Response to Authority

Introduction

Eyewitness accounts are powerful and authoritative. If you have seen something and experienced that event, then that event can be life changing. Explaining that life event to others allows others to live that experience as well.

We were sitting in a hotel room in Louisiana. Several of us had made the trip to explore a mission site. Gene and I shared a room. Gene was a veteran. He had served in the army during World War II. Gene was an elder here. I had great respect for Gene. Along with O’Neil Parker, Gene had invested in me. I knew that Gene had been captured during the war. I didn’t know the specifics. I never asked him about that experience. I had been told he didn’t like to talk about it. It had been a long day. We were getting ready for bed. I don’t remember what led into the conversation but Gene told me about his war experience. I sat quietly. It was his story to tell and once it started I didn’t want to slow him down. I will not tell you what he said, but I will tell you this. He spoke with such authority about that experience. The details could only have been known by someone who had lived through those hellish months of capture, imprisonment, and mistreatment.

Eyewitness accounts are powerful and authoritative. They give us a glimpse into events and areas that we do not know. They reveal the hidden. They capture our attention. If you listen, you will hear enough to know that the story is real, authentic, valid, and life changing. Sitting on the side of a bed facing Gene as he sat on the other, I listened and I heard a story that allowed me to understand a time and place and a man that I only thought I knew. I think that is what it must have been like to hear Jesus teach. We will be reminded of that today.

Authority

Mark writes about Jesus who is the Son of God. Every story is to demonstrate what God is like. And with every story, Mark leads us closer to making a decision about Jesus. Along the way, Mark shows us that there were those who struggled to understand Jesus and there were those who accepted him and his way of life as quickly as they could. Most of us are somewhere on that spectrum. Some struggle to understand and others are quick to accept him and his way of life.

Jesus teaching in the synagogue is usual. But Mark allows us to understand the hearer’s response—amazed. Some translations read “astonished.” They were captivated by Jesus’ words because he spoke with such authority. Jesus speaks with one who has not only knowledge but passion about truth. Unlike the scribes who speak out of knowledge alone, Jesus is aware that what he says is truthful. And with his teaching comes a call to follow him. This is what brings about the amazement. Inherent within the word that Mark uses is the idea of shock. Jesus’ words about the kingdom so penetrate the hearers that their response isn’t merely appreciation for a good speaker but a call to commitment to listen and obey. Not everyone will. But that does not take away from the authority of Jesus when he teaches.

And to demonstrate that Jesus is not merely a good speaker, Mark allows us to see the authority of Jesus in action. A man in the synagogue had an evil spirit. And the evil spirit speaks. He speaks out of fear. He speaks out of evil. And he speaks out of reality. “What do you want with us?” is to be understood as a request to be left alone. We do not want you here. We know you have the power to destroy us and if that is your mission then leave us. You are the Holy One of God and we have no power against you and do not want to be with you. Jesus heals the man and again the people respond with shock and awe recognizing that even the spirit world obeys the voice of Jesus.

Response

We have two responses to the authority of Jesus. They are similar responses with different outcomes. The first response is seen in the people listening to the teaching of Jesus. The second response is heard in the confession of the demons. But the outcomes are very different. The people hear Jesus and are amazed. The demons hear Jesus and are afraid. The people hear Jesus and tell others about him. The demons hear Jesus and their confession is silenced.

The authority of Jesus is verified in his miracle. But the people’s amazement is found in Jesus’ teaching. Verse 22, the people are amazed at his teaching because it is profoundly different from the teacher of the law or the scribes. The scribes quoted a lot of other rabbis. They taught out of their knowledge. Jesus taught out of his experience. Think about it. The Holy One of God experienced the fullness of heaven and knew the glory of God. When he taught, his words came not from others but from the throne of God. Authority was based on experience.

In Mark’s writing we are posed with a choice. In verse 24 we have the confession of the demons. Even they recognize that Jesus is the Holy One of God. Even they recognize that Jesus is exactly who he claims to be—The Son of God. But they want nothing to do with Jesus. Some folks are like this. Say they believe that God is real but then want nothing to do with God. They know what God wants with them and they want to debate the hypothetical and the uncertain. Some understand who Jesus is but want to live life in their own way and defiantly say to him “leave me alone. I want to live my own life.”

But then you have the people who hear his words and tell others what they have heard and seen. Which one are you? Notice this. The miracle was fascinating, exciting, and convicting. What the people were impressed with was the teaching of Jesus. Because when he spoke, he spoke with the authority of one who has experienced what he talked about. The kingdom of God is near. It is time to repent and believe. We are amazed at Jesus. We are amazed by his teaching. His life. His words. His authority. The demons called him Holy and refused to change. Let us call him “holy” and bow down. Let us be amazed once more that the Holy One came to this earth. Revealed what only one who had been in God’s presence could reveal and called us to follow. Let’s be the people who can’t wait to tell what we know is true.

Follow Jesus

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