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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In v. 21: Jesus advances directly into one of Satan\u2019s strongholds. \u201cThey\u201d refers to Jesus and four of the disciples. It would become the headquarters of his Galilean ministry. \u201cIt became his city.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Jesus began to teach\u201d 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\u2019s gospel we read that Jesus devoted himself to the ministry of teaching; 12 times he is identified as \u201cthe Teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n
v. 22 \u201cThey were amazed at his teaching.\u201d They had been in realms of darkness for so long, and now the bushel has been removed. \u201camazed\u201d means to be out of their senses: it blew their minds. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe taught as one having authority.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 … Continue reading