EPISODE 142 GOSPELOFMARK CHAPTER 2 "Exousia"

Welcome to Share the Word. This episode of Share the Word podcast brings you the big idea of the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark. The forgiveness of sins, healing of the paralytic man, expelling unclean spirits, are all tools to show what Paul will bring to light in this chapter. Let's get started. Mark chapter 2, exousia. Welcome back to Share the Word, where we explore the big ideas in the New Testament chapter by chapter.

And today we're in the Gospel of Mark, and in this episode, I'm going to focus on a very big idea that Mark wants his readers to understand, and that is the exousia of Jesus. The what, Paul? I don't even know what you're saying. Well, good. Stick around. Let me explain it.

Exousia isn't an English word, so don't feel bad if it's not in your vocabulary. But, and I'm sure you understand this by now, the New Testament was not originally written in English. It was written in Koine, that is common Greek, the most spoken language in the world at the time Mark and the other New Testament writers were living. This is one reason why there's so many English translations of the New Testament, by the way. They're all trying to out-convey the others in accuracy, to as clearly as possible put into English what the original Greek says. Our goal at Share the Word is never to try and impress you with deep scholarship, but rather to make what the Bible has to say as easy to understand as possible.

But to get to what an author meant, like Mark was doing his best to convey when he wrote, it helps to understand his world and his terms. As someone has correctly put it, the Bible was written for us, but not to us. Remember, Margie was explaining last time that Mark wrote his gospel in the first century and had a particular audience in mind who he was writing to. Then we should bear in mind that according to the respected Christians living after Mark's time in the second century, people like Papias, Irenaeus, and others, Mark essentially was putting down in his writing the things his mentor and teacher, the apostle Peter, regularly told him about what he remembered from his years as Jesus' disciple. Jesus exousia is what caused Peter to become a disciple in the first place, to leave his job and for much of three years his family and home and follow Jesus around.

Okay, Paul, quit teasing us. Tell us what exousia means. It's a Greek word that appears throughout the Gospel of Mark several times in key places, which tells me this is something Peter stressed because, remember, Mark was writing down Peter's impressions and recollections of his time with Jesus. So let's get to the point. Exousia is a Greek noun that comes from a verb which means when someone has or exercises sovereign freedom, meaning when someone can do what they want because of their position, when someone can act without any hindrances or permissions. Exousia, the noun form from that verb, in a straight word-for-word translation in the New Testament is usually rendered by the word authority.

Let me point up the first time we encounter this term in Mark's account. It's in chapter one in his description of Jesus' first time teaching at the synagogue in Capernaum. Listen. And they, referring to Jesus along with his new followers, including Peter, went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they, now this would include Jesus' followers as well as the regular worshipers in that synagogue. They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority.

That's the word exousia, and not as the scribes, their normal synagogue speakers. And 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. Jesus rebuked that spirit, saying, Be silent and come out of him. And the unclean spirit, convulsing the man, crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.

And they were all amazed, and they questioned among themselves, What is this? A new teaching with exousia. That's the word again, authority. He commands even unclean spirits, and they must obey him. And at once Jesus' fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. What were Peter and everyone else in that service struck by the very first time they listened to Jesus publicly teach?

Well, it was nothing at all like they were used to hearing. The word translated astonished or amazed suggests everyone there was jolted out of their normal, it's sermon time, let's get comfortable state of mind. The content and the manner in which Jesus spoke was far different than what they were used to listening to. He spoke with full assurance he was delivering God's word. He was clear and direct and compelling, and it was obvious to all that he knew exactly what he was talking about. He spoke with unusual, even unique authority.

Another entity in that audience was also impressed with Jesus speaking, but in a different way, and it was this evil spirit who had come to control a man who was in attendance that day. Peter remembers, even as Jesus was speaking, the demon cried out from the man, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Why have you come here to destroy us? I know who you are. You're the Holy One of God. The demon entity in this man recognized Jesus and knew he had authority over him.

