This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network |
Have you ever been in one of those moments when, unexpectedly, the tide turns, good news suddenly appears, or the thing you were praying for actually comes to pass? We like to think we’re in faith all the time, but the truth is, we’re not — in fact, sometimes we’re caught by surprise and our only response is, “Wow, that was God!”
I think God likes to surprise us in ways we’re not expecting. And one of my favorite illustrations of this is found in the first chapter of Mark’s gospel.
Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes (Mark 1:21-22).
The first thing we need to understand is that a scribe was someone whose job was to make copies of the law. So you can imagine if all you did everyday was write the scriptures over and over, you would naturally “know” the scriptures. But this doesn’t mean you believed them wholeheartedly just because you could quote them. So it’s understandable why the people were astonished at the way Jesus taught — “as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”
In other words, there was believable power in His words.
Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?…” (verses 23-24a).
Before we go further, let’s consider this scenario. Jesus is preaching powerfully in the synagogue causing a demon-possessed man to become agitated. The impression is that this demon-possessed man was never bothered before by the mundane babble of the scribes, who apparently never preached the scriptures in faith.
But Jesus of Nazareth…? Now this bothered the man. And so with a loud voice, he cried out:
“Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are — the Holy One of God!” (verse 24).
What just happened? The demon-possessed man was at first looking at only the natural. He called Him “Jesus of Nazareth” which was correct, but was the same as calling a person by their first and last name.
But consider the words of God centuries before… When sin entered the Garden of Eden and God discovered Satan’s scheme, He said to him, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 1:15). From that day forward, darkness knew God would keep His word. They didn’t know how. They didn’t know when. But certainly they knew God doesn’t lie and in time, He will do what He said.
And here we have it. The demon-possessed man thought he was talking to a mere human (Jesus of Nazareth), when suddenly the light bulb goes on, and centuries of waiting abruptly ended. “I know who You are — the Holy One of God!”
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him (verses 25-26).
At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because [NOW] they knew Him” (Mark 1:32-24, my emphasis).
Can you say, “That was God!”
The wondering and waiting was over. Darkness was taken by surprise and all they could say was, “That was God!”
And I’m here to tell you God is still in the business of surprising Hell! He loves to show up in the middle of chaos and turn the light on!
So be expecting. Your God will show up in unexpected ways to scatter the darkness!
