Jesus Teaches With Authority
Beware of big words. Over the decade that I’ve been your pastor I’ve been teaching you that the danger in learning big words is that we think we know them, but the danger is this: that we either don’t know what the word means, or we aren’t able to actually tell others what the word means. And one is just as bad as another. This morning we bump into one of those words: authority. What does it mean to speak with authority? We might conclude that speaking with authority means that the person is really sincere and truly believes what he or she is saying. But that’s not how the word was used 2000 years ago. In the words we are just about to look at, we hear that the people were amazed that Jesus taught with authority. And I’ll give you a hint. That word does not mean that Jesus was just speaking authentically and sincerely. So what does it mean that Jesus taught with authority? Let’s read these words and find out: “21 They went into Capernaum, and right away he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. 22 They were astonished at his teaching because he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not like the scribes.” (Mark 1:21–22 CSB17)
Here in these words we begin to understand what it means that Jesus taught with authority. We learn what authority is by contrast. Jesus did not teach like the teachers they were used to. You see, Jesus said the simple and clear words, “This is what the Lord says.”1 But the teachers of their own time would says words like, “I think, I feel, Some say…others say, I suppose.” Jesus would leave his hearers with a clear understanding of the truth. Their own teachers left them with a mountain of doubt.
So Jesus speaks with authority against the teacher’s doubt. And in this we see what authority is. Authority is simply saying what the truth is and taking your stand is. That is what authority looked like during Jesus’ day. And the same is true today. For forty years the Lord has blessed this congregation with faithful teachers who taught with authority. And you could tell that they taught with authority because, instead of saying , “I think, I feel, some say, others say,” they said, “This is what the Lord says.”
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this is something to rejoice in. But it brings up a real question. And that question is: why. Why is it that a pastor would change from saying “thus saith the Lord” to saying “I think, I feel, I suppose”? A pastor can very easily change from speaking with authority to thinking his own opinion when he speaks with authority and his own people don’t like it. It sounds good to have a pastor who speaks with authority…until he speaks with authority against me. When your pastor condemns your own laziness, lustfulness, gossipping, lovelessness, then, all of a sudden, having a pastor who speaks with authority becomes a bad thing. And when the people push back, sad to say, there are many pastors who change from “this is what the Lord says” to “I think and I feel.”
As Christians we receive what God’s word says not just when it speaks comforting words to us, but also when it crushes us by exposing our sickening sin. We repent. But if God’s word is true when it comes to our sin, then it is also true when it comes to all the comforting promises contained in it. When it speaks about my forgiveness in Christ, my Salvation won by him, my resurrection from the dead paved by him—in all these areas God’s word speaks with authority. And because it speaks with authority, I know that my sins are forgiven.
Jesus speaks with authority. He speaks with authority against the teachers doubt. But he speaks with authority in another area too: “23 Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, 24 “What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 25 Jesus rebuked him saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit threw him into convulsions, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and so they began to ask each other: “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 At once the news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee.” (Mark 1:23–28 CSB17)
Jesus speaks with authority against the teachers’ doubt. But he also speaks with authority against the Devil’s Dominion. When Jesus spoke with authority people heard it and embraced that truth that Jesus spoke. But there was someone else listening to what Jesus was preaching. The Devil was there. And so the Devil pushed back. There was a man who was possessed by a Demon. And through this demon the Devil pushed back in two ways. First, he tried to discredit Jesus. Having a known-liar say that you are trustworthy is probably not what you would like to have happen to you. Even more so, a demon endorsing Jesus as the Holy One of God is the opposite of what Jesus would want.
So the Devil tries to discredit Jesus. But there is a second way he pushes back. He resists Jesus’ command. Jesus tells him to ‘shut up’ and ‘come out’ and the demon doesn’t. And even more so, he throws the man down to the ground trying to do as much damage as he can to the man. And look what happened. The Devil at every turn planned so much evil. But, at the end of the day, every evil the Devil planned and actually carried proved Jesus’ authority. Because authority doesn’t just speak the truth. It also produces results.
It’s somewhat funny to put yourselves in the shoes of the people gathered there. The man says all his demon-possessed crazy words. Jesus tells him to shut up. The demon doesn’t. Oooh, what is Jesus going to do? He commands the demon to come out. But the demon doesn’t. Hmmm, what is Jesus going to do now? The demon even throws the man to the ground. But at the end of the day Jesus is the one who has authority, not the Devil—and everyone knows it.
And my dear friends in Christ, the same is true today. But do you have the patience to wait till the end of the day? Do you have the tenacity and strength to cling to Jesus’ promises until he fulfills them? About a hundred years ago people went over to Israel and dug up almost everything. And they found Jericho. And when they found Jericho they also started reading the bible and they found out that the bible mentions not one, but two Jerichos. They used what they discovered to try and prove that the bible was full of lies. And the people lived the rest of their lives without archaeological proof that God’s word was true and they died that way. But then, years later, people did more digging and found that there were actually two Jerichos near each other. So the bible was true.
Do you have the patience and diligence to wait till the end of the day? Here is where it is so beautiful to consider the fact that Jesus speaks with authority. For Satan so powerfully and forcefully drives us to despair when we don’t see obvious, tangible proof that what he says is true. How wonderful and amazing it is that Jesus forgives that sin. And he does even more. He strengthens our faith. Satan is powerful. And he exerts that strength powerfully. I’ve been here serving as your pastor for almost 10 years. And I’ve been there to bury so many of you. And I can tell you that some of you went to your graves confidently. And others went to their graves trembling and doubting. And my dear friends, that should not shock or surprise you. If Satan is there lashing out with his demons as Jesus preaches, you have to know he will be there when you are just moments and minutes away from heaven. But here is where we see Jesus speaking with authority. Jesus didn’t get rid of the demon in the synagogue. And most likely he won’t get rid of every doubt as you face your death. But at the end of the day, you will know that he spoke with authority. For he will strengthen this gift of faith he gave to you so that alongside the doubt and despair there is confidence, strength and trust in his promises.
That, my dear friends, is what it looks like to speak with authority. And that’s what we have in our Savior Jesus. Jesus speaks with authority against the teacher’s doubts and against the Devil’s dominion.
1 כֹּה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה