The Day Jesus Came to Church

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The Day Jesus Came to Church

Mark 1:21-34

Jerry Davison

Mark 1:33 is one of my favorite verses in all of scripture. In one short, simple sentence, Mark captures the profound effect that the presence of Jesus can make when He "enters the house."

So why don't the majority of churches in North America & Western Europe experience this phenomenon? Why doesn't "the whole city gather at the door" of our meetings? To answer that question, we have to understand why this particular town had gathered at this particular door...

Jesus was there!

Back in verse 21, Jesus "entered the synagogue." The first thing that happened is that Jesus showed up to church! Unless we are gathering specifically and intentionally to meet with God, then church is a waste of time. If Jesus is not there, don't bother coming. Yet how many so-called “Christian” churches do not experience – nor would they welcome – the present, active intervention of Christ Himself?
In our current church culture, we have become so good at "doing church" -- with all its programs and strategies, carefully marketed to specific demographic subsets -- we have no need for God to show up at all. I fear that most churches don't even miss Him! A gathering of believers exists for one reason only: to encounter the living presence of a Holy God in corporate worship. In other words, to experience His glory.  As Matt Chandler says, "Church is a lousy hobby." If we are not meeting with God, let's lock the door and turn off the lights and go home. But let's don't pretend we are actually a church if Jesus is not there.

The Word is the Ultimate Authority

In verse 22, Mark says that the people there were "amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching as one having authority, not as the scribes." The root word of authority is author. Who knows more about a book than the one who wrote it? Who has the final say about the plot, the characters, the setting, and the ending? Who is the authority? The author! Standing before them was The Author of THE Story. The Word Made Flesh was teaching His own Word to them. No wonder it carried such weight! As oppose to the scribes, whose job it was to meticulously copy the text, paying careful attention to every line, letter, and punctuation. Could it be that they could not see the Word for the words? They were merely copiers of a manuscript; Jesus was the Author, the source, the very Word Himself.
If our churches are to attract the whole city to gather at our door, Jesus must be there, and His Word must be the Ultimate Authority over every area of our lives. It must be taught without our own thoughts and opinions mixed into it. It must be allowed to speak with its full voice and take us to the mat with its full weight, every single Sunday. Only the inspired scriptures have the power to teach, reprove, correct, train us in righteous, and equip us for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16)

True Spiritual Need is Exposed, Confronted, and Dealt With

Inevitably, the unapologetic preaching of the authoritative Word of God will flush out the Enemy's hidden activities. In verse 23, a man in the synagogue with an unclean spirit cried out, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are-the Holy One of God!" Ironically, the demon recognized Jesus when the religious leaders did not! Jesus then rebukes the demon and casts him out of the man. This simple confession from a demon should be the foundation of all our repentance – “I know Who You are -- and I understand what that means!” What else do the scriptures mean when it says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”? (Ps. 111:10, Prov. 1:7 and 9:10)
Now, am I suggesting that we have demon-possessed people attending our churches today? I don’t know; maybe we do! We may even have a few as pastors from what I have seen in some churches! But the principle here is that when Jesus shows up at church, and His Word is preached with full authority, then the true spiritual nature of our deepest needs is exposed, confronted and corrected. Our struggle is not against mere flesh and blood, Paul says. It is spiritual in nature, not merely physical, mental, or emotional, and therefore requires a spiritual solution. (Eph. 6:12-18)

Our churches are filled with people who live under the oppression of dark spiritual forces who constantly discourage, deceive, diminish, distract, and seek to destroy any work of God in them or through them. We have to stop relying on the wisdom of the world’s best thinking, stop applying merely superficial approaches to deep spiritual problems. This is so important that God mentioned it twice to the prophet Jeremiah in 6:14 and 8:11: “They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when all is war.” Felt needs preaching and programs will not cut it. We will have to recognize that we have a very real Enemy and stand ready to do battle in spiritual warfare, through prayer, the Word of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

God is Glorified

When Jesus’ presence is in a church, God’s Word is preached unapologetically and authoritatively, and people start getting set free and lives start changing, word is bound to get out. Verse 28 says that “His fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region…” Notice it was Jesus’ fame, not the synagogue’s. We must be more interested in building His Kingdom than drawing a crowd. We never want to make the mistake of the citizens of Babel in Genesis 11 and try to “make a name for ourselves” at the expense of God’s glory. When a church is more interested in God’s glory than its own, it’s time to order more chairs!

Homes and Families are Transformed

From the church, it moves into the home and the family.  In verse 29, Mark tells us, “Immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.” Now follow this progression: The glorious presence of Christ is manifested at the church meeting, His Word is boldly preached with authority, it exposes the true spiritual nature of our deepest need and satisfies it, lives are radically changed, word gets out and begins impacting the surrounding community… then the presence of Jesus moves from the church house into OUR house. Once Jesus entered the synagogue, He then moves into the homes of His followers and begins healing and changing their families! It is important to note, it was the men of the house who brought Him in!