Then all those in attendance saw Jesus demonstrate that authority right in the middle of their synagogue service. Be quiet. Come out of him, Jesus commanded, and the unclean spirit, convulsing the man and crying out loudly, came out of him. Can you even imagine being in that service, witnessing that? This astounded them again. What are we experiencing here?

it says. They were all asking each other. This is a different kind of exousia, a new kind of authority, someone who speaks directly from God and who displays authority even over demons. And immediately, because of this, Jesus' fame spread everywhere throughout that region, Peter told Mark. There were more displays of divine power following this, told about in chapter one, and it became impossible for Jesus to breathe there in Capernaum. Everyone was coming to him with every kind of malady, hoping for a touch from him.

He had to get away by himself to pray for a while. I think he was looking for wisdom in how to respond to people's overwhelming fascination and pursuit of him. In time, Peter and the others found him and said, Jesus, everybody's looking for you. And Jesus said, I know. We need to move on from here to different towns so I can preach there, for that is why I have come. People in and around Capernaum apparently wanted to monopolize Jesus' time and energy, to make him their local healer.

But that was not how Jesus understood his mission. Yes, he healed people because he was compassionate, and also because it demonstrated his divine authority. It authenticated his teaching and claims. But he hadn't come to be a traveling healer. He had come to share God's truth and ultimately, as we learn in the Gospel of Mark, to lay down his life as a ransom for sin. So Jesus and his, at this point, half a dozen or so disciples left Capernaum and did a tour through other towns and villages in Galilee, visiting many synagogues and preaching.

But Jesus' fame kept spreading like a wildfire. Then we open in chapter 2. Mark says they had returned to Capernaum by this time because this was Peter's hometown and had become kind of their home base during Jesus' ministry in Galilee. That's why it says in verse 1, the word spread that Jesus was home. So you know what's going to happen next once word gets out about that. Listen, when Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home.

Soon the house where he was staying, this was Peter's house, was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. It's helpful to know that houses in Capernaum and other towns in Galilee from this period have been excavated by archaeologists. If you want to see photos of them, you can Google biblical archaeology Capernaum, C-A-P-E-R-N-A-U-M. The main room in these homes was usually open, often about 30 foot across. It's a pretty big room. Standing room only, you could probably pack a fair number of people inside, say 50, 60, 70 people.

I know that because of my son's flash high school graduation party that somehow ended up at my house. But let's not get into that. Mark makes the point that there were also among this crowd some teachers of the law there too, local religious figures who were the only ones who had seats, reverend doctors of the law. They were undoubtedly there to size up Jesus after all the reports about him were circulating. More people who could not get into the house were pressing at the doorway to see if they could hear and see anything. While they listened, spellbound to Jesus' teaching, he taught them from God's Word, Mark says, and during that time, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat, like a pallet.

And they couldn't get him in to Jesus because of this crowd, so they decided, out of desperation, to dig a hole through the roof. These simple homes had a flat roof with outside stairs to reach it. The flat roofs were useful for many purposes. Across the home's ceiling beams were placed smaller pieces of wood. Atop the wood was put layers of dried plants like hay, creating what we would think of today as a thatched roof. But atop that was often a thick layer of dried mud or clay to seal it, to kind of allow it to bake hard, making the home's roof solid and waterproof.

So imagine as Jesus is teaching, those crowded into Peter's house, dirt and hay and stuff starts coming down from the ceiling. So everyone is looking up. I'm sure Jesus stopped and watched along with everyone else, wondering what in the world's going on over their heads. And it became apparently, presently, this man's friends were tearing open a large enough hole in Peter's ceiling, Mark tells us, they were able to lower the man who was crippled, paralyzed, right down in front of Jesus. Can you see him coming down from the ceiling as they lower him with ropes tied to corners of his pallet, hand over hand over hand, marveling at their faith, the Bible says, that of the paralyzed man and his friend. Jesus' first words were, My child, your sins are forgiven.

That was an odd thing for him to say in that situation, don't you think? The scribes and teachers of the Old Testament law who were sitting there certainly thought so. In fact, it was more than odd to them. They thought, What is he saying? That's blasphemous. Only God forgives sins.

