There is no more dangerous place to be than where divine holiness confronts dead religion. To be sure there is no greater stronghold of Satan that he establishes in strongholds of worship where the truth is suppressed.

Jesus enters the lifeless, godless synagogue. Religion, no repentence. Ritual, no regeneration. Rules, but no relationship with the living God. It was the religious crowd that most opposed Christ. It is into this religious crowd that the Holy One of God advances and he meets the devil head on.

In v. 21: Jesus advances directly into one of Satan’s strongholds. “They” refers to Jesus and four of the disciples. It would become the headquarters of his Galilean ministry. “It became his city.”

“And Jesus began to teach” because he has come to save sinners, but he has also come to be the chief revelation of God to man, and he is the great expositor of the Law and the Prophets. 15 times in Mark’s gospel we read that Jesus devoted himself to the ministry of teaching; 12 times he is identified as “the Teacher.”

v. 22 “They were amazed at his teaching.” They had been in realms of darkness for so long, and now the bushel has been removed. “amazed” means to be out of their senses: it blew their minds.

“He taught as one having authority.”