Compare this with the lesson of last week. We have another instance of the custom of Jesus to observe the Sabbath day. Remember that all that Jesus did was an example for us.
People say that times have changed very much from what they were when Christ was on earth in the flesh. That is true in some respects; but the Lord has not changed. "[He is] the same yesterday, and today, and for ever." (Hebrews 13:8)
If He were visible in the flesh, today, He would do no differently from what He did in the days of old. Moreover, the Scriptures have not changed. There has been no new Bible written. The Scriptures written by the prophets and apostles, and other holy men, were for all time.
The language of the Bible is to be the language of Christians till the end of time. We are to call things by the same names that they did. They, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, called the day on which the Jaws were accustomed to worship, the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath; therefore we ought to call it the same, and to keep it as such. Someone may say, "Yes; I believe that we ought to say Sabbath, instead of Sunday."
Oh no; nothing of the kind, Sunday is not the Sabbath, and our calling it so cannot make it so. Sunday is the first day of the week, but: "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work. ... For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:10-11)
And for those who keep the Sabbath, calling it a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, there is such a blessing as they have never dreamed of. It is most blessed to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Jesus taught with authority. The same statement is made at the close of the account of the discourse on the mount: "For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." (Matthew 7:29)
The teachers of the day, the scribes, did not teach with authority. It was not that they were not arbitrary, and did not ask people to believe what they said. Far from it. The most arbitrary people are they who have the least authority. There is no real authority in their words, and so they try to make up for the lack by a pompous manner.
There are no men who are more arbitrary than the priests of the Roman Catholic Church. They require the people to accept everything they say without question; the fact that they have spoken is considered sufficient. Yet they do not teach with authority. Take one instance as a sample of what frequently occurs:
A few months ago the writer saw in a secular paper a letter written by a priest, in which he entirely repudiated a book that he had recently written. He declared that it was all wrong. Why was this? Simply because his bishop had said that the book was heretical, and had ordered him to retract the teaching that he had put forth in it.
You say that in obeying the bishop he showed a humble spirit. Let that pass; but how much authority can there be in the teaching of a man who holds his views subject to the will of another?
He who teaches with authority, teaches the truth, and only the truth, and he knows that it is the truth, so that the thunders of all the Church and State councils on earth could not make him retract it, as was the case with Luther.
In the teaching of Jesus there was nothing doubtful. He taught those things that He had learned with the Father, and had no need to be afraid to declare them. They were His own life, and therefore He could speak with a power that carried conviction.
An Evidence of Authority
Immediately after the teaching in the synagogue, Jesus gave a practical demonstration of the authority of His teaching, There was a man present, who had an unclean spirit; he was possessed by the devil. He snarled out at Jesus, because he was uncomfortable in the presence of the Holy One of God, and Jesus said, "Hold your peace, and come out of him," (Luke 4:35) and the devil left the man. Then the people were still more amazed, and said: "What is this? a new teaching! with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." (Luke 4:36)
The authority of the teaching of Christ was such that the devils were cast out by it. The very same power and authority must characterize the teaching of the Gospel now. The devil works in the children of disobedience, and must be expelled. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation from the power of Satan; it is to deliver man from the bondage of sin, and therefore from the devil; for: "He that commits sin is of the devil." (1 John 3:8)
Gospel teaching that does not succeed in driving the devil out of men is of no value. The doctrine, or teaching, of Christ does not consist in formulae and platitudes, but it expels the evil spirit from men. The age of miracles is not past. The teaching that can drive the devil out of a man, can accomplish any other work that needs to be done. Any teaching that does not expel the unclean spirit, is not the teaching of Christ.
Practical Teaching
Having departed from the synagogue, Jesus entered into the house of Peter for refreshment. Here there was another manifestation of the authority with which He taught. Peter's mother-in-law had a severe fever, and all the household arrangements were thrown out of order. There was no dinner, for all were absorbed in waiting on the sick one. "And they besought Him for her. And He stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her; and immediately she arose, and ministered unto them." (Luke 4:38-39)
That was practical teaching. There was real authority. That authority has not departed from the earth, inasmuch as Jesus, with all power in heaven and in earth, is with His true followers till the end of the world.