One significant phrase to notice in this story is in verse 30. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick and feverish, “and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her.” Once Jesus moves into our homes and families, prayer takes hold and Jesus’ power is released and activated in response. “And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.” (v. 31) The sure sign of a life that has been touched and healed and changed by Jesus is joyful, willing, service to Him and to His followers. No one asked her to serve them. Jesus didn’t demand it: “You’re healed! Now go fix me a sandwich!” No! The text is clear, her grateful, voluntary response to His healing touch was to place herself at His disposal, and to lovingly serve those who follow Him.

People Bring Others to Jesus

What happens next? “They began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed.” (v. 32) The people began inviting their family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, classmates… ANYONE! People began bringing others to Jesus. No clever church marketing. No expensive mailers or billboards. No gimmicks or circus antics to attract those who want to be entertained. The people were the invitation. “Come and see what Jesus did for me! He can do it for you to!” When Jesus is in the house and His Word is clearly preached, lives get changed and word spreads, and the church members themselves begin bringing the lost, the broken, the desperate to Jesus without a marketing strategy or intensive witnessing program. But listen… this is key… Evangelism was NOT the primary focus; it was God’s glory! When God is honored and worshipped authentically, people cannot help but hear about Jesus. Evangelism isn’t a program or an emphasis; it is the inevitable overflow of God’s manifest presence in a community of faith!

The Whole City is Impacted

Which brings us full circle back to Mark 1:33: “And the whole city had gathered at the door.” Not to build our church, or draw a crowd, or make a name for ourselves, but because Jesus is there, His Word is boldly and uncompromisingly proclaimed, lives were transformed by His power, and His name was glorified! Forget the latest trend in church planting. Forget the strategies, the marketing, the conferences that tout the latest model. If we want to see a city changed by the power of God, Mark 1: 21-32 tells us how.

Error: Audio/Video Synchronization issues!

     The other night at our small group Bible study, we were watching the video teaching segment for the series we are doing. We were streaming the video over a network to a TV. The teaching began and everyone was genuinely interested to hear what the speaker had to say. It soon became clear, however, that there was a problem. The sound and the picture were not matching up. We would hear the words first, then several awkward seconds later the guy in the video would move his mouth. At first it was kind of comical but as the teaching went on, it became a distraction. The it became downright annoying. I found myself wanting to just stop the video, even though I really wanted to hear what he was saying.
     Ironically, the topic the teacher was speaking on was the role of the church in displaying the glory of God. As we all struggled to keep up with what he was saying without being driven to distraction by the out-of-sync video, the Holy Spirit said something to me and I wrote it down in my notes:

"When what people hear us say doesn't match what they see in our lives, it distracts from the message we are trying to deliver."

 In other words, if the audio is out of sync with the video, people can completely miss the point! And what is the point? The glory of God! We want people to see who God really is by the way that we live. The Holy Spirit is always working in the lives of God's people "conforming them to the image of Christ," so that we will reflect His character and nature to people who so desperately need to know He is real.
     Tragically, few people get to see that image of Christ reflected in us because our lives get out of sync with our words. This is not a new problem, either. It dates back thousands of years. Listen to what God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah to His people Israel:

"Behold, you are trusting in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered!'-that you may do all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it," declares the LORD. (Jer. 5:8-11, NASB)

What was happening here? The people were coming into the temple, saying all the right words, singing all the songs, "amen-ing" the preacher in all the right places. But there was no life change. What they were saying didn't match up with what they were doing. The audio was out-of-sync with the video. And it was diminishing the glory that God intended the pagan nations around them to see through their holy lives. Ezekiel said it "profaned the name of God among the nations" for His people to live out-of-sync with the Word of God (Eze. 36:16-21)
     To much of the world watching this jumble, they have found the gospel message difficult to follow, distracting to watch, and have either become annoyed and frustrated by it, or have lost interest altogether. The name and glory of God is diminished when His people live out-of-sync with the Word they claim to believe. Churches go through the motions of services and programs every week, devoid of the power or presence of God, and then wonder why people are leaving in droves.
     But how can we expect His power or presence on Sunday morning when we don't give it much thought Monday thru Saturday? We worship on Sunday morning out of the relationship with God we have cultivated the rest of the week. What we bring to the table is what we have prepared in the kitchen. You can't bring a stale, half-eaten peanut butter sandwich to the table and expect it to magically become steak and lobster. Similarly, we can't live our lives all week focused on ourselves and then expect God to show up and do amazing things in our midst just because we have a band and lights and video screens and a dynamic, well-educated speaker.
     God help us! Please help us to repent. Help me to repent. Jeremiah warned:

But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;

They have turned aside and departed.

'They do not say in their heart,

"Let us now fear the LORD our God,

Who gives rain in its season,

Both the autumn rain and the spring rain,

Who keeps for us

The appointed weeks of the harvest."

'Your iniquities have turned these away,

And your sins have withheld good from you.

'For wicked men are found among My people,

They watch like fowlers lying in wait;

They set a trap,

They catch men.

Like a cage full of birds,

So their houses are full of deceit;

Therefore they have become great and rich.

'They are fat, they are sleek,

They also excel in deeds of wickedness;

They do not plead the cause,

The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper;

And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

'Shall I not punish these people?' declares the LORD,

'On a nation such as this

Shall I not avenge Myself?' (Jer. 5:23-29, NASB, emphasis mine)