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Our text for today you have heard grace mercy peace be to you.

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Well welcome back to the campus of Concordia Seminary after Christmas

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vacation and then Winterim. Today is the first year, first day of the spring term,

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a time of new beginnings for some and a time of renewal for all of us. When I was

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assigned this text, Mark chapter 1 verses 21 to 28, the gospel lesson for Epiphany

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4 in series B of the three-year lectionary cycle, I was immediately

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struck by how appropriate it is for this first day of the new term,

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for this is the story of the first day of preparation for discipleship for

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Andrew and Peter and James and John. May we continue to learn in the days and

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weeks ahead just what they too began to learn, that Jesus is the Holy One of God

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who takes action to save his people. Just before our text, Mark talks about Jesus

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and the fishermen. As he walks along the coast of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus sees

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Simon, Peter, and Andrew and John, and James and John, all hearted worth doing

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what fishermen do, casting their nets out and drawing them in again and sitting in

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their boat mending their nets. Jesus calls them to follow him and immediately

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they left their boat and nets behind in the case of James and John leaving

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their father in the boat with a hired help to finish the task. And then they

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entered Capernaum. It was a small town, extensive archaeological work has been

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done there, and you can go to the synagogue that was probably built in the

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fifth or sixth century, built over the remnants of the first century

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synagogue. A short distance away is likely the site of Peter's house with

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evidence that it has been recognized as a very special place,

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with evidence that from a memorial room that was built there that was

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likely used as a house church already in the first century. Capernaum was and is a

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real place, likely the home of Peter and the center of Jesus' ministry in Galilee.

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Mark is a gospel writer that is always in a hurry and immediately is one of his

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favorite words used more than 40 times in the gospel. Mark does not say much

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about the scene, but he quickly turns to the issues involved. Jesus and his four

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disciples entered Capernaum and as soon as it was the Sabbath day Jesus entered

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the synagogue and his ministry began. The synagogue was the religious center of

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the community, the place where the five books of Moses and the prophets were

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read and interpreted. There was a traditional way of doing this. Everyone

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recognized that the scripture, the Old Testament, revealed God and his will for

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our lives, but they also knew that the scriptures had been written a long time

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ago and needed to be interpreted in the light of the present situation. The

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scribes were the men who had the training and the experience to do this

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work. Over time the emphasis of the interpretation had turned to finding and

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interpreting how God wanted his people to conduct their lives. Some big issues

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like the question of is there a resurrection of the dead were filled

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with important implications, but a more common issue in the synagogue would have

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been a question like, is it really work if you pull your ox out of a pit on

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the Sabbath day? How do you wash your hands in a God-pleasing way? Can you have

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dinner with a corrupt government official and other such

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people without polluting yourself? The questions Jesus asked, the questions

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Jesus was asked throughout the gospel were not trivial matters for those who

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asked, but they attempted to draw out Jesus' opinions and

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invite him to take sides on the important theological issues of the day.

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We do not know what Jesus talked about on that day, but I would not be

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surprised if his words were like the conduct in a similar situation when

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he spoke in Nazareth. There he read from Isaiah, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me.

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He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to

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the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of

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the Lord's favor. And then he announced, today this scripture has been fulfilled

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in your hearing. That was a huge leap in the traditional understanding of the

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text. The Old Testament is not a book of laws about how to live that we can

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debate endlessly. The central message of the Old Testament is that God takes

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action to save his people, even those who seem to be poor and helpless and

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oppressed and totally without resources to rescue themselves. And he takes that

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action now. The real power of exegesis is that it enables us to meet the living

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God who takes action for us ultimately through the death and resurrection of

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his Son. Our exegetical task as Lutheran pastors is to explain the scriptures in

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ways that deal with the doubts and fears of our people and at the same time

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enable them to grow in their trust in Jesus his Son, our God's Son. The

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congregation in the synagogue was impressed and rejoiced to hear not the

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moralism that they were accustomed to hear and take part in the discussion in

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which they were accustomed to take part in the synagogue, but here was the good

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news that God is taking action to save his people now through the person of

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Jesus and our four fishermen were learning how to become fishers of men.

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It immediately says Mark again, right then and there there was a man

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controlled by an unclean spirit. Jesus' teaching may have been convincing

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and authoritative, but let's get down to the reality of the situation. The unclean

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spirit says the equivalent of what is this to you? What business is it of yours?

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Leave me alone. And then he gives his understanding of the situation. You're

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Jesus of Nazareth and have you come to destroy us? And the unclean spirit cannot

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help himself but must confess I know who you are, the Holy One of God and the

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exalted title and an identification that said that the only one who

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could really do something about unclean spirits was the Son of God. Jesus quickly

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brings the conversation to an end. Shut up and come out. The spirit severely

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convulses the man, gives a mighty roar and comes out. Mark does not tell us

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anything about the condition of the man after this happened and

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and his next actions. Instead he turns his attention to the effect of

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these events and they were all amazed so that they questioned among themselves

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saying what is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even unclean

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spirits and they obey him. At once his fame spread everywhere throughout all

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the surrounding region of Galilee. Authoritative teaching is important

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especially when it is accompanied by faithful demonstration of God at work to

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save his people. Probably few of us will be asked to drive out demons which

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doesn't mean that they're not there but it is quite clear that we live in a

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crazy world that with the advent of AI artificial intelligence will likely

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become crazier yet and it is entirely likely that we will meet situations that

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we do not understand and cannot control but our God is in control and we receive

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power and forgiveness and healing and blessing for Jesus sake. I had been at

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the seminary in Nigeria for only a couple of weeks when I was asked to

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accompany the seminary students on an evangelistic trip a long way away. A

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congregation had invited them to come and be with them for the weekend. The

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students had a program to talk about evangelism in the congregation and then

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they would spread out and talk to people in the village about God and his son

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Jesus Christ. While we were down there I noticed that one of the students was

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limping badly and I asked him what the problem was. He explained that a friend

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had been giving him a ride on a bicycle and he had accidentally put his foot in

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the spokes and his foot had gotten badly twisted. I said that sounds really

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bad. When we get back to Obed-Edom I'll help you to find a doctor. Oh thank you

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very much. When we got or sometime later I saw him tell his story to one of the

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village women who was taking care of us. At the end of the story she did not

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simply make empathetic comments. She told him to sit down and take off his shoe

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and with a little palm oil she massaged his foot. And you know from that moment

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on he was on the road to recovery. Who do you think served him best? Whose message

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was most authentic? It is a beautiful example of how culture shapes behavior.

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In my world when you are facing a medical challenge that you don't

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understand you seek the best medical help available. In her world even though

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he's a stranger, he's a brother in Christ and you get personally involved you are

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not afraid to get your hands dirty. There is no substitute for a pastoral heart.

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Clear teaching and preaching of God's love and forgiveness becomes authentic

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when it is lived out with the willingness to meet people wherever they

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are in life's journey, to love them for their strengths and in spite of their

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weaknesses and in every situation to keep hope alive. On their first day of

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class what did these four fishermen Andrew and Peter and James and John

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learn? First of all it was clear that radical change was ahead for the message

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of the scriptures was about God's act to save his people and that he has sent his

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son the Holy One of God to set his people free. His son speaks and acts

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with authority and he uses that authority to defeat the power of Satan

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and to set God's people free. Plenty to think about at the end of the day. May

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God use this term to help us grow in our faith in Jesus and empower us to share

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that faith. In Jesus name, Amen. The peace of God which passes all

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understanding keep your hearts and minds in faith in Christ Jesus to life

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everlasting, Amen.