Power has always been a fascination to many people. Our society is intrigued with powerful people. From the athlete to the entrepreneur; from the physically powerful to the politically powerful, people stand in awe. For power, many have sold their soul. They have compromised their values, conspired with those tainted with evil, and caused their own personalities to be warped in the process.
Being around powerful people has been a goal for some. People have tried to enhance their own worth by meeting those who have great power and authority. Some have married for power instead of for the right reasons.
But what the world knows as power and authority is only a corruption of the true power of God. It has been said that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and that may be true. If it is, it is because of our corrupt, fallen nature. If we were not disposed to abuse power, we would not be corrupted by it. Having the true power of God as his servant is different, however. It does not corrupt when used by the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
This is what we see in Jesus. In our text, and in Scripture as a whole, we see, in Jesus, power used as it was intended by God to be used. We see power used not to swell the ego, but to minister to the people. We see power used not to call attention to itself, but to attest to the mercy of God, and call people to Him. In our text, we see the authority of God revealed in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is described in our text today as "One having authority." The word for authority here in the Greek is exousia. This word denotes the right to exercise power. And in Jesus we see one who has that right. But what can we learn from Jesus’ use and exercise of power? He has left us on this earth as His representatives. He has imparted to us authority and called us to do the "greater works." But if we would know how to use power without being corrupted by it, we must look at His example. We can learn much from Him.
Today, we will examine our text under two major headings. We shall first look at The Personification Of Power – Revealed In Jesus. And secondly, we shall look at The Perpetuation Of Power – Received By Us. It is my prayer that God will give us the grace, this day, to not only see the power available in Jesus Christ, but to begin to appropriate and use that power in our ministry.
Let’s turn our attention to the personification of power as it is revealed in Jesus. When you think of power personified, only one name comes to mind – Jesus Christ. He is the "One with authority." The authority of Christ is revealed throughout the Scripture. Already in Mark, we have seen the authority of Christ revealed. Here in the first chapter, in verses 12 and 13, we see His authority over the temptation of Satan as He came forth from the wilderness experience, victorious. And in verses 16 through 20, we see His authority over men, as He called His first disciples and they left all to follow Him. In Luke’s account, when He called the disciples, we have a scene where He asserted His authority over nature in providing the net full of fishes after a long night’s toil without a catch.
So, when we come to our passage of Scripture today, we continue the theme of the authority of Christ. He is the perfect personification of authority.
The first thing we see is that Christ’s authority is greater than the Scribes’.
"And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. And they were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." (Mark 1:21-22)
When Jesus came into Capernaum, He began to teach in the synagogue there. Verse 22 says that they were amazed at His teaching. But why were they astonished? They were astonished because He did not teach as other men of that day taught. When the Scribes stood up to teach, they always appealed to other authorities besides themselves. They would say, "According to Rabbi Gamaliel . . . or Rabbi Hillel . . . or Rabbi Shammai . . . or Rabbi so-and-so" and then they would teach. But they would always appeal to external authorities to substantiate their views.
This is what we still do today. In order to convince someone of the validity of what we are saying, we appeal to a supposed authority. For instance, if I were talking to you about the proper way to train your children in certain areas of their development, I might appeal to a respected expert like Dr. James Dobson, or someone else like Him. Or I might say that a certain study done by Drs. So-and-so revealed a certain truth. The reason I would do that is because if I just said you ought to do this or that, you may question whether I knew what I was talking about. You may say, "What makes him an authority on this subject?" And in many cases, you would have good reason for doing so. I have even heard so-called experts appeal to other so-called experts for their authority. This is still common practice.
But Jesus did not do that. He stood up and said, "This is the way it is." There was no Rabbi So-and-so. It was simply His word, period. But there was power in His word. I personally believe that what Jesus said rang true to the hearts of those who were listening. They knew He was right. And they were astonished at His teaching because it rang true and because He taught with authority. Jesus Christ had authority. His authority was greater than the authority of the Scribes. He had authority to establish truth.
Next, we see that Jesus’ authority was greater than Satan’s.
