This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of “The Pattern of N.T. Authority” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, October 3, 1993.

We are reading this evening from Mark’s Gospel, chapter one, beginning with verse twenty-one. This is Mark one, twenty-one. Listen to the word of God. They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and began to teach. They were amazed at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one having authority, not as the scribes.

Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, saying, What do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be quiet and come out of him. And throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him.

And they were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, What is this? A new teaching with authority? He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. And immediately the news about him went out everywhere, into all the surrounding district of Galilee.

Immediately after they had come out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever, and immediately they spoke to him about her. He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her and she began to wait on them. And when evening had come, after the sun had set, they began bringing to him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door, and he healed many who were ill with various diseases and cast out many demons.

And he was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.” And when he had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that he was at home, and men were gathered together so that there was no longer room even near the door, and he was speaking the word to them.

Bless us, Lord, in the hearing of your word, that this word may be profitable to us, may it be profitable to those of us who are older and those of us who are younger. May we learn, Lord, in your presence, how we are to conduct ourselves and give us a presence of mind and a spirit of helpfulness whereby we would be willing to think of others above ourselves. We pray, O God, that your word by your Spirit might work in us to this end. For Jesus’ sake, amen. We have been looking at the opening verses of Mark’s gospel’s second chapter, Mark 2, verses 1 through 12.

Tonight we want to back up a little bit by way of comparison and contrast to look at the experience Jesus had at the home of Peter and Andrew. Peter and Andrew lived in Capernaum, and Jesus has now come to their home as their guest. You will note in the account that with the visit of Jesus to this particular home, two other disciples come as well, James and John. So you have the four disciples and Jesus present in the house. We are also told, as you note in the record we have just read, we are also told about Peter’s mother-in-law, who was there and suffering from an illness, Jesus healing her. And we are also given the impression of the great stir that is created by Jesus’ presence in this house as a great multitude or crowd gathers around the house.

You will note in the story here in the first chapter, there are many similarities between it and the passage that we have been considering in Mark Chapter 2. You may just want to scan down through those twelve verses, quickly let your eye run over those verses to remind yourself of the particulars found there. As I say, as you do so, you will see, you will notice, you will recognize that there are a number of similarities as you move from the one passage to the other.

First of all, there is the common setting. I have in mind here the city, Capernaum. I hope you know where Capernaum is. If you don’t, and you have maps in the back of your Bible, you might want to check that northern end of the Sea of Galilee, as the Jordan is coming into the Sea of Galilee from the north. So we have common settings city-wise, particularly the city of Capernaum. There is another similarity.

There is the presence of the four, the number four, playing some significance here in the story. In the first story, In the first story, you have the disciples, and they are specifically mentioned. They are specifically identified. Peter, Andrew, James, and John. But then, in the second story, in Mark 2, you also have four who are present. You will notice them mentioned for you at the end of the third verse. in that second chapter, they are the ones who bring the paralytic to Jesus. So we have this common feature also.

Four men mentioned in the first story, four men mentioned also in the second. We have another similarity, specifically the healings that are described, and you might note the way in which these healings are described, particularly with respect to Peter’s mother-in-law, we are told that Jesus raised her up. You have the raising up of Peter’s mother-in-law, verse thirty-one in that first chapter, but note now in the second chapter what is said with respect to the paralytic. He also is raised up, in fact he is commanded to rise, verses eleven The language here has a resurrection hue or cast to it, and we will be speaking about that in time.

Finally, with respect to the similarities in the stories, you will note that there is the mention made in each of them of the size of the crowds. Great crowds have gathered. Now we want to look at the opening of the second chapter and do a little bit more work with the opening of that second chapter. As we do so and look at the opening verses there, we will find another blend to these two accounts that adds to their theological weight and significance. I have specifically in mind the mention made of Jesus’ home at the end of that first verse in the second chapter. And when he had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that he was at home.

Now, I have in mind the mention of Jesus’ home in that context and its connection to the movement that you observe in Mark 1.29. as you move from the synagogue and the description of what has transpired there to Peter’s home and what transpires there. Keep those things in mind.

This move that we observe, first of all, in Mark 1, will lend religious significance to the house itself, the house being mentioned. the house in the context of the first chapter, specifically belonging to Peter and to Andrew. And this movement, as we observe it, sets us up for what we are then going to see in the second chapter, as that second chapter opens up for us. Specifically, then, this is what is being set in front of us in the first chapter.

