Mark 1:21-23
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
The Cure of a Demoniac. 21 [a](A)Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 (B)The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. 23 [b]In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
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- 1:21–45 The account of a single day’s ministry of Jesus on a sabbath in and outside the synagogue of Capernaum (Mk 1:21–31) combines teaching and miracles of exorcism and healing. Mention is not made of the content of the teaching but of the effect of astonishment and alarm on the people. Jesus’ teaching with authority, making an absolute claim on the hearer, was in the best tradition of the ancient prophets, not of the scribes. The narrative continues with events that evening (Mk 1:32–34; see notes on Mt 8:14–17) and the next day (Mk 1:35–39). The cleansing in Mk 1:40–45 stands as an isolated story.
- 1:23 An unclean spirit: so called because of the spirit’s resistance to the holiness of God. The spirit knows and fears the power of Jesus to destroy his influence; cf. Mk 1:32, 34; 3:11; 6:13.
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