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“What is this? a new teaching, with authority!” Authority…what does that mean to you today? "Authority" meant those in charge of things who
perpetuated white privilege, male privilege, and the privilege of the wealthy.
"Authority" was what suppressed human life and spirit, imprisoned
rather than set free. The generation of the 70’s motto was “never trust
anyone over thirty”. To say someone was “In Authority” in those days was
more a comment about his or her heredity than his or her ability. Those “coming of age” in the 70’s (in general) were a
self-righteous generation, and yet, I have to admit, this questioning of
authority has shaped the society we live in today in profound ways. All of us,
in one way or another, have become questioners of authority. These are people who can give us a whole new understanding of
ourselves; who can tell us the truth in such a way that new possibilities of
thought and action open up before us. We trust them not only because of what
they know but also because we sense they have our best interests at heart. When Jesus walked into the synagogue of Capernaum, the people
there recognized his authority by the way he taught. We are not told the content
of his teaching (Mark is always sketchy about details) but we can be sure it was
a proclamation of the kingdom of God. Whatever he said, it was something people
had never heard before from their usual authorities. Jesus’ teaching appears
to have provoked both excitement and alarm. It wasn’t just his words that astounded the people; it was that
he backed up his words with action. He restored the "possessed" man in
the synagogue to sanity, liberating him from chaotic and uncontrollable forces
that had taken over his life and were destroying his personality. Jesus didn’t
just talk about the kingdom of God; he demonstrated its liberating power. His
announcement of the kingdom heralded his own mastery over all the forces that
make human lives less human. He would go through his ministry unmasking the lies
that people tell each other to protect their own power and the lies they tell
themselves to resist any disturbances of the status
quo. The authority of Jesus Christ is the authority to compel a
decision. It is the authority of one who confronts us with the truth in a way
that commands our attention, and then calls us to obey. It is definitely the
authority of one who has nothing but our best interests at heart. It is the
authority of one who liberates us from the things that would kill us, things
even more insidious than alcohol or cocaine: the demons of fear and
self-loathing, of helpless passivity and resignation, the preference we all have
for living with comfortable illusions rather than uncomfortable truth. To these
demons, Jesus says with authority, "Be silent!" The world today is no less confusing than it was back when many
of us were told to question authority. We still have lots of difficult decisions
to make in life, but once we have made the decision to submit our lives to the
authority of Jesus Christ, all the other decisions become a bit easier. There is a catch here; however, and that is your very first
decision, you must decide to be a student, you see even Jesus, with all His
authority, is unable to teach without a student (you do know that the Greek word
for Disciple (math-ay-tes) means student.) We’ll never know exactly what to do
in every situation, but we must be certain that if we are submitting to the
authority of Jesus our choices are clear. Through Him We can make a decision: Through Him We can make a decision: Through Him We can make a decision: Through Him We can make a decision: Through Him We can make a decision:
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