The Gospel of Mark, rightly Divided Mark 1:21-28 | Session 5 | Dr. Randy White

In the Gospel of Mark, chapters 1:21 to 3:35 illustrate how Jesus established Himself as the Promised Messiah. He demonstrated His power over the natural world, which was one of the main ways He proved Himself to be the Son of God. By performing miracles such as healing the sick and casting out demons, Jesus proved that He had authority over all creation. Interspersed in this section will also be some of the key early teachings of Jesus.

Mark 1:21-18 | Casting Out Demons

Verse 21 -

The village of Capernaum became the “headquarters” of Jesus’ Galilean ministry. Jesus then “entered into the synagogue, and taught.” The knowledge of the synagogue as a Jewish gathering place was assumed, showing that this post-exilic institution was fully recognized among Judaism. It is unknown whether Jesus was an invited guest (it doesn’t read in such a way), whether it was custom for anyone to be able to teach, or whether His fame was simply so great that no Rabbi would dare to deny Him the lectern from which to teach.

Teaching in the synagogue was, from what we know through Rabbinical sources, reserved for men over 30, and likely only for those considered to be a Rabbi. Since Jesus was known to have been teaching from the age of 12, we can speculate that His skills and His renown as a teacher had long been established.

👉 The word synagogue is a Greek compound word that means “leading together.” While the transliterated word came into English as a Jewish house of worship, the word itself can have a broader meaning, as in Acts 13:43 where it is translated “congregation.”

Verse 22 -

The response of the crowd was astonishment at His “doctrine.” This word simply is a reference to the content of the Lord’s teaching. What made His doctrine stand out from that of the scribes was “authority,” which was lacking by the scribes.

The word scribes is γραμματεύς [grammateus], one who delves into the grammar of the text (in this case, the Biblical text) in order to discern its legal content. While the lack of authority is often seen as a condemnation of the scribes, I suspect it may be more of a simple statement of fact. Scribes were, by nature, “grammarians.” Jesus came under authority from God the Father and displaying that authority in His miracles. Jesus was a prime source, the scribes were a secondary source. Jesus was a “newsmaker,” the scribes were “reporters.” The astonishment of the crowd may also be attributed to Jesus's ability to articulate spiritual truths in an approachable and compelling manner, a quality that perhaps contrasted with the more legalistic and possibly academic teaching style of the scribes.

Verse 23 -

the time during which the Son of God physically ministered on earth was characterized by an unprecedented amount of spiritual activity. The only other time recorded in scripture with such spiritual activity was the early portions of the book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit was physically manifesting Himself. Outside of these two eras, the Bible records almost no literal spirit activity. A study of these two time-periods should be used to provide the definition of demonic activity. What is often considered today to be "demonic" is actually "spiritual wickedness," as used in Ephesians 6:12. Dispensationally, it is irresponsible to carry the demonic activity of those two eras into a normative experience. In our dispensation today, we deal with "evil" but not with "demonic.” It is, of course, worthy of noting that there are many views on this subject, even within dispensational circles.

Verse 24 -

In this case (unlike the Gaderene Demoniac - Mark 5:9), there is just one voice speaking, that of the man. The first-person plural pronouns (us, we) are, in my interpretation, a reference to the crowd in the synagogue and the citizens of Capernaum. This interpretation is strengthened by the reference to "Jesus of Nazareth." That is, the demon is saying, "Leave Capernaum alone and go back to Nazareth where you belong." Of course, in Nazareth, they wanted to kill Jesus (Luke 4:28-29), so this is filled with innuendo, almost like "go play in the highway."

The argument for the "us=Capernaum" interpretation is based on the fact that the verb "saying" is in the first-person singular. Additionally, the man says "I know thee who thou art," rather than "we know.”

A more standard argument for the plural pronoun is that the demon is speaking. For example, Joseph Alexander said, in a classic commentary on Mark, “The plural pronoun may have reference to the evil spirits as a class or body, of which this one was a member and a representative.” <![if !supportFootnotes]>[1]<![endif]>In more recent days, the New American Commentary says, “…the demon spoke through the man, sometimes for himself and sometimes for demons in general.”<![if !supportFootnotes]>[2]<![endif]> I simply do not see the grammar supportive of this traditional argument.

