what He taught, what He preached, what He wanted His miracles to bring about in people’s lives.

When Jesus uses the word repent, He is calling people to turn away from anything that leads away from Him and to turn instead toward Him. What difficult thing repentance is, to turn away from what is contrary to the Word of God. Just what exactly is contrary to the Word of God? In short, the world. What the world teaches and preaches often runs contrary to God’s Word. The world says it’s okay to do any number of things that the Word of God condemns. It’s is so difficult for us to abide by God’s Word when we are told by the world that what we’re doing is okay. But regardless of what the world says, God’s Word is the ultimate authority and Jesus says to repent. That’s not the only command Jesus issues. His second command is believe. Believe not just anything, but believe in Jesus. Trust Him. Turn toward Him. Hold on to Him.

Repent and believe is the heart of Jesus’ message when He speaks or does something. He says and does much more, but this is the gist, the summary, the heart of His ministry: repent and believe. Repent of sin. Believe, for He has come to remove it. And He will!

The time had been fulfilled with the coming of Jesus. Since Jesus arrived on the scene, the prophecies from the Old Testament were fulfilled in Him. All of history now hinges on what Jesus would do. And what exactly would Jesus do? He would come to live a perfect life for you because you live an imperfect life. He would come to die a sinner’s death even though He was sinless. He would rise again to eternal life in order to give you eternal life. This is what Jesus would come and do and this is what Jesus did for you. He did it, the action is already done. There is nothing to be done on your part because Christ has already done it. The only thing Jesus requires of you is to repent and believe.

Jesus calls for us to repent. He says to take responsibility for what you have done wrong. We call that confession, coming before Him with repentant hearts seeking His forgiveness. That is why we confess our sins each week, turning away from the sin in our lives and turning toward the forgiveness that Jesus gives. But we don’t just confess our sins on Sunday, as if we have only sinned that morning. We need to confess our sins daily for we sin daily. We need to turn away from our sinful lives and turn to Jesus and His forgiveness daily.

Jesus issues a third command in our text, one that He issues to Simon, Andrew, James and John: “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” There, Jesus calls them to become His disciples. That same command Jesus gave to them He gives to you as well. In your Baptism, He calls you and says, “Follow me.” We follow Jesus, not out of compulsion or a sense of righteousness on our part, but we follow Christ because of the mercy that He has shown us. We follow Christ; we become His disciples because of what Jesus has done for us. We follow Him to the cross where we see Him take our sin upon Himself, giving to us His righteousness. We follow Christ as He proclaims eternal victory over sin, death, and the devil on account of His life, death, and resurrection. We follow Christ to our heavenly Father, who sent His only begotten Son to restore His creation to what it was meant to be: holy and perfect.

This command of Jesus to follow Him is not a command that is to be taken lightly. To follow Jesus means first of all to subordinate everything to the Lord. Give yourself, your heart, mind, and soul to Jesus.

To follow the Lord also means that one will strive to simulate the Savior in all His ways, to be holy! St. Peter writes, “But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ; that is, we should love and forgive unconditionally, just as St. Paul writes, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Finally, to follow Christ means to share the work of Christ. This point receives a mighty emphasis in Jesus’ statement, “I will make you become fishers of men.” The preaching of the Gospel was Jesus’ highest priority. His Gospel was more important than eating and drinking, than healing and miracles, than any personal comfort. The Gospel is this: Believe in Jesus, who suffered your hell in your place, and you will be saved. Jesus was determined to fulfill that Gospel and to proclaim that Gospel to sinners. His followers will share that commitment throughout their lives.

Today, our Lord calls to you. He calls you to “repent and believe in the gospel.” He calls you to repentance out of the love that God the Father has for you, His beloved creation. He calls you to repentance out of the love that He showed for you on the cross when He took upon Himself all of your sins. He calls you to believe with the faith granted to you in your Baptism through the work of the Holy Spirit. He calls you to believe in the promises that He has made to you and for you, promises such as, “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also,” and “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Our Lord calls you to follow Him. As baptized believers, we follow Him from death to everlasting life. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.