Jesus’ Teaching and Authority

Whose teaching do you listen to and apply to your life? What authority do you submit to? What does it look like when good teaching and right authority converge in our life?

We are each influenced by teachers and authorities around us. Every teaching, worldview, and person of influence, or authority, can shape our thinking and actions as we live our lives.

In Mark’s Gospel account, Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath Day. Jesus taught as one having authority, unlike the scribes. Mark tells us, “And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” (Mark 1:21-22).

The scribes were recorders, interpreters, and teachers of the law. They were supposedly authorities on the word of God and his law, but they were not always practitioners of the word of God and his law.

In contrast to the scribes; the teachers of the law, the recorders of the law, and the experts in the law, Jesus taught as the fulfillment of the law and the true authority, as he is the author and giver of the law.

Because Jesus taught with such authority, he drew crowds of people to himself. Jesus taught in the synagogue as no one before him had taught. His authority was astounding and unquestionable. Many came to listen to Jesus and to be impacted by his teaching and healing.

May we experience transformation and healing as we come to Jesus, as we listen to him, obey him, and apply his authoritative teachings in our lives.

A Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Epiphany: “O God, you know that we are set in the midst of many grave dangers, and because of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: Grant that your strength and protection may support us in all dangers and carry us through every temptation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).

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