Jesus' Authoritative Word

Rev. Alex Sloter Mark 1:21-28 The Authoritative Word Epiphany 4 (1/31/2021) Authority and Obedience Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Last week, we summarized Jesus’ message. He went through Galilee preaching, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” And he commanded people to respond to his message, “Repent and believe the Gospel.” Repentance and faith, Jesus commands these two things as the proper response to his message. Notice, that as soon as Jesus commands a response to his message, he is claiming authority. He is claiming the authority to tell others what to do. To tell you and me what to do. He isn’t telling some idle story to garner laughs, or build a reputation, or amuse his audience. No, he is preaching a message, “The kingdom of God is at hand,” and that message makes a claim on your life and mine. Jesus tells us exactly what that claim consists of, obedience. He says, “Respond to my message by obeying my command, and here is his command, “Repent and believe the Gospel.” But we aren’t in the habit of allowing someone else to tell us what to do, at least, not before he proves that his authority is legitimate. Everyone should be very careful whom he allows to exercise authority over him because authority is a dangerous thing. It is easy to abuse. Once you place yourself under someone else’s authority, they have power over you, and you are vulnerable to them. Credentials, Please Imagine that you’ve gone to see a doctor about pain in your chest. He takes a look at you, runs some tests, and announces his diagnosis. You will need open heart surgery. This man is claiming a kind of authority over you when he tells you that. He is claiming to be an expert in his profession, someone who is qualified to tell you what is wrong with you and how to fix it. He is also commanding obedience from you, “Be at the hospital at 5:00 A.M. on Monday so that I can perform surgery.” If you recognize his authority, then you will be placing yourself under his power. You will be very vulnerable as they wheel you into the operating room and put you under the anesthetic. Before you recognize his authority and place yourself under his power, you need to be certain that his authority is legitimate. You need to see some credentials. That is why doctors always have medical diplomas prominently displayed in their offices. They are showing you credentials, assuring you of their legitimate authority so that you will submit to their medical authority and power. If we are so careful about authority and power in our physical lives, we should be even more careful in our spiritual lives. Heaven and Hell are on the line. Much like a doctor, Jesus claims authority over us, and he commands a response from us. But how do we know that his authority is legitimate? Where are his credentials? Recognizing his authority means that he will exercise power over us, but how will he use his power? Will he heal us or hurt us? This is what we consider from our Gospel lesson this morning, and what we will find is that Jesus’ authority comes straight from God, and that he uses his power to liberate and bless. Jesus’ Authority We find Jesus in the synagogue at Capernaum. Capernaum was a small town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. He is teaching on the Sabbath, and the crowds are astonished because he is teaching as one who has authority. He commands obedience to his message, and unlike other teachers who would quote ancient authorities in support of what they taught, Jesus simply taught. He said things like, “You have heard it said, but I say to you…” He claimed unique authority for what he taught. He acted as though the mere fact that he said it should be enough to establish its truth. Of course the crowds are astonished at this. Who does this guy think he is? They’ve never heard such audacious preaching in all their life. But to speak with authority is one thing. To prove the legitimacy of that authority is something else entirely. Where are the credentials? Just then, a demon possessed man interrupts Jesus’ teaching. He screams, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Immediately, Jesus confronts the demon. He commands him, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” The demon fights for a moment against Jesus’ authority, and the man convulses violently. Then it loses the battle and comes out with a scream. If the crowd was astonished before, they must be amazed now, awestruck, at Jesus’ awesome display of power. “What is this?” they say to one another, “A new teaching, and with authority. He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him.” Over the course of a single morning, Jesus had laid claim to authority, proclaiming the nearness of God’s kingdom and commanding obedience, repentance, and faith in response to his message. And he had established his credentials with an act of power. His authority is legitimate. It comes straight from God. He even commands the obedience of evil spirits, and they submit to his authoritative word. Jesus claimed authority in his earthly ministry, and he proved his authority through acts of power. Through his authoritative word, Jesus still claims authority and commands obedience. His preaching is for us today, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” And so is his call to obedience, “Repent and believe the Gospel.” Because God’s kingdom is at hand, turn away from everything that is opposed to God’s kingdom and turn towards Christ, the one who brings God’s kingdom to us. Repentance and faith. That is what Jesus’ authoritative word demands from us. But unlike many false authorities that we may encounter in our lives, Jesus’ authority is well credentialed. If what we read this morning is true, if it really happened, then we must recognize Jesus’ real authority. If we believe that he really healed people, even raising some from the dead; if we believe that he really cast out demons and defeated the devil on the cross; if we believe that he really rose from the dead to new life, then we must recognize his real authority. The four Gospels are not just accounts of Jesus’ teaching, or biographies of his life, they are proofs of his power, of his real authority. But do we recognize his authority? Or is it possible that we don’t really believe what we read? All who do believe what they read in the Gospels must reckon with Jesus’ authoritative word and his call to obedience, “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Gospel.” Jesus’ Liberating Word But even if we accept the reality of Jesus’ authority and wrestle with his call to obedience, it is still possible to reject him. Placing yourself under someone else’s authority is a dangerous thing. It means that you are no longer in control. Like a patient waiting for surgery, you are vulnerable. Your life is in the hands of the person who has authority and exercises power over you. But authority and power are easily abused. So how will Jesus use his power in the lives of those who submit to his authority? He will use his authoritative word to liberate and bless. The possessed man in our Gospel lesson is a perfect example of this. He had fallen under the influence of an evil spirit. This demon also had power, real power, and he used it to enslave. Notice that the demon does all the talking in his confrontation with Jesus. The man he is controlling never says a word, not by his own will anyway. He is completely dominated by the demon. But when Jesus speaks, the man is set free. The demon is forced to release his prisoner. The demon used his power to dominate. Jesus used his power to liberate. I have never met a demon-possessed person. And I hope that I never will. I will go ahead and assume that you never have either, which can make this story seem very distant from us. But we still live in a world where evil spiritual powers are at work, and they always use their power to dominate. Paul writes in Ephesians, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” We may not see demon possession very often, but we certainly see domination of various kinds. It is very common for a person to fall so deeply into sin that the only proper term to describe his condition is enslavement. That enslavement can take many forms, from chemical addiction to covetousness of any kind. When something that isn’t Christ takes the center of a person’s life so that he begins to live for it, to think about it all the time, to arrange his life to get more of it, he is enslaved by something, dominated by something that has become utterly evil in his life. He needs liberation. That is exactly what Jesus brings, liberation. He speaks his authoritative word, he commands our obedience, so that we can be free. Free to enter God’s kingdom, free to live out God’s image, free to be the people God intended us to be when he first created us. Free to be sons and daughters of the king. Jesus uses his authoritative word to liberate and bless all his people, even you and me. However, this doesn’t mean that the Christian life is easy. Remember that the demon convulsed his victim and came out with a shriek. I am certain that the exorcism was painful for the person the demon was forced to leave. The same is true for us. When we submit to Christ’s authority, we will probably encounter pain of some kind, spiritual, emotional, or physical. The powers which used to dominate us want to dominate us still, and they won’t give up without a fight. And we are so used to being dominated by sin that we may not recognize freedom as freedom when we first encounter it. We may not recognize that saying “no” to sin and “yes” to Christ is liberating because there will be a struggle. But this promise remains. All who recognize Christ’s authority and submit to his word will find freedom in the end. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. So keep listening, pray diligently for an obedient heart, and Christ will use his authoritative word to give you liberty. That is just the kind of savior he is. He came to earth to save sinners, and he has come this morning to save you. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. Amen.