Devotion #6: Fatherly Authority
My dad was a kind and soft-spoken man. He very seldom raised his voice, but my sister and I knew when it was necessary to change our behavior or respond to something he said. Once, when I was a teenager, I got home really late after being out with friends. We did not have cell phones back then, so my dad did not have any way to get a hold of me. I was quietly coming into the house when I saw him sitting on the couch. My heart dropped, and I knew I was in big trouble. He did not yell at me. He just asked if I knew what time it was. Before I could answer, he said, “Do not do this again,” and went to bed. I felt so terrible that I had worried and disappointed him. The authority in his quiet words reminded me that we had rules. I had let him down, and I knew it. I never stayed out past my curfew again. His loving and gentle authority made it easy for me to want to be respectful and obedient.
When Jesus spoke, there was majesty and power in His words that caused people to want to hear what He was saying. Much of Jesus’ earthly ministry was spent teaching. The people were amazed by the way Jesus spoke about Scripture. He taught in parables and used examples that related to their everyday lives. Their lives were changed when they heard and believed.
Matthew 7:28-29 says, “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”
The religious teachers of the day, scribes and Pharisees, often began their teaching by saying, “Thus says the Lord!” Jesus spoke in the first person. He taught with wisdom and authority that was perplexing to the people and infuriating to the teachers of the Law. Jesus told them of things to come. He exposed the hypocritical ways of the Pharisees. The authority He had been given by the Father was heard in His words and seen in His encounters. Jesus told them plainly that He was the Son of God. His teachings fulfilled the Old Testament prophesies. However, the words of Jesus and the authority with which he spoke filled the religious leaders with rage, and they reacted with hostility toward Him.
Even as a man, Jesus had authority over nature. He spoke, and the wind and waves obeyed Him. He had authority over illness, diseases, and demonic forces. The lame walked; the blind could see. Matthew tells us that Jesus healed every disease and affliction among the people. Demons were even under the authority of the Son of God. When Jesus commanded evil spirits to come out of a man, they had to ask permission before going into a herd of pigs. Even they have no choice but to submit to His authority.
Jesus has the authority to forgive sins. The Messiah, Christ Jesus, heals us and changes us when we believe and submit to Him.
The religious leaders hated Jesus; His holiness shined on their pretense of being righteous. He said they were whitewashed on the outside and filthy on the inside. So, they plotted and killed Jesus by having the Romans crucify Him. They did not understand that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, also has authority over even death. After three days in the grave, Jesus rose again, just as He said He would! There is victory in the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Hebrews 1:3 (NLT) adds, “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.”