THEY KNEW WHO HE WAS

1982, February 7th, at the evening student service at St. Stephen's, Pastor Kevin Schmidt preached on Mark 1:29-39 (Gospel reading for the 5th Sunday after Epiphany, Series B). Kevin had chosen the theme "They knew who he was"(Mark 1:34) for the service, and this song was written for it. When I was asked to give names to the tunes of songs for the Australian Lutheran Hymnal Supplement, this one was called KJ, Kevin's initials and the way in which people sometimes referred to him. I enjoyed working with Kevin from 1976 -80 at St. Stephen's. Musically, this started on the 12 string guitar as a folky sounding song, but I prefer to do it in a rock style, with a strong on-beat. FURTHER REFLECTIONS "Jesus healed many who were sick with all kinds of diseases, and drove out many demons. He would not let the demons say anything because they knew who he was." (Mark 1:34) Some today are fond of speaking about the power of Satan, the destructive actions of demons and devils in people's lives. I suspect that this is often an unhealthy fascination, part of the late 20th century Western fascination with evil and darkness and antiheroes. Without faith in the Divine Liberator this 'worship' of dark forces is bound to increase. Yet, even though the power of the Devil, is fearsome and awful, it is no match for the power of Jesus. The demons know this. They - early witnesses to the identity of Christ in Mark's gospel - understand who is boss: "... but Jesus does not permit the demons to speak. He does not want his witnesses to be from the side of Satan or Beelzebul, but from his new cleansed community, who know that the powers of the unclean and demonic have been defeated. Satan is a liar, and his claim to be able to retain possession of human beings is a lie. As the prince of this world, he is constantly usurping the power which belongs legitimately and solely to God the King..... In Jesus, the kingdom of God smashes the kingdoms of evil." ['Crossing The Boundaries' Rick Strelan. Lutheran Publishing House 1991] Awareness of the power of evil - especially in our own lives - is an important part of being Christian. But knowing the authority of Jesus, and being confident in it's protective cover for us, is even more vital.