Presentation 04
Presentation 04
Introduction
A U.K. resident furiously complained, "Its ridiculous,
I cannot erect a garden shed or chop down a tree in
my own garden without planning permission". Thus
illustrating the proneness of human natures, rebel
self, to constantly challenging authority. It asks,
'Why should I listen? Why should I submit? Why
should I obey?’ Such questions are commonplace.
A commentator on life in the C20th wrote: "The
overriding issue of the twentieth century is the
crisis of authority." Is this not still the case? Do we
not live in an age that is increasingly hostile towards
authority, which claims to have the right to be
listened to, the right to rule, and the right to
command obedience.
Presentation 04
Introduction
Authority is undermined when those in positions
of authority abuse it.
1. The authority of the police is undermined if
they fabricate evidence.
2. The authority of the judiciary is damaged by
inappropriate sentencing.
3. The authority of governments is weakened if
it turns a blind eye to the unjust behaviour of
its allies.
4. The authority of the church is discredited
when her leaders deny the clear teaching of
scripture.
Presentation 04
Introduction
We could be describing society in Jesus day. He lived in
an age when there was a crisis of authority. The petty
restrictions, human traditions and inconsistent lifestyles
of their religious leaders had discredited religion in the
eyes of many. The crippling taxation system and Roman
oppression bred rebellion throughout the country.
The people of Jesus’ day viewed authority either
as a joke or, as a threat.
This anti-authoritarian mood in Israel makes the response
of the synagogue crowd to Jesus’ ministry of all the more
remarkable cf.v22, 27... Jesus was different ! His authority
commanded respect. His authority was first recognised
by the crowd in the place, where the authoritative word
of God was to preached - the synagogue.
Presentation 04
Jesus' Authority
The synagogue was the place where broken,
anxious and perplexed people gathered to hear
God speak. They wanted assurance of the fact that
he was in control of history. They wanted to be
sure that God was concerned about the sore,
confused and perplexing circumstances that
surrounded their lives and burdened their hearts.
But instead they had been exposed to the dead
lifeless preaching of the scribes. Men who had
for all practical purposes abandoned the clear,
powerful, potent, teaching of God's word in
favour of fanciful speculation and human
traditions.
Presentation 04
Jesus' Authority
Is it any wonder that the church of Jesus' day had lost credibility. The leaders’
authority was hollow resting on the shell of a religious office which failed to reveal
the powerful kernel of God’s presence in their preaching. The authority of God
cannot be divorced from the authority of his Word.
When men reject the authority of scripture in favour
of intellectual trips of fancy, then the divine stamp
and authority of God is withdrawn from their
preaching. Sadly, the religious leaders of Jesus'
day were no more capable of driving the stale
air out of the synagogue than they were of
driving evil out of men's hearts.
Presentation 04
Jesus' Authority
The house of God is intended to be a resurrection
ward which breathes new life into men and women,
but the teachers of the law had transformed it into a
morgue. The spiritually needy and spiritually dead
were wheeled in at the beginning of the service and
wheeled out again at its close. But Jesus’ preaching
was different! It was life-giving! When he spoke,
then God’s creative Word did its work in men's
hearts and the congregation in Capernaum were
able to tell the difference v22,
“The people were amazed at his teaching because
he taught them as one who had authority and not
as one of the scribes”.
Presentation 04
Jesus' Authority
Present in the synagogue was a man whose life
was clearly under the control of evil powers. He
may have been a regular church attender, who
for years had sat unperturbed under the
comfortable but deadening teaching of the
scribes. Indeed, their powerless preaching may
either, have lulled him into a false sense of
security or, convinced him that nothing could
deliver him from his miserable condition and
awful bondage.
A great many people today, like this man are
convinced that evil has such a hold on their
lives that nothing can break them free of it.
Presentation 04
Jesus' Authority
Are there those in your community who are
addicted to drugs, to violence, to immorality. They
are prisoners of habit and lifestyle who view their
condition as irredeemable.
A despairing young man commented, 'I'm hooked
on evil'. He believed he was a prisoner with no hope
of escape. He believed that there is no authority
powerful enough to bring about the transformation
for which he longed. He had listened to religious
broadcasters and occasionally attended church
services but nothing had disabused him of that
conviction. He had not heard Jesus speak with
authority. What an indictment against the church!
Presentation 04
Jesus' Authority
Note that it was the authoritative word of Jesus that
expelled all the destructive evil from the man disrupting
worship. The evil powers were subdued and vanquished
leaving a new man, a different man. Here was an
authority that worked and which can be depended upon
to deal with evil. Little wonder the crowd were amazed.
