They were all amazed,
and they kept on asking one another,
"What is this? A new teaching—with authority!
He commands even the unclean spirits,
and they obey him."
Mark 1:27
One of them more frequent words associated with Jesus' ministry was "new," and in the Gospel of Mark, the first "new thing" was his new teachings.
Jesus has so many new and wonderful teachings that even a few non-Christian religions call him a prophet. But ... don't mistake Jesus' main contribution to be adding a little more wisdom to the world. The most important words in this passage are "with authority."
In fact in the verses surrounding Mark 1:27, Jesus wasn't really teaching at all. He was simply saying to the evil spirits, "25 Be silent and come out." As I said, that's not a teaching. It's a command. In other words, what was new about Jesus was not the words ... but the power!
So what's new about this for your new year. Here's an idea for a resolution: Don't look for just the wisdom and teachings from the scripture. Seek to see God and faith more clearly as a source for real power! Try speaking to your doubts and objections, saying, "be silent and come out." And see if you might discover more hope, joy, peace, and power, by embracing truth.
In Christ's Love,
a guy who wants
to be amazed
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