Jesus' Authority - and how he gives us the same!

The second day in the holy week.

Leaders and the Jewish authorities questioning Jesus about his authority. We see that this portion is mentioned in almost 3 gospels:

• Matthew 21:23 - Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?
• Mark 11:28 - “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”
• Luke 20:2 - “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”

 In the above three instances, we find the same question – by what authority you do these things and who gave you this authority.

Let us now understand what the word ‘authority’ actually means: Authority" denotes permission. It denotes privilege, power, rule, control, influence. When someone has authority that means they're on top of other people. They have responsibility beyond the norm. They are able to determine things, to decide things, to render judgments, to wield certain rights and privileges.

1          Jesus had authority in everything.

Let us see some examples:

His teaching had authority: … for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." Matthew 7:29

His healing had authority: In Matthew 9:6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the paralyzed man, "Get up, take your mat and go home."

His deliverance had authority: In Mark 1:27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching--and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him."

His statement had authority: In John 1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--

He has authority to lay down his life and to take it:  John 10:18 it says, "No man takes My life from Me, I lay it down of Myself, I have authority to lay it down, I have authority to take it again." He had authority for His own resurrection. He had authority to give His life, He had authority to raise it from the dead.

Authority to heal the sick.

Authority to raise the dead.

Authority to cast out demons.

Authority to forgive sin.

Authority to designate children of God.

Authority to give eternal life and authority to judge every person, tremendous authority.

In the original Greek language, the word ‘power’ is written as ‘Dunamis’ and the word ‘authority’ is written as 'Exousia'.

For example, we may not have power to stop a heavy vehicle that is rushing in the city, but when we are with the Traffic Police dept, we have the authority to stop the vehicle. Though we do not have power, authority is bestowed on us to do things which are beyond our capacity.

In a school, a watchman is given authority to stand near the gate and stop others from entering the premises. If we go against the watchman and enter, it is not the watchman that we are insulting, we are insulting the Principal of the school who gave watchman the authority.

Jesus got his authority from his father in heaven. 

He was in constant touch with his father, all his teachings, his sermons, his words were all from the father.  Let us understand it in more detail:

A few references are given here. First, let us see John 7:16 where Jesus said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me." In the book of John 12:49, He said, "For I have not spoken on My own [authority]; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak."

He also spoke in John 14:24 and said, "the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me." Jesus, shows us with these words that He Himself, God the Son, was acting under the authority of God the Father.

Jesus also says that authority is given to him in heaven and on earth. "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." Matthew 28:18. All authority is given unto Me. That is an amazing claim to privilege. That is an amazing claim to power, to permission, to right. And Jesus demonstrated that very well in His ministry.

In the book of Deuteronomy 18:18-19, when God told Moses, "I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be [that] whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require [it] of him." We see this prophecy fulfilled in the life of Jesus. We see that Jesus did not speak on his own, he always quoted his father and he led the people to the father.

Jesus is willing to share his authority with us

Jesus is very much willing to share his heavenly authority with us. We need to do certain things to understand and receive that authority.

First of all, we need to read the Bible every day and get acquainted with it. In the book of Ephesians chapter 3, verses 4 and 5 it is written that "when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets".

Next, we need to pray and have fellowship with him. In the book of John 15: 5 he says “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” We need to remain in him to get that divine authority.

In Luke 10:19, Jesus gives us authority over serpents and scorpions, and  - Jesus is giving us the authority over the power of the enemy, he also assures that nothing shall by any means harm us. How wonderful this promise is. Jesus, the son of God, the savior, the redeemer, our good shepherd is giving us a promise that he is giving us authority.

We need to prayerfully take that authority and start using it in this world. If we read the daily newspapers, we find crime, violence and corruption reaching the heights… what can you do, or what can I do. Yes, we can do our part. We need to pray, we need to take the authority that Jesus gives us and start acting on his behalf in this earth. We need to stand firmly for truth and we need to hold ground for our savior.

My thoughts in the season of Lent

We successfully completed meditating on the chapters in 1st and 2nd Chronicles in our church.

We started on Ash Wednesday, quite some time ago in the month of March and every day we gathered and met up in the evenings. Two hours of dedicated time for praise and worship, reading Bible, exposition and prayer. These two hours were the best hours of the day.

Initially there were only a few people who came, but as the days went by, many people joined the group. Last Saturday, the count was more than 80. No one forces any one to come/attend, it’s purely on their own convenience.

We started focusing on the books of 1^st and 2^nd Chronicles. On Ash Wednesday, we were introduced to the summary of these books, the author, the key themes and such information. 1^st Chronicles – chapter 28:9 is the key verse in that book, whereas 2 Chronicles 7:14 remains the key for the 2^nd book.