The spirit of fear and unbelief in the church has obscured the authority to a great extent, but it will again appear as vividly as when Jesus went about in Galilee. When the people of God stand unscathed in the midst of pestilence and plagues, which will devastate the earth even before "the seven last plagues" are poured out, there will be such authority to their teaching as comes only from those who have learned of God, and are in direct touch with the Lord. The life of Jesus manifest in mortal flesh will be a testimony that none can gainsay or resist. "And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto Him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered together at the door." (Mark 1:32)
It was the Sabbath day, and the people waited until the Sabbath was past, which is at the setting of the sun, before they brought their sick to Jesus. Jesus was just as ready to heal on the Sabbath day as on any other, for such work was not a violation of the Sabbath, but was simply a manifestation of His teaching; but the people were at least outwardly strict in the observance of the Sabbath, so they waited until sunset.
In this connection we cannot refrain from calling attention to that most beautiful hymn, number 431 of "Sacred Songs and Solos," which begins,
At even, ere the sun was set,
The sick, O Lord, around You lay.
--Henry Twells, Hymn: At Even, Ere the Sun Was Set, 1868.
That should be changed, because it contradicts the Bible. The author had evidently not looked at the account for some time when he wrote the hymn. It was not before the sun set, but after, that the sick were brought to Jesus. We must be as careful to sing the truth as to speak it.
Great Joy
What joy there must have been in that city that night! We read that: "All the city was gathered together at the door," (Mark 1:33) and that: "They brought unto Him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils." (Mark 1:32)
And we are told that: "He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick." (Matthew 8:16)
He laid His hands on everyone of them, and healed them. So there was not a single sick person in that city that night, and not one person left under the influence of the devil. Was it not wonderful? That is what the teaching of Christ does; are you acquainted with it?
Jesus did not suffer the devils to say that they knew Him. He did not care for any testimonials from that quarter. He made them to hold their tongues. There are many agents of Satan to be found in congregations today, "Whose mouths must be stopped," (Titus 1:11) but the man who does it must have authority. It must not be that sort of authority that must be enforced by muscular power, but the authority must be in the word spoken. When Jesus commanded, the devils could do no other than obey.
The Secret of Authority
What was the secret of this power and authority? The answer is given in the Gospel by Matthew. All this was done. "That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses." (Matthew 8:17)
He had all the diseases of all the people in the city of Capernaum on himself that night, yet He did not die, nor did anybody discern that He was in the least weakened by the load of infirmities that He bore. He tasted death, and swallowed it up in His own eternal life. The authority was the inward life. That same eternal life, "which was with the Father, [is still] manifested unto us." (1 John 1:2)
Christ's touch has yet the same healing power that it had in Capernaum. He still bears our sicknesses as well as our sins. His authority has not diminished in the least.
If Christ dwells in our hearts by faith to the extent that we are "strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, ... according to the riches of His glory," (Ephesians 3:16) so that we are "filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:19)
And this "inward man is renewed day by day," (2 Corinthians 4:16) so that constantly the life of Jesus is made manifest in our mortal flesh. "For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. ... For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." (2 Corinthians 4:11,16)
We shall bless the Lord with soul and body, because He has forgiven all our iniquities, and healed all our diseases, redeeming our life from destruction, and crowning us with lovingkindness and tender mercies: "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies." (Psalm 103:1-4)
It is a glorious thing to be completely subject to the authority of the Lord Jesus.--Present Truth, February 22, 1900--Original title: Teaching with Authority. Jesus Healing in Capernaum--Timeline: IV-5 (The Demoniac in the Synagogue), 6 (Peter's Mother-in-law; The Sick Healed at Even)--Mark 1:21-34. "And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the Sabbath day He entered into the synagogue, and taught. And they were astonished at His doctrine; for He taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes." (Mark 1:21-22)