Authority

 

Because of all the hate and lack of clear authority in our nation and in the world these days, I’ve been thinking a lot about and reflecting on the subject.  Early on in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus very quickly set Himself apart from others.  No sooner was Jesus baptized than He began His public ministry with two actions: He started to teach the crowd and He cleansed a man with an unclean spirit.  (Mark 1:21-28)

Mark tells us nothing about what Jesus said.  What’s important is the effect of His words.  They have power. They astonished the congregation in the synagogue because He spoke with authority.  Unlike the scribes and Pharisees whose authority and teaching probably came from their particular rabbinic school, Jesus taught on His own authority.   And Jesus’ teaching had the power of exposing and expelling evil – even when it dwelt in a holy place like a synagogue.

This raises several questions for us.  How do we react to the Word of God?  Do we interpret it on our own authority, that is, with self-serving rationalization?  Do we hear the Word of God but respond with indifference – as in we know the stories, we’ve heard them before, and they have nothing new to teach us.  No surprise.  No astonishment.  No authority. 

As with the man with the unclean spirit, not even a holy location will have the power to cleanse.  But, if we embrace the Word of God, it can have power in us.  If we study the Word of God, if we meditate on Scripture, it can comfort us when we’re discouraged.  It can give us encouragement when we’re ready to give up.  And in our self-satisfaction, it can expose with painful exposure who we really are – imperfect men and women with unclean spirit, the sin that stubbornly clings to us.  Ultimately, it brings us to a greater love of God.  When that happens, get ready to be transformed.  Get ready to be astonished by the Word of God.

Getting back to Mark’s Gospel.  People noticed that Jesus was different.  He was teaching something new and with authority.  There must have been at least two things going on.  There was something visible or energetic about Jesus to capture people’s attention, a charisma.  But for the people to notice, they must’ve had something going on in themselves, a hunger or longing, that allowed their hearts to be open and searching for something to fill it.  They had to be receptive to the message and messenger.

For someone/something to have authority in our lives, we have to give it to them.  Many times when we give others authority, when we trust them or elect them or look to them, they abuse the authority or trust.  They take advantage over others, and often lead them astray.  I’m thinking of today’s political climate. 

As I think and pray with all this, it occurs to me that Jesus did just the opposite.  The people were praising Jesus, recognizing His authority; and He responded by helping, encouraging them to hold their own authority.  When He healed the man with the unclean spirit, He was essentially returning the man to himself.  I can also think of the dignity that He returned to the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) and the living water He gave to the Samaritan woman (John 4:1-42) as other examples of this.  All throughout the gospels people were trying to raise Him up as king, and in return He was healing and inviting them to reclaim their own authority, dignity, and power.

We too are invited into relationship with the Divine through Jesus.  He’s showing us that the relationship isn’t one of giving all our authority to Him, but the encouragement to maintain our own authority and power and work with Him.  For example, when I’ve prayed, “just tell me what you want!”, the response I sometimes get is, “What do you want?  I’ll work with you.”  I think that through this Gospel story—and many others throughout the Bible—Jesus encourages us to claim and live from our own interior authority.