We meditated on these chapters every day. Many of our church members took turns to read the Word of God and come prepared so that we may be able to tell others. This exercise helped the person to speak well and to prepare well, as he/she has to teach to others.

Almost everyone from the church spoke, it was a wonderful feeling that each and every person called on the name of the Lord. After the message, people used to pray with earnestness and great desire.

In spite of busy schedules of people, many made it to the prayers in the evening.

Let me now try to focus on the two key themes in the two books – 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles.

1 Chronicles 28:9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”

In this verse we read how David admonishes his son Solomon. He tell Solomon to Acknowledge the God of your father. How wonderful is to acknowledge God in our lives. There are a few important principles he is trying to tell us:

• Acknowledge the God of your father
• Serve him with whole hearted devotion
• Serve him with a willing mind
• The Lord searches every heart
• The Lord understand every desire and every thought
• We need to seek him and he will be found by us
• If we forsake him, He will reject us forever.

2 Chronicles 7:14 “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Even in the 2 Chronicles 7:14, we find that this is the key verse of the chapter. Let us divide:

• If my people
• Who are called by my name
• Humble themselves
• Pray and seek the face of the Lord
• Turn from their wicked ways
• I will hear from heaven
• I will forgive their sin
• I will heal their land

Ephphatha - Be Opened!!!

Mark 7:34 “He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means "Be opened!").”

We can read the entire portion in order to understand the concept. Let’s read from Verses 31 – 35

“31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.[a] 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.”

We see the context in the above verses. Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through a town called Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of Decapolis. We also read in other gospels that Jesus went to the region of Decapolis once before in his life time. This is the second time he is going to that town.

We further read that a few people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk. They also begged Jesus to place his hand on the man and heal him. We see that the people had faith on Jesus and wanted Jesus to do good to that man who was deaf and dumb. One point that we observe here is that Jesus took him aside, away from the crowd and he put his fingers into the man’s ears. Till then it is ok, but he further spit and touched the man’s tongue. How could he do that… there are no reasons. If we trust the ‘who’ we would not ask the question ‘why’? So, here we find Jesus looking up to heaven and with a deep sign saying to him ‘Ephphatha’. This word means ‘be opened’. Immediately, the next verse says that the man’s ears were opened, and his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

What a wonderful thing Jesus did in that man’s life that day. He spoke a word and it happened. It is so true, right from the beginning of creation, that whenever he spoke a word, it came to pass. He ordered things to happen and they were formed. What a mighty God we have. Many a times, we take him for granted and we neglect him, but we need to understand that God loves us and he speaks to us.

Let us now explore into this topic a bit further and understand more in detail.

In 2 Corinthians 4: 4, it says “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” We see from the scripture that the god of this age, that is Satan, has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ. We need to understand that there is something which hinders people to see the light. It is not that the light is not shining, the light is always there, but the people of the world are unable to see it. For example, the stars are always there in the sky, but we see them only at night. We cannot say that the stars vanished, no, it is just that something else has taken prominence and the stars are not to be seen by us. There is a problem with our vision and not with the stars. In the same way, there is problem with the vision of the people of this world. We need to pray that the Lord should open their eyes and show them the true nature of God.

1 John 2:11 says “But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.” People are walking in darkness and they do not know where they are going, because darkness has blinded them.

We also see in John 12: 35 where Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. This is the same essence of the earlier verse that we saw. Also in other parts of the Bible we see that Jesus is telling the Pharisees as blind guides. Matt 15:14 “Leave them; they are blind guides.[a] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” And similarly, in Luke 6:39 He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit?. From this we understand that Jesus is very serious when it comes to sight. He does not want all of us to be in darkness. He can give light, but it is we that are blinded and would like to continue in the darkness.

Let us move further into the topic and see in what areas Jesus is willing to help us.

1.       From God’s judgment – Ephphatha. We can read Numbers 22:31 and Numbers 24:2,3,4, to understand this further.

2.       From our needs – Ephphatha. We can read Genesis 21:19 how God did a miracle in the wilderness

3.       From our fights/battles – Ephphatha. We read in II Kings 6:17 how God opened the servant Gehazi’s sight and see victory.

4.       From our fears and discouragement – Ephphatha. We read in Luke 24:31 and in 1 Cor 13:12

5.       From the future bad days – Ephphatha. We read in Luke 19:41, 42 and in II Kings 8:11, 12 about this.

From all this we understand that Jesus wants us to be liberated and free. He doesn’t want us to be under the yoke of Satan and he wants us to be delivered from sin and bondage.

He is ready to say ‘Ephphatha’, but are we willing to take that from Jesus?