When Jesus speaks things happen! His word draws out
into the open the hidden evils of our natures. Not just the
obvious social evils like drugs, violence and immorality,
but the pride, selfishness, envy etc. Jesus calls them out
in order to deal with them. This is why we must never be
afraid of what the living Word of God might reveal in our
hearts.
Presentation 04
Jesus' Authority
Now this new kind of preaching, this life-giving,
stamp-of-God-bearing preaching, provoked a
hostile reaction. This should not surprise us.
The authority of Jesus will always be opposed by
evil, whether that evil is crude and obvious as here
or, subtle and refined. Why? Because the exercise
of Jesus' rule and authority in a person's life will
have a transforming and liberating effect. As the
boundaries of the Christ’s Kingdom extend, Satan’s
kingdom is thrown into retreat! We for our part
should not shrink from praying that Christ's
authority will be present in the preaching not just in
our own church fellowship but all over the world.
Presentation 04
Authority In The Home
We also see Jesus' authority at work in a domestic
situation - the healing of Peter's mother-in-law v29...
There's an important lesson to learn here. We are
constantly in danger of compartmentalising our lives
so that we can have our religious life and a domestic
life. As though, on our way out of church, as we
shake hands with the minister we also shake hands
with Jesus saying, "Good to be with you, hope to be
with you again next week". We see Jesus as having
some authority, some relevance and some influence
but only over the religious part of our being and that
is as far as it goes. We believe we can step from a
religious compartment and into a domestic one
where he is not present.
Presentation 04
Authority In The Home
We once lived in a street where rubbish was
dumped. It was an eyesore in the community.
The rubbish lay there because the site formed
a boundary between two local authorities.
Both authorities argued that the rubbish
outside their boundary. “We have no control
no authority to do anything” they said.
We too can draw boundary lines in our lives
saying, 'this is the religious bit over which
Jesus can exercise authority but there are
boundaries over which he must not cross. He
must not touch the rubbish, the sin which lies
in our family life or, in our working life'.
Presentation 04
Authority In The Home
Mark is concerned to show that the authority of
Jesus permeates every area of life. There must be
no boundaries or ‘no entry’ signs! We must do
what Jesus' disciples did. Take Jesus home with
us that he might exercise his authority there. In
this particular case the issue was one of illness.
Are you in the habit of bringing domestic
problems to Jesus? Do you recognise the
authority of Jesus in your home and ask him
to exercise it? Young people do you panic about
exams, jobs, marriage, relationships? These are
the very things which need to bring under the
authority and Lordship of Jesus. Do we ask for
and expect his intervention?
Presentation 04
Authority In The Home
There's nothing that is too small or insignificant
to bring to Jesus' attention. The disciples didn't
think, 'Peter's mother-in-law only has a fever,
its hardly life- threatening, its more of a
nuisance than anything else.' Nothing is too
small or too great to bring before him.
I can remember still the reality of that dawning
on me as a child while singing the words of the
chorus, "Christ is the Lord of the smallest atom,
Christ is the Lord of outer space..." It is a
tremendous comfort to know that His Lordship,
his authority covers absolutely everything in
and around our lives!
Presentation 04
Conclusion
Some human authorities have the right to act but they
lack the clout to do so. Returning to the rubbish dump
story, we received a letter from the Dept. of the
Environment stating, 'While we have the authority to
prevent people from dumping rubbish we do not have
the resources to do so.' Its all a question of resources.
How do you view Jesus? Is he merely well meaning.
Someone who would like to help if he could but
cannot because he's a bit stretched at present? He
not only has the right to act and deal with the
destructive rubbish dumps of evil in our lives and
those irksome domestic difficulties that plague us
from time to time - he possesses power to act!
Presentation 04
Conclusion
The authority of Jesus is linked in the N.T. with his power,
a point Luke draws attention to in the parallel passage in
Lk. 4v36 which speaks of the crowd being ‘amazed …
with authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits’.
This is an important addition! Jesus not only has the
right to deal with all that causes our lives to disintegrate,
and to clear away those festering rubbish tips which
are an eyesore to God. Jesus also has the power and
resources to act. His bulldozer is both ready and able
to change the landscape of our lives. His activity can
cause others to stand back in sheer amazement at his
authority and power. Will you ask God to expel all that
is evil? Will you tear down the compartments and
allow him to operate in every area of your life?
Presentation 04