Mathew 7 ends with these words: 'When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law' (Matthew 7:28-29 NIV ).
Jesus taught as one who had authority, but did he have authority? I tell my preaching students, "If you don't know how to pronounce a name, say it like you know it and no one will know the difference because they don't know how to pronounce it either." The truth is that people can sound convincing even if they don't know what they're talking about. They just need to speak confidently. So the question we must put to Jesus is, "Do you have any real authority, or are you just teaching like you have authority?"
That's what Mathew 8 is about. Jesus demonstrates his authority by healing a leper through touching him, by healing a paralyzed servant from a distance through simply saying it was done, by casting out demons and healing many including Peter's Mother-in-Law, by calming a storm, and by restoring two demon possessed men and sending the demons into a herd of pigs. His demonstrated authority over disease, nature, and demons gives his teaching validated authority. His words challenging the status quo and calling people to sold-out commitment can no longer be dismissed as the rants of a religious zealot. He speaks as one having authority because he has authority.
Father, when circumstances and life's conditions grip and fill my vision, I sometimes forget who Jesus really is. Today, "Be thou my vision."
Jesus taught as one who had authority, but did he have authority? I tell my preaching students, "If you don't know how to pronounce a name, say it like you know it and no one will know the difference because they don't know how to pronounce it either." The truth is that people can sound convincing even if they don't know what they're talking about. They just need to speak confidently. So the question we must put to Jesus is, "Do you have any real authority, or are you just teaching like you have authority?"
That's what Mathew 8 is about. Jesus demonstrates his authority by healing a leper through touching him, by healing a paralyzed servant from a distance through simply saying it was done, by casting out demons and healing many including Peter's Mother-in-Law, by calming a storm, and by restoring two demon possessed men and sending the demons into a herd of pigs. His demonstrated authority over disease, nature, and demons gives his teaching validated authority. His words challenging the status quo and calling people to sold-out commitment can no longer be dismissed as the rants of a religious zealot. He speaks as one having authority because he has authority.
Father, when circumstances and life's conditions grip and fill my vision, I sometimes forget who Jesus really is. Today, "Be thou my vision."
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