The synagogue is being set over against the house of Peter and Andrew. There is movement from synagogue to the home of these two disciples. As you progress through the gospel, you will see that the synagogue increasingly becomes the scene of religious conflict for Jesus, not the scene for positive ministry. Jesus moved from the synagogue to the home of his disciples, then, previews the movement of the center of his activity away from the synagogue and the Jewish religious order, to another setting altogether. With the synagogue, it’s considered a house. We will move on to another house. If there is religious activity that is observed in that one house, thought to be the center of the life of the people of God, we are now moving to another context altogether.

Jesus moved, then, from the synagogue to the house of his disciples, previews the movement of the center of his activity away from the synagogue and the Jewish religious order into an environment in which he will explain and demonstrate his person and purpose more directly to those who are most appreciative and accepting. We are not stretching things, then, when we suggest that when we look at the disciples’ home in Mark 1, we see something of the Church, a new religious setting. something of the church taking shape, something of the church coming into focus, coming to light, a new community, a new community of God coming into being. That environment in which Jesus’ significance will be most effectively and clearly evidenced.

It is not strange, therefore, in this context, in chapter one, that we have the resurrection language, the raising up of Peter’s mother-in-law. It is not strange that upon her resurrection, quote-unquote, She gives herself to service. She rises to serve. You see. Verse 31. Nor is it strange that mention is made about the incredible crowd that is gathering around Jesus. Keeping, of course, the church. When we come to Mark 2, we are confronted once more with the house. The house is spoken of there in the first verse. It may not be as obvious to you. The language is there. It comes out in the King James and other translations. That language has given some of the commentators trouble.

The literal translation of the conclusion of that first verse in Mark 2 goes this way. It was heard that he was in a house, that he was in a house. Some have concluded that the house Jesus has entered at this point must be Peter’s and Andrew’s house. the only house previously mentioned in Mark. However, some commentators, and I believe rightly, have pointed out that this verse contains a colloquialism at its conclusion, that the phrase concluding that first verse in the second chapter actually means home, not in a house or not even in the house, but at home, as in fact it has been rendered by the New American Standard and also by the New International Version. So we read it rightly, then, that first verse of the second chapter, when he had come back to Capernaum after several days afterward, it was heard that he was at home.

The force of this is whether or not the disciples’ home is in view. What we are to see in the mention made here by Mark of this particular dwelling place is nothing less than Jesus’ home. A transformation has taken place. We are to see here nothing less than Jesus’ home, not a place to which the disciples would invite others Not a place to which the disciples could invite even Jesus, but the place to which Jesus would draw people, to which the disciples themselves would come, bringing others with them. Now, getting ahead of the story and my preaching on this passage a bit, I think that you can now begin to see the significance of the four. who are spoken of at the end of the third verse in chapter two, the ones who bring the paralytic. They’re matching up before were mentioned previously in chapter one. The disciples themselves, but now they’re cast in the role of those who are not inviting Jesus to come into their house, but are actually coming into Jesus out and bringing others with them as they come. The impression given, then, is that we are speaking here most specifically of a home which belongs to Jesus, into which others, including the disciples, are being drawn.

If we are able to see the pattern of the Church taking shape for us in the description we have of Peter and Andrew’s home in chapter one, standing as it does in distinction to the synagogue, the image of the Church here in the second chapter is becoming all the more focused and more tightly drawn. The house, specifically in view, identified as Jesus’ own. If what I am saying is correct, we have here At the opening of the second chapter of Mark, in a most ingenious way, a subtle description of the Church and its life that draws us further into a consideration of what the Church is all about, further than what we are able to see even in the first chapter. Now let me list for you four things. that rise out of this text with respect to our understanding of the Church, our deepening understanding of the Church and her life.

First of all is the matter of displacement. Now that was set before us to be sure in the first chapter, as the house of the disciples in a sense displaces the synagogue. We understand that. What is it that is displaced in the second chapter? It is not the synagogue or religious institution, center of religious activity for the Jewish people. Rather, as the house becomes Jesus’ home in Mark 2, there is a displacement of the house that particularly belong to Peter and to Andrew. We’ve moved.

The point is, then, that the Church doesn’t so much stand over against the religious establishment focused in the synagogue, the point is that the Church stands over against family and natural connections. Displaced is the home of Peter and Andrew and the considerations that rise out of that as Jesus’ home now takes precedence. Capernaum now becomes preeminently the site of Jesus’ home, not the home of Peter and Andrew.

One’s religious loyalties are determined by one’s relationship to that home. One’s identity, one’s family connections, if you will, are now determined by one’s relationship to that home. And the theme of this gospel will be the costliness of the devotion to Jesus’ home, in which mother and sister and brother are determined by their living spiritual relationship to Jesus Christ and by doing the will of God.