"And just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, ‘What do we have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are – the Holy One of God!’ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be quiet, and come out of him!’ And throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice, and came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.’ And immediately the news about Him went out everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee." (vv. 23-28)
Not only was Jesus’ authority greater than the Scribes, His authority was greater than Satan’s. What we see revealed here in this passage of Scripture is Christ’s authority to deliver the afflicted. Here, he encounters the demonic work of Satan himself, and casts the demons out. In fact, this was one of the signs of the coming of the Messiah. When the Messiah would come, miracles such as healing and deliverance would occur. In Isaiah 35:5-6 we read, "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy."
In Jesus’ encounter with these demons, we have evidence of Jesus being the Messiah. And those who saw these things that day could only come to that conclusion. They saw the power of God being manifested in the man. By His word, the forces of hell had to retreat. He spoke and they had to obey. Here was a man who had authority. Here was a man who was the personification of power; pure power, but power used not to draw attention to the greatness of the one using it, but power used to the benefit of those in need.
Next, we see that Jesus’ authority is greater than sickness.
"And immediately after they had come out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Him about her. And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she began to wait on them. And when evening had come, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door. And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was." (vv. 29-34)
"And a leper came to Him, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying to Him, ‘If You are willing, You can make me clean.’ And moved with compassion, He stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ And immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, and He said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news about, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere. (vv. 40-45)
In these passages of Scripture, we see that Jesus authority was not only greater than the Scribes’, not only greater than Satan, but it was also greater than sickness. Sickness has been with us since the Fall of Man. When Adam fell, he brought the entire created order down with him. The entire universe is running down. Science calls this the Second Law Of Thermodynamics, or the Law of Entropy, which, simply stated, says that all things are running down, or are subject to the degenerative forces now operative in the universe. And so it is with our bodies. We are running down. We call that aging. And we will eventually die. We have not been delivered from that part of the effect of the fall of man. Saved and lost alike die in the flesh. That is still part of God’s plan for us. And we also get sick in the flesh. To some, this is a horrible thing. But relatively speaking to be sick of spirit is much worse than to be sick of body. We reveal our earth-bound mentality when we emphasize the physical instead of the spiritual. Perhaps if more people would seek spiritual healing, their physical problems would be taken care of as well. But back to our point. We have physical infirmities, and Jesus has authority over our physical infirmities. He has the power to heal, and that is what is manifested in these two passage of Scripture we have just read.
With Simon’s mother-in-law and with the leper, Jesus manifested His authority over sickness. He healed them both. Here was another sign of His being the Messiah. Here was a sign that the Kingdom of God had broken in on them.
In Christ, we see the perfect personification of power. Revealed in the person of Jesus Christ is absolute power; but also pure power, power used to help others, power used, without the one using it being corrupted. In Christ we have the perfect example of how to use the power of God. But, of course, we are not Christ. We do not have the same degree of authority and power which He manifested. That is true, but God does desire to manifest His power through us. God does desire to endue each of us with power so we can minister in His name. God has made us agents of the Kingdom. We are His ambassadors. We are representatives of Jesus Christ. We, too, can receive the power of God and use the power of God if we come to understand how to do so.
God desires to reproduce His power in us and to use it through us. Let’s turn our attention now to the perpetuation of power as it is received by us.
Firstly, it is important for us to see that the source of power is God. We see this clearly revealed in the life of Jesus. The revelation of the power of God in Jesus was evidence of the fact that He was the Messiah. The power He manifested was God’s power. Jesus Himself said it was so. Over and over in John’s Gospel, Jesus says that the works He is doing are not His works, but the Father’s works. He says that His teaching is, in reality, the Father’s teaching, that all He is doing is what He sees the Father do. Jesus always pointed us to the Father as the source of His power. In reality, Jesus and the Father are one. Only God has the kind of power we see manifested in the life of Jesus Christ. God is the source of all power. And if we would manifest the power of God, we have to understand that He alone is the source of that power.
The second thing we need to see is that the secret of power is prayer.
"And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there. And Simon and his companions hunted for Him; and they found Him and said to Him, ‘Everyone is looking for You.’ And He said to them, ‘Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, in order that I may preach there also; for that is what I came out for.’ And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons." (vv. 35-39)
There is a key here to Jesus’ ministry and to the ministry of every effective saint of God. It is prayer. Jesus was always stealing away to pray. In this passage, it says that He rose a great while before day to be alone in prayer. That is where He communed with the Father. That is where He received guidance. That is where He heard the Father speak. That is where He received the power and authority to act in the name of the Father. And that is the only place where we will get the authority to act in the name of Jesus. If He must pray, we must pray. And if Jesus need to pray, how much more do we. Prayer is the secret of receiving God’s power. When God’s people begin to pray, God begins to act.
