Mark 1:21–28 (ESV)
21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
To most readers in the 21st century the most surprising aspect of this story is the unclean spirit, as Mark identifies it (Mark uses demon and unclean spirit interchangeably). However, notice the lack of explanation for the existence of unclean spirits or the lack of surprise by any of the characters. He simply assumes his readers believe in the existence of unclean spirits. So that’s not his main point. His main point here seems to be the authority of Jesus. Not only was he teaching truth from the Scripture (the Old Testament) as would have been customary for the Sabbath day gathering, but his teaching came with authority - the power to call out unclean spirits! This they had never seen before and the people were completely amazed.
Mark records that Jesus' authoritative teaching carried more authority than that of the scribes. The most basic tasks of the scribe in this culture included transcribing texts, counting, and keeping written documents. In Jesus day scribes were also known as experts in the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy). They were capable of issuing binding decisions on its interpretation. In that vein they were also teachers of the Torah, or rabbis. Since the Torah also governed their social codes, scribes carried legal authority as well. Scribes wore a lot of hats as they held the positions of teacher, pastor, moralist and civil lawyer. They were highly respected in this culture. So much so that people would defer to them when walking down the street, the seats of honor at the synagogues were reserved for them and people would stand when they entered a room. The scribes will develop into some of Jesus' fiercest antagonists in his ministry. In 3:22 they even accuse him of being possessed by Beelzebul the prince of demons!
Here in the first mention of Jesus' authority we see him having a greater authority than the religious authorities and the spiritual authorities. As the story unfolds in Mark’s Gospel we will see his authority not only over scribes and demons, but over nature, sociopolitical priorities, oral traditions of the Mosaic Law, ultimately possessing authority that only God possesses. All of this, of course, leading the reader to ask, “Who is this guy?”
In what's known as the Great Commission Jesus even goes so far as to say, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me." Paul in Philippians 2 says, "at the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth." In Colossians 2 Paul writes, "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." Bottom line: Jesus is in charge.
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