I Know Who You Are

The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

January 28, 2024

Mark 1:21-28

 “I Know Who You Are”

Jesus is on the move! Among the four Gospels, Mark especially captures this active movement of Jesus, including what we hear in today’s Gospel lesson – and we’re only in chapter 1! Many scholars believe that this is actually the apostle Peter’s account of the life and ministry, the death and resurrection of Jesus, as recorded by the much younger disciple, John Mark (Mark 14:51-52; Acts 12:12, 25; 15:37, 39; Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11). Some forty times throughout the sixteen chapters of the Gospel that bears his name, Mark uses the word “immediately” (εύθύς), and we hear that word several times in today’s Gospel lesson. That word denotes Jesus’ activity and movement. After calling the first disciples – Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John – to follow him, as we heard in the Gospel for last Sunday (Mark 1:14-20), Jesus’ ministry begins in earnest as he goes to the synagogue to teach and preach.  There, of all places, as Jesus is engaged in teaching, a man with an unclean spirit is revealed. This should remind us that the devil is everywhere, even in places we would not expect. Jesus’ authority over all things – including the power of the enemy – is revealed here in stark reality. The words of that unclean spirit to Jesus form the basis of today’s message: “I know who you are, the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24b). May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake

One of the great ironies we see in the Gospel accounts, and especially that of Mark, is who recognizes Jesus and who does not. Over and over again, we see the people who should recognize Jesus as the Messiah, God’s chosen and beloved Son, but don’t. God’s chosen and beloved people, the sons and daughters of Abraham, for the most part, don’t get it. So when Jesus shows up at the synagogue and starts teaching, the people are blown away. “They were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one who had authority and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22). But mere astonishment doesn’t necessarily equate with faith. People can be “wowed” without coming to trust in Jesus as Savior. In Israel, the scribes handled a good bit of the teaching of the faith, but they only quoted what other people had said and wrote: rabbi so-and-so said, rabbi thus-and-such wrote. Jesus’ authority to teach didn’t come from what other people said. Jesus’ authority came from himself as the Messiah, God’s beloved Son. This is what was so astonishing to people – astonishing and refreshing! So what about those who did recognize who Jesus really was? Who were they? It was the demons and the outsiders. They knew beyond the shadow of a doubt who Jesus was. The unclean spirit within that man in the synagogue cried out with this very confession. Later on, toward the end of Mark’s Gospel, after Jesus died on the cross, it was an outsider – the Gentile Roman centurion – who declared: “Truly, this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39).

“I know who you are, the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24b). That statement can be based on fear or on faith. The unclean spirit’s confession of Jesus as the Holy One of God was rooted in fear – fear of One more powerful than himself; fear of what that more powerful One would do to him. That’s why he cried out: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” (Mark 1:24a). If there is a Holy Spirit – and there most certainly is – then there is also an unholy spirit. The Word of God makes clear that there are malevolent forces opposed to the kingdom of God and the authority of Jesus. These take many forms, but their purpose is always the same: to steal, kill, and destroy all that belongs to God (John 10:10a; Revelation 12:7-12), including the people of God. The worst mistake we can make is to deny that such things exist, lulling ourselves into a false sense of security. We do so at our own peril. Sheltered under the power of Christ, we are careful, but not fearful. This is why Paul the apostle urges believers to “put on the whole armor of God,” so that standing in the strength of the Lord’s power and might, we may be able to stand firm (Ephesians 6:10-20). Not in fear, but in faith, we await that great and final day when everything opposed to the kingdom of God will be destroyed, and God will be all in all (Revelation 20:7-10)

“I know who you are, the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24b). That is our statement also, and we make that confession not in fear, but in faith. Yes, Jesus is the Holy One of God, and all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him (Matthew 28:18). Jesus’ use of his authority (έξουσία) as the Holy One of God is for good and for blessing. Jesus’ very Name, Yeshua, is who he is and what he does: Savior. Jesus came to use his authority to overthrow the power of the evil one. Jesus came to use his authority in humble and loving service; to give his life as the atoning sacrifice for our sins on the tree of the cross. All this Jesus has done for you and for me, that we may be his own and live under him in his kingdom. The good news is that Jesus says to us: “I know who you are.” He says to each one of us: “You are my own beloved child, washed clean in the waters of holy Baptism, marked with my own cross, sealed by the Holy Spirit for life eternal. You belong to me.” Responding to all that God in Christ has done for us, even when we confess in faith about Jesus, “I know who you are,” he doesn’t promise that our life will be trouble-free, or without pain and suffering. In the midst of whatever pain and suffering Jesus may allow us to bear in life, he promises that we are not alone. Jesus promises that he himself will be with us always, even to the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). Knowing Jesus as the Holy One of God, our Savior, trusting in all that he has done for us, come what may in this life, we are secure in his care and keeping.

Suddenly, Jesus becomes a first-century celebrity; an influencer! “And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee” (Mark 1:28). That’s not really a good thing for Jesus. People will now have all kinds of misperceptions and misunderstandings about who he is. It will follow Jesus all the way to the cross, and it is there – on the cross of Calvary – that we really know who Jesus is. In the week ahead, our congregation will be helping to serve at the Hypothermia Shelter as part of our Serving Jesus-Living in Community series. Like Jesus, people may have misperceptions and misunderstandings about who we are and why we’re doing this. Our goal in this, as well as everything else that we do in Jesus’ Name, is that there’s less of us and more of Jesus, so that he might increase and we might decrease (John 3:30); so the light and love of Jesus might shine through our serving and our living.

Friends in Christ, we are blessed beyond measure because we can say in faith about Jesus: “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” Amen.