Peter realized later and told Mark Jesus knew what they were thinking in this situation, so he asked them, Why are you questioning me in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Stand up, pick up your mat and walk'? They apparently didn't answer him. Neither seemed possible to them, actually. So Jesus said, To prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority, that is again exousia, to forgive sins, Jesus then turned to the helpless young man and said, Pick up your mat and you may go home. And he stood up, jumped up, actually, Peter says.

I'm picturing like a kip-up, which I did in gymnastics when I was like a teenager. And once firmly on his feet, he grabbed up his mat, walked out through the stunned onlookers, leaving everyone to exclaim, We have never seen anything like this before. Wow, what an unforgettable experience for Peter, and I'm sure everyone else in that room that night. Peter probably never forgot it as well because I guess he got stuck paying for a new roof. This was the kind of extraordinary thing happening early on that persuaded Peter, many others as well, to follow Jesus. They witnessed this impossible to explain, outside of God, this absolute authority with which Jesus acted, his exousia.

He had authority over nature. Remember the miraculous catch of fish the first day he met Peter at the seaside and called him to be a fisher of men. He had authority over the most serious illnesses and disabilities, as here with this paralyzed man, or the leper we saw in chapter one. And he also had authority over even the spirit world, over spiritual entities of darkness. The demon tormenting the man Jesus encountered in Capernaum synagogue certainly knew who Jesus was. That's why he fearfully asked, Have you come here to destroy us?

Realize, Jesus claimed to have the authority to forgive sins, something that only God has the authority to do. That's something that he could not prove in and of himself. But to instantly heal a man of paralysis in front of many witnesses, or do these other shocking demonstrations of divine power, well, that authority was indisputable. So, who's to question, realistically, whatever claims Jesus made? That's why he said, But that you might know that the Son of Man has this authority on earth to forgive sins, looking around to his doubters, Rise, pick up your bed and go home, young man. Let's pause the narrative for a moment.

Did you notice Jesus' unusual self-designation, Son of Man? This was not only used by him on this occasion at Capernaum; it occurs 80-plus times in the Gospels. Outside of the Gospels, that is, when others are speaking about Jesus, as in the epistles we've studied so far, those authors almost always refer to him with titles like Lord or Christ or something like that. But here, and most times elsewhere, when Jesus refers to himself, it's as the Son of Man. For example, in the first chapter of John's Gospel, John recalls the calling of another of Jesus' disciples named Nathanael. He tells how Nathanael was convinced to become a follower of Jesus because Jesus told him things that he had no human way of knowing.

Jesus asked him on that occasion, Because I say to you, I saw you under a fig tree, you believe me now? You will see greater things than that. Truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. See, heavens opened. I've heard people suggest that Jesus used the title Son of Man out of humility, as in he didn't go around calling himself the Son of God, but rather the Son of Man, or that he did so to underscore his humanity and identify with us humans. But I don't think that's it.

In Jesus' time, the idea of a coming Messiah was very dominant in Jewish society. Under Roman occupation, there was this fevered expectation that God would send a political leader, one who would arise from David's line and become a military savior. And once he freed Israel from their oppressors, become their charismatic ruler. He would return Israel to a time of peace and prosperity and to greatness on the earth. This was the Messiah they looked for and longed for. They called him Mashiach, Mashiach meaning the Anointed One, or they called him the Son of David, a reference to this one rightfully inheriting the throne of their nation's greatest historical leader, King David.

Jesus understood these expectations very well, and that's why he avoided such titles. Jesus actually told his disciples, Don't call me by these popular messianic titles, and he purposely turned away from anything political in his life. Yet, it's so interesting to me that Jesus certainly knew he was Messiah and that he was the one promised by the Old Testament prophets. He told the woman at the well in John chapter 4, in a private conversation, that he was. And when he asked his disciples, when they were alone, at one point who people were saying he was, they told him this and that. But when he asked them, Who do you think I am?

