Mark 1:21-28 Jesus and his disciples went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 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.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 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.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
Reflection Jesus’ behavior is unthinkable. He crosses well established boundaries and gleans new life for himself and other people whom society consider unclean or unfit to be included. He touches people whom social, political and religious convention deem unworthy to be seen, heard or included. He ruptures the boundaries of the status quo by recognizing value in the outcast and bringing it to light, which is actually healing. This is what Jesus is doing when he walks into the synagogue in Capernum, teaching “as one with authority” and healing a man possessed “with an unclean spirit.” Jesus is breaching boundaries, unbinding and setting free.
Jesus is not authorized to enter the synagogue and teach. We have no evidence that he succeeded through the Sanhedrin ordination process, the ancient Jewish court system that determines who is a rabbi and has authority to teach. Nonetheless, Jesus enters the synagogue, teaches unapologetically and the people are astounded. This is the first boundary we watch Jesus bind.
The second boundary has to do with orthodox Jewish tradition. As an observant Jew Jesus understands that it is necessary to maintain purity in order to approach God. Yet, he reaches out to a man possessed by an unclean spirit, a man who has no business being in the synagogue. By healing the possessed man Jesus is breaching a central religious boundary and making himself unclean. If that is not enough to provoke official ire, Jesus dares to cross a third boundary by doing the work of healing on the Sabbath. Truly, there is much controversy stemming from boundary issues, then and now.
Let me suggest the real issue that undergirds bickering about boundaries is authority. Who has the privilege and power to define boundaries? or borders? or gerrymanders? What is the source of their authority? Who says?
In secular culture there are institutions devoted to credentialing people, conferring on them the privilege and power to teach or govern, to make decisions, exercise judgments, to define boundaries. This is also true for religious institutions. But we have already noted that Jesus was not credentialed by the Sanhedrin. His authority does not come from social, political or religious institutions. Jesus’ authority is rooted in his relationship with God.
In Mark’s text we engage Jesus “as one (who) has authority and not as the scribes.” He has authority to heal the sick, to cast out demons, to teach whatever he wants and to footnote no one. Jesus asserts his authority as a direct experience of Spirit, of God with him. By example Jesus is teaching us this new way, the way of direct experience of Spirit as the path of life that is not defined nor constrained by external systems of belief or boundaries.
I believe the heart of Jesus’ teaching is showing us this new way of finding our authority and claiming our identity in relationship with God.
When we turn away from the quarrels and chaos of the social, political and religious systems that endeavor to define (and confine) us and choose instead to listen deeply for the movement of God’s Spirit with us, we unearth our own true self which is not other than God’s own self revealed uniquely through us. The thing is, this means we must stop seeking approval from others. Instead of looking outside for our source of authority, we must turn around and look inside to our “with God life.”
Jesus did not seek approval from anyone. He did not quote the rabbis nor did he seek authorization from religious officials. Jesus listened and discerned how the Spirit of God moved him and he aligned his actions with it. The result is clear. Long after we forget the names of the priests and rabbis who defined the purity codes and the names of the five hundred bishops who hammered out the Nicene Creed, we remember the name Jesus and the transforming power of his words in our lives.
Arguable the most influential being ever to walk this earth, Jesus did not need external authorization. What he needed was exactly what he had, his true self aligned in God. Jesus claimed his “with God life” and let the deepest truth of his being inform his every action, action meant for the good of others, even when it cost him everything. This is the "new teaching."
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