Mark 1:21-34 -- The Power of Intentionality

Intentionality has amazing power. So much of life we “take it as it comes”. We become responders to life. There is a driven-ness and purposefulness that begins to arise in the life of Jesus. The man whose life was only months before, hidden from public attention in the little village of Nazareth, now he stands in the synagogue in Capernaum, a major trade center for the region. People were amazed by him, there was something very different about this Jesus. He was not like the other teachers who they are used to hearing, He actually had authority in His teaching, a power they were not used to experiencing.

Then an interesting situation develops; there was a man IN their synagogue that was possessed by an evil spirit, and he was not alone “what do you want with US… have you come to destroy US?” It is not clear whether the people in the synagogue knew the man was possessed by an evil spirit, and allowed the spirit to control the man and influence the community without knowing how to handle it, or, perhaps they did not have the spiritual awareness to recognize what was really going on and responded to the man as a 'troublemaker' or just 'odd'. Regardless, the man was in their spiritual community with an evil spirit.

Then the evil spirit identifies Jesus – “the Holy One of God”. The evil and unholy knows the holy, and not only does he know Him, but responds as Jesus commands the evil spirit to come out of the man.

There are evil influences and spirits at work still today. They can be hiding anywhere, in anyone. Notice, Jesus does not condemn the spirit, he does not destroy it, but commands it, to which it must obey. Jesus chief concern is the life of the man who he cleanses and sets free from the evil spirit. God created each person with a free will so they can freely respond to Jesus. Jesus mission was not to destroy evil, that day is still to come, but His mission was to set people free to respond to Him out of their own – unencumbered will.

After Jesus left the synagogue, He encounters Peter’s mother-n-law who is sick, and Jesus heals her. Notice what she does next – she begins to wait on Jesus. When Jesus heals someone, or sets them free from an evil spirit, it is not for their comfort, but it is so they – and / or others can respond to Jesus in some way. He wants to free each of us from anything that hinders us from responding to Him. He truly desires relationship and will remove any barrier that prevents us from knowing Him in a relationship. Every sickness is not a hindrance to responding to Jesus, but some are and He will heal.

Do you need to experience the freedom from evil so you too can respond to the holiness of God in some way? You may be “in the church” but still controlled by an evil power. What is preventing you from responding to Jesus? The authority of Jesus has the power to set you free.