Whose Authority?
Notes
Transcript
Authority
Authority
21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, “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 with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
--Prayer--
When I walk into any situation I always ask myself the question, where exactly am I and who is in charge? I ask myself these questions so I can prepare myself as to how I need to respond and act in the situation. I need to know who to listen to because there are people that think they are in charge when really they have no power at all. When I was a youth pastor, I was helping a mission team get settled into our building and I talked to the director of the camp and he was giving out room assignments and he had it laid out. I went to another part of the church and came back a little bit later and the assignments had changed. He told me the kitchen ladies didn’t like their room and wanted mine. At that point I learned the power of the spatula. As we look at our text we will see this same dynamic playing out and we need to answer that question who is really in charge.
21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught.
Who is they?
—> Jesus and his newly called disciples; Simon (Peter), Andrew, James, and John
Where are they?
—> The synagogue was the place of teaching. It was not a place of worship but a place of power.
—> There is only one place of worship but every village, every town, every place where there are at least 10 Jewish families has a synagogue and every synagogue has scribes and the lead scribe is the Rabbi and lead teacher of that synagogue.
why do I tell you all of that? because of the next verse...
22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
The people see that Jesus is different and that he has authority that is different and much greater than the scribes.
—> Scribes got their authority from who their teacher was, what school they went to, they didn’t have their own personal authority. When they interpreted and taught the scriptures it was through quoting the teachings of those that came before them.
—> Jesus on the other hand doesn’t do that, doesn’t need that. He has personal authority and speaks truth and life without the use of quoting others to validate his reasoning. He is the validation and the people recognize that and are truly astounded.
23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, “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 with a loud voice, came out of him.
—> Jesus has shown the crowds his authority with his words, now he displays his authority with his actions.
—> No matter what we believe about demons and demon possession today the reality of the situation is that the people of Jesus’ time thought demons were very real and very active.
—> The author of Mark makes this clear as he has numerous stories of Jesus and the disciples healing the demon possessed.
—> The people gave these demons power and authority in their lives. They made them agents of destruction and death.
—> However, just like the scribes. Jesus reveals that there is a no place of power and authority.
—> Jesus heals the man of his demon and the crowd says...
27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
In this brief passage Jesus has come on the scene and turned things upside down. He has come with authority, real authority, to teach and to heal. He has laid claim over the religious authority and over the spiritual powers and supplanted both.
Yet the real question remains…what kind of authority does Jesus hold over your life?
Do we simply use the Bible as a great book of quotation?
Do we use the words and actions of Jesus like we use those from self help gurus and social media influencers?
Or are we amazed by who Jesus is and allow Him to be the Lord and ruler of our lives?