Check out Mark 3, 31-35. It is not the natural ties, then. It is not the natural ties. It is not the family connections. Jesus’ home does in fact supersede even those most sublime, those tightest connections, those natural connections. Jesus and his church above the demands of family, even redefining what family is. Such is the constraint of the gospel such is its demand. Now, do I have to talk to a group of Orthodox Presbyterians about this? How many of you sitting here this evening have made choices with regard to the Church that have cost you in your family?

They don’t understand. They think you’re part of a cult. You’ve given up your family’s history. You somehow embarrassed your lineage. And the costliness has been severe. It has been heartbreaking in some cases. walking off, rejecting. Brothers and sisters, not comprehending. Parents who have given up on you. They can’t figure you out.

Well, so it is with the true Church of Jesus Christ, the demand and the costliness in view. Now that’s first, then, the matter of displacement. Secondly, there is here a subtle assertion of the oneness of the Church. Maybe not so subtle. It’s Jesus’ home. Remember that. It’s Jesus’ home. And isn’t this assertion interesting in light of the prominence of Peter’s house in the previous chapter? Are you getting the connection? Is the Gospel of Mark a divinely appointed apologetic against the claims of Rome and the claims of those who would put Peter’s house even above the house of the Lord? It’s Jesus’ home.

We are not concerned here with a house that has a stamp of any other name upon it. It is the home that bears the stamp of Jesus. The church does not belong to Peter. It doesn’t belong to St. Peter, and I hope that you are all clear on this. Grace Church does not belong to me. You might on occasion hope that I would get that straight. And I agree with you. I agree with you.

Certainly out of this background we can understand something of what Paul is getting at when he expresses such agitation over the partitioning of the Church of Corinth, because there they had the house of Cephas and the house of Apollos and the house of Paul, and he reminds them, no. This is Jesus’ house, it is his home. We underscore the unity of the Church and the singularity of the rule that is over us Thirdly, we don’t want to lose sight of the fact that there is this innumerable company gathered in both of the stories and here in the second chapter. Is not this account telegraphing to us what is coming?

The glorious day as the people of God stream into the house of Jesus. the crowd here very positively assessed. The very lack of God in view. The fact that Mark mentions that there is no more room is not to convey the idea that all who wish to enter might not find room, but rather that there is room enough for all the elect, and the elect only. And as the paralytic leader proves in this story, the elect are brought in one way or another. And what a comfort to the people of God, not just because of their election, but also despite the size of their particular assembly, having been truly gathered to the Lord Jesus, they realize that they are part of a countless host, glorious, congregated in the house of Jesus. And finally, and maybe even most importantly, I want you to note the conclusion of the second here set out for you is the foremost activity that is taking place in the assembly. I don’t know what people are looking for, generally, when it comes to church these days. But you see what is taking preeminence, what has the priority here in this account, Many were gathered together so that there was no longer room, even near the door, and he was speaking the word to them. Jesus was speaking the word to those gathered. May I be so bold as to suggest that the living Christ, even presently, Even this evening, by his spirit, continues to do the same thing in his house.

You don’t come here to listen to me. You don’t come here to listen to me. Rather you come to hear Jesus speak his word in his house through me by his Holy Spirit. And whether it is I who stands here before you or someone else, You come to hear Him speak to you. And you must trust that that is exactly what He is doing. Will you not listen? Will you not heed?

But great responsibility this lays upon us, you and me. Upon me, a demand for humility that I am not equal to. And at the same time, a boldness toward you that I would not fail to declare to you the whole counsel of God. That great responsibility upon you, likewise. A demand from you for your attentiveness. Shake those cobwebs out of your brain. Please. But also a receptivity to the word of the Christ. unto whose home you have been gathered.”

It is my contention, then, that the Church is very much in view here in this text, Mark 2. We are told in this text about the Church’s exclusive prerogatives and the demands that come from the Church, the true Church of Christ, that supersede all demands within the social fabric of life. There is a oneness in this house of God, this home of Jesus, in which the ownership of our Lord is asserted. There is a confidence granted us as a blessing as we are viewed as his elect, gathered by him for his purposes. A success for us despite outward appearances. And finally, a focus for us in the chief activity of the Church, namely the presentation of the word by Jesus through his servants in the power of the Holy Spirit. for the saints’ obedience and for their comfort. Help us, Lord, especially in this matter of your Word, For, as the text has ended there, we begin and know that all the other elements of which we have spoken will fall into place.

And may it please you to make this church a gem, not so that she might boast in herself, but that she might boast in you, so that she might be prepared for service to give herself, even her life, for the sake of others. We ask you, Lord, that you would strengthen us to this end, as we are gathered into Jesus’ house, his people.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.