This coming Sunday is the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Mark concentrates upon a single Sabbath when Jesus’ synagogue teaching provoked a reaction from the people present. The two words that describe the people’s reactions are: ekplessomai (v. 22) and thambeo (v. 27) – “astounded” and “amazed.” The first term, more literally means “be besides oneself” – or in the slang, “to be blown away!”  It comes from something that is so incomprehensible that one’s mind can’t fathom what has been experienced. These are not terms of faith. In Mark’s gospel we will come to learn that miracles never produce proper faith.

What is it about Jesus that amazed them? A number of related possibilities exist in our text: his new teaching, his authority, the way he related to the man with the unclean spirit, or  the way Jesus commands and the spirit obeys. The evangelist has no immediate interest in the precise content of Jesus’ message; its general thrust is sufficiently indicated by Mark 1:15 which summarizes Jesus’ proclamation during this initial phase of the Galilean ministry. His primary emphasis is on the authority of Jesus’ teaching and the response of the people, whose astonishment conveys the impression of real alarm. Jesus’ word, presented with a sovereign authority which permitted neither debate nor theoretical reflection, confronted the people with the absolute claim of God upon them. Jesus’ teaching recalled the categorical demand of the prophets rather than scribal tradition.

The word used for “authority” (exousia) is normally explained as “power.” However, its primary meaning is “freedom.”  In the LXX the use of the word implies the “unrestricted sovereignty of God.” The life of Jesus is characterized by exousia (freedom; ability; power; authority) in numerous ways: his teaching is distinguished by its authority different from that of the scribes, as Mark affirms, but Matthew demonstrates, with the Sermon on the Mount.  Later in this gospel, the opponents of Jesus will ask him both about the right (authority) of forgiving sins which in Judaism is reserved to God alone and about his right to cleanse the temple.

But that is not the only distinction between Jesus’ teaching and the scribe’s teaching. The difference is also described as “new (kainos) teaching,” in verse 27. Scribes (grammateus) were originally the people who copied the scriptures. They became experts in the law (or “lawyers”) and soon there explanatory role became one of the sources of teaching about the Jewish faith and tradition. There is a sense that their authority came from their detailed understanding of scriptures and tradition. Richard Jensen (Preaching Mark’s Gospel, 48) describes this contrast in authority: “Scribal authority was based on their ability to recite the opinion of many Rabbis on a given topic. Jesus’ word had authority because when he spoke, it came to pass.” Williamson (Mark, 50) says it a little differently:

They [the scribes] taught with erudition, but Jesus taught with authority. Jesus interprets the Scripture as one who has the right to say what it means. Furthermore, his teaching has no need of external support, whether from Scriptures or elsewhere; his word is self-authenticating, not like that of the scribes.

Image credit: Jesus in the Synagogue, unknown artist, Vatican News Service | Public Domain