And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
Mark 1:21-24
There were many rabbis and teachers in Jesus’ day. When Jewish people went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, they expected to hear someone read and teach from the Old Testament. But when Jesus fulfilled that role, those who heard Him immediately recognized that there was something different about Him. Unlike the regular teachers who had covered up what God actually said with centuries of customs and traditions, Jesus was plainly declaring God’s Word and delivering the truth with authority. Charles Spurgeon said, “A sacred regard to the authority of God ought to lead us to reject an error, however old, sanctioned by whatever authority, or however generally practiced.”
While Jesus was completely God as well as completely man and thus had divine authority which we do not have, we do have the same Scripture. When we teach and preach and share the Word of God with others, we have a basis for authority—not our opinions or ideas or traditions, but what God has declared. We should speak of spiritual things not with a halting sense of uncertainty, but with clarity and authority. Anything less fails to give those who hear us what they truly need. “For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” (1 Corinthians 14:8).
When we recognize that we speak with authority that is not our own, we do not lift up ourselves. Instead, we exalt God and His Word and declare that it is true and that it must be obeyed and followed.
