Study in Mark’s Gospel

Study in Mark’s Gospel Presentation 04

The Authority Of Jesus Chap 21-34 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. The authority of the police is undermined if they fabricate evidence. The authority of the judiciary is damaged by inappropriate sentencing. The authority of governments is weakened if it turns a blind eye to the unjust behaviour of its allies. 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 livesand 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

Study in Mark’s Gospel