The term "Holy One of God" is almost undoubtedly a Messianic phrase. It is interesting that the first human testimony given in Mark of Jesus being the Messiah is given by a demon-possessed man! The author professed this in verse 1, and God in verse 11, but this is the first "man on the scene" giving the testimony. In other Gospels, we have previous testimonies (John 1:41; 4:29), but this is the first for Mark.

Verse 25

Verse 25 is the biggest hurdle to my “us = Capernaum” theory, as it appears that Jesus is speaking directly to the demon. Even with this, however, the command is given in the singular, both verbs being in the singular. In Mark 5:1-20 (the Gaderene Demoniac), the pronouns are clear that the possessors of the man are “them.”

The conventional interpretation postulates the unclean spirit to be singular but representing many spirits. However, if we adhere to this interpretation, the pronouns here can seem grammatically confusing. A potential solution lies in the possibility that Jesus's commands were intended for separate entities: “Hold thy peace” (or "be quiet") directed at the man, and “come out of him” directed at the spirit. This interpretation, while not the most conventional reading, does reconcile the grammatical peculiarities and fits into the narrative of the next verse.

Verse 26 -

Verse 26 fully supports the grammatical conclusion that only the man has spoken in verses 24-25. In verse 25, the phrase "Jesus rebuked him" is a bit unclear, leaving us wondering whether "him" refers to the man or the unclean spirit. However, in verse 26, the "unclean spirit" is specified, while "him" remains clearly associated with the man. This testifies that "him" in verse 25 refers to the man, not the spirit. Further support is given by the expectation of a neuter "it" in reference to the spirit, not the masculine "him."

In English, verse 26 concludes by saying "he came out of him." However, in the Greek, there is no masculine pronoun referring to the spirit. Rather, the Greek simply says that the spirit "cried with a loud voice and came forth out of him."

There is complexity of pronouns in this passage and argument can be made for other interpretations. I think that the practice of “rightly dividing” pronouns can assist a person in their pursuit of solid Biblical understanding even when there may not be a huge doctrinal issue at stake, as here.

Verse 27 -

The response of the crowd speaks in many ways to the purpose of each of Jesus’ miracles. They were all to prove His authority over the spiritual world (as here) and the physical world (as in vv. 30-34).

Covenant theology, including most of evangelicalism, views Jesus’ ministry almost wholly in a spiritual sense: that Jesus came to die for our sins and provide eternal life in Heaven. But each of the Gospels, and especially the synoptics, give the majority emphasis to Jesus’ efforts to display His ability to overcome the physical (not spiritual) effects of the curse. This truth aligns with the Jewish expectation of the future Kingdom promises being fulfilled in the Messiah. The traditional Christian approach, focusing on the spiritual, has likely been a result of the spiritualization of the Kingdom of God.

With this spiritualization the displays of authority in the ministry of Jesus become just a string of “look what I can do” feats. This not only cheapens the miracles but causes the reader to miss the evidence that Jesus is the coming physical King.

Verse 28 -

This verse takes a step back and describes the effect of the surrounding region brought about by this exorcism.

The verse reminds us that the Gospel is written from an “after the fact” perspective, and thus, from time to time, the author will serve as narrator and guide, helping the reader to understand not only the event itself, but also the after-effect. That verse 28 uses the word immediately in a less-than-strict manner is clear to the native English reader. While the word can mean “instantaneously” it does not have to mean such, and does not here. In etymology, the word is the opposite of the rarely-used word mediately, which means “there were mediating points.”

👉 The word "fame" is from the Greek ἀκοή [akoe], which is from the same root as our English word "acoustic." Here it refers to “hearing” the report about Jesus.

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<![if !supportFootnotes]>[1]<![endif]> Joseph Addison Alexander, The Gospel according to Mark (New York: C. Scribner, 1858), 21.

<![if !supportFootnotes]>[2]<![endif]> James A. Brooks, Mark, vol. 23, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 51.

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