Have
you ever noticed that everywhere you go in life, people in authority are
telling you what to do and what not to do? These people can be teachers, police
officers, government officials or even the staff here at Hillsview Acres.
Hopefully these people will do what they feel is best for us instead of what is
best for themselves. Someone else who has authority and can tell us what to do
and what not to do if we will let him is Jesus. We see a good example of his
authority in the reading we just heard from Mark 1:21-28 a few minutes ago.
The
demon recognized Jesus and called him the Holy One of God, perhaps because he
hoped that by identifying Jesus by name he would have power over Jesus. The
title “Holy One of God” refers to Jesus’ authority as a high priest. It was
ironic that Jesus’ authority was first recognized by a demon. The people were
amazed at Jesus’ authority and teaching, especially his authority over the
demon. His words had full power to accomplish what he said.
The
purpose of Jesus’ earthly ministry was teaching, not performing miracles or
casting out demons, even though these actions accompanied his teaching and told
of God’s presence within him. Casting out this particular demon reinforced
Jesus’ authority to teach. When he taught in the synagogue, he referred to no
source of authority beyond himself, unlike the Jewish rabbis who referred to
the authority of the Scriptures. Jesus is the source of authority. Jesus
claimed to be the Son of God, and the demons reinforced this claim by
acknowledging him to be the Son of God. The demon came out because it could not
resist Jesus’ authority. The Scribes and the Pharisees only recognized a Jesus
who threatened their authority.
A
Bible teacher who wants to have an impact on his/her students must teach life
applications from the Scriptures that they have lived out personally. In other
words, the teacher must “practice what he/she preaches.” Jesus did that when he
cast out the demon.
There
are people who capture the interest and attention of their audience every time
they speak. These people often speak with authority. Jesus was one of those
people. When he spoke, people listened because he spoke the very word of God.
When God speaks, there is a ring of authenticity. His authority and power can
encourage us to make changes in our lives. An encounter with Jesus and his
authority changes everything. A good example is the apostle Paul. He met Jesus
while on the road to Damascus, and that encounter changed him from a persecutor
of Christians to an eager disciple of Jesus.
All
of us have been given authority to tell others about the Good News of the
Gospel. Some of us have been given a particular anointing from God to use to
touch the lives of others. God will reveal our anointing only if we ask him-and
that asking includes prayer.
The
Gospel emphasizes the authority of Jesus and his teachings instead of his
words. We need to study his teachings to see the authority they have to change
our lives. This can only happen when Jesus is the highest authority in our
lives.
Bibliography
1.
Jeremiah,
David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV (Brentwood,
TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 1344)
2.
ESV Study
Bible. Part of Wordsearch 11 Bible software package.
3.
McKenna, D.L.
& Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s
Commentary Series, Vol. 25: Mark (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982,
pp. 47-49)
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