Finally, what is the standard for how we use the power of God? Of course, the standard is how Jesus used His power. As He used power, so are we to use power. And in each case, He was ministering to the needs of others. He had compassion on the needy. He cared that the demon-possessed was bound. He cared that there was suffering. He wanted to see people set free. That was His motive and that should be ours.
For Jesus, power was not a show. So many today seem to make the things of God a show. It is as if they are calling attention to themselves, saying, "Look who I am." They advertise the power of God to gain a crowd. But, this is not what Jesus did. In fact, He told them not to tell of these things. Why? Because He did not want the curiosity-seekers. He did not want those who only wanted something for themselves without a commitment to God. He knew they would not last. And those who came that way didn’t. They left Him, and they still do. Many today come to meetings seeking a blessing, and even when they get one, you never see any real commitment in their lives. God is just a blessing machine to some. He is someone to come to "to get what I need." And incidentally, that is why so many do not get what they are asking for, whether it be healing or some other thing. It is because they are asking to spend it on their own lusts, on themselves.
We must never want to see the power of God working in a meeting just to see it. God does not want to perform for us. He did not perform for the Devil by turning the stones into bread, and He will not perform for us so we will believe He is there. But He will as He did here, perform His works so we will be healed and delivered and made whole for His sake. And the reason is because He cares for us. He uses His power, His authority, to minister to others, and so should we. We should have a desire to see people ministered to. The first thing we think about should not be ourselves, but those who are in need – the lonely, the poor, the hurting, those in prison, the sick, the afflicted. It’s sad that some do not want to soil their sanitary hands with such people. But that was not Jesus’ way.
In the case of the leper, Jesus reached out His hand and touched Him. Now, this was unheard of. A leper was a horribly unclean person. Their flesh was full of disease. It was literally rotting off their bones. They were required to walk around and cry "Unclean! Unclean! Someone would be out of their mind to touch a leper. You might get leprosy. How could anyone touch such a foul person? Well, Jesus did. And He made a point of doing it. Why? So we would have an example of what we would do. He could have just spoken to him and healed him but He didn’t. He touched him. And we need to touch others in every way. It is nothing but selfishness to do otherwise. Oh, you may call it prudent, or wise. But we are to be pitied if we do, because we have deceived even ourselves. And we have condemned ourselves to selfish quenching of the Spirit in our lives. But as we do reach out and touch those who are in need, we begin to be enlarged in our Spirit. The blessing of God is attendant upon such action. The joy of the Lord flows into our souls and our spirits are lifted up. That is how Christ used His power – for others. And that is how we should use the gifts He gives us.
Jesus has given us a real insight into His authority and power and how to use it. It is for our instruction that we may follow in His steps. But it may only come when we give ourselves to Him, to seek His face in prayer, and to seek to use what we have for His will for those who need Him. We are His hand to touch them today.
As I look around this church, I am made aware of the great number of you who have been blessed of God. You have not only blessed materially and financially, you have been blessed with many gifts and abilities, talents and capabilities. There is great potential here to be used for the Kingdom of Christ.
What are we doing with it? The Scripture says that we are to be good stewards of the grace of God. How are we exercising that stewardship? The authority of Christ has been imparted to us. The gifts of God have been given to us. There is more, plenty more, where all of that came from. What are we doing with it? We have been given much. But to whom much is given, much is required. Are we using our time, our talents, our money and our gifts for the sake of the Kingdom: Are we engaged in Kingdom work? Do we have a burden for those who are hurting, for those who are lost? How are we using the authority and power that we possess?
Dear saints of God, it is not my desire to do anything but be an encouragement to you. But I must constantly hold before you the inescapable consequences of a lack of attention to Kingdom work. If we, as a people, are going to really make a difference in the lives of others; if we are going to be the dynamic, aggressive, power-filled church that makes a difference, we muct actively seek out ways to touch the lives of others.
God has called us by His marvelous grace. He has made us a bright, shining beacon of hope to a struggling world lost in the darkness. We must never take for granted the glorious riches of His grace deposited here in our midst. We are blessed. Let’s use that blessing to bless others.
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