1:21–28 It is significant that the first scene of Jesus’ ministry (after the calling of the four disciples) is one in which Jesus teaches and performs an exorcism. Both actions are emphasized in Mark’s Gospel as characteristic aspects of Jesus’ ministry, and by placing this account in the opening of Jesus’ ministry, Mark shows the reader immediately a representative scene.

Although Mark says that Jesus “proclaimed” (1:14), more characteristically he describes Jesus as teaching, as here in the present scene. We are not told what he taught here; instead, the author emphasizes the manner of his teaching—as one who had authority (v. 22). We must note that this term is used several times in Mark’s story of Jesus, and that it was apparently a major object in his writing to deal with the issue o…