Peter answered for the rest, You're the Christ. That's Messiah, the Son of the living God. And Jesus said, God revealed that truth to you, Peter. Yet it seems clear that to avoid misunderstandings and misexpectations, if that's a word, Jesus did not want this spoken aloud publicly because his immediate calling was not to fulfill what his society's expectations at that time for Messiah were. He had a greater and more universal calling. So why did he choose this title, Son of Man?

Where did it come from? Son of Man was not a title commonly in use for the Messiah in Jesus' time, but in one, I guess, relatively unknown passage to his contemporaries, it was used of the Messiah in the Old Testament. This was in the book of Daniel and appears in chapter 7 of that Old Testament prophetic writing. It's in a section where he is describing a vision God gave him of the end times. By end times, I mean the last years of this present age. We'll discuss this, I'm sure, when we reach the New Testament book of prophecy, the Revelation.

But anyway, listen to part of Daniel's vision. This is where it comes from, the I am the Son of Man thing. I saw in my night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of Man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations, and languages would serve him. His dominion will be an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that will never be destroyed. So, at the end of this age, after the tribulation's dark days and the powerful return of Jesus, we learned about this in Thessalonians epistles, Daniel was seeing in his vision God the Father, the Ancient of Days as he's called, presenting a new and everlasting kingdom along with all dominion, that's all authority, to one called the Son of Man.

All people on earth then, from every nation and language group, he said, will bow down to this one and give him glory. This is the Messiah. This is when the political aspect of the Messiah will kick in. And Daniel says, this heavenly being was given authority over the earth, looks like a Son of Man, like a human being to him. Daniel was seeing Jesus in his vision. Maybe you think I'm stretching my interpretation here a little bit, but we'll see beyond any reasonable doubt before we finish Mark's Gospel, Jesus claiming to be this divine being in Daniel's vision, the one who finally accepts glory and will have dominion over everything and everyone when all is said and done.

So, think about this. It seems to me Jesus apparently chose this obscure title, Son of Man, only used once in the whole Old Testament of the Messiah, to self-identify when he was here for the first time. Why? Because, although it in fact points to his coming ultimate authority, at the time he was here in the first century, it was not a title that would kind of excite the people in Israel who were feverishly looking for a political savior then. So how does he identify as Messiah without saying, I'm the Messiah, and creating an uproar and premature trouble for himself? This is how.

Jesus chose to do it by choosing this obscure title. But realize the one Daniel saw in his vision will be far greater than the Messiah the Jews expected, a military deliverer, a king of restored Israel. No, he will have total dominion, Daniel says, absolute authority, exousia over everything and everyone in the world to come. I bring all this up because it once again points to our big idea in today's chapter: Jesus' exousia, his unhinderable sovereignty when he chose to display it. He gave glimpses during his time here on earth through these miracles to Peter and to others, and it caused them to believe into him. I hope all that made sense to you.

But if we narrow our focus on this event described early in Mark 2 to just the man who was let down through Peter's roof, be sure you see that it wasn't that he was healed of paralysis that was most important, but that he came face to face with the one who alone had the authority to say, My son, your sins are forgiven. Jesus knew that was that man's deepest need, and that is what Jesus addressed first with him. And it was for him, as it is for us, our deepest need, to know that we are forgiven. The best thing that could happen to anybody listening today, if you haven't already experienced this, is to have the same encounter with Jesus that young man had who was let down through the roof, and to hear, Son or daughter, your sins are forgiven.

Only Jesus has the exousia, the authority to do that, and he promises he will if we acknowledge we need him and come to him in sincere faith, as that young man did. This is Paul for Share the Word. Thanks again, Paul, for the great insight, bringing clarity and, as always, an introspective viewpoint. Exousia, such a great word. And we so often take for granted the power that Christ demonstrated over and over. And that same power lives within those of us who believe in Christ and have accepted him as Lord and Savior.

That power is the Holy Spirit. Yet how often have we gone on a job interview and we've prayed for God's assistance, and then we sit in complete anxiety waiting for a decision to be rendered by humanity. Where is God's exousia in our anxiety? Faith of a mustard seed. Christ never doubted his exousia. From all of us at Share the Word, our blessings and prayers go out to all of you.