Authority: Mark 1:21-22
How do you decide to whom you give authority over your life? Do you look at the clothes they wear and the cars they drive? Do you consider the way they put on their make-up and fix their hair? Do you consider the pursuits of their time? Do you listen to the words they use when speaking to one another? Do you look for titles before their name that indicate status or education? Do you see how many followers they have on social media?
In today’s reading, Jesus heads to Capernaum and teaches in the synagogue. What was the synagogue? In the Old Testament, the Hebrew culture focused on the Temple, where sacrifices happened and atonement with God was found. When the Hebrew people returned from exile, they brought with them the idea of synagogue as the place in each community for teaching, sharing ideas, debating, and learning.
A rabbi, which is a Hebrew concept that likewise developed after the exile, studied God’s Word and dispensed their wisdom as a service to the community while earning a living from some other pursuit. Being a rabbi in Jesus’ day was not a full-time job. It was the job of the rabbi to educate people as they travelled, to act as judges in legal cases, to perform counseling services, etc. They became authorities because of their study of God’s Word and how they communicated it to the people.
It is into this arena that the carpenter-teacher named Jesus steps. It is natural that the people would be willing to listen to Him. An unknown carpenter-teacher doesn’t fit the image of a temple priest, but He sure fits what it means to be a rabbi.
Mark’s description of how the people respond to Jesus is glorious. The people were amazed at Jesus’ teaching because He taught with authority. Of course, we recognize this authority because He is God and as such is the author of life. He should be able to speak with authority!
There is another point to be had, though. The scribes – and the temple priests – were a people appointed to their job because of a genealogical justification. The priests and the scribes were descendants of Moses. Here Mark also drops the first hint that the people of Jesus’ day had grown tired of genealogy-based power. Just because one has a certain pedigree - like the scribes - doesn’t make them worthy authorities over your life.
What makes a person worthy of being an authority over you is what they say. We shouldn’t judge a book by its cover; rather, we judge a book by the message it contains. We shouldn’t look at the outward status of a person when determining their ability to speak wisdom into our lives, either. As the crowds of Capernaum judge Jesus by the message He brings, we should judge people based on the thoughts, ideas, and actions that come out from their heart.
How do you decide to whom you give authority over your life?
