The Authority of Jesus

The Gospel of Mark Mark chapter one. We'll begin at that second major section, verse number fourteen. Before we read, let me bring us up to speed on this particular book. The Gospel of Mark, unfortunately, is one of the least favorite gospels for those who read the Bible. And one of the reasons that Mark is our least favorite gospel is because we have very uncomfortable moments when we read the Gospel of Mark, because Mark is the shortest of the Gospels. So you come to a story that you know very well, and you begin to read the story that you know very well, and you're expecting the story to go on and on and to contain all of the elements with which you are so familiar, and yet Mark just tells the story quickly and briefly and leaves out many of the details that you were expecting. Because of that, we're often uncomfortable when we read the Gospel of Mark, or when we read the Gospel of Mark, we tend to sort of fill in the details. Well, I think we do Mark a disservice when we approach his gospel that way. I don't think we ought to fill in details that Mark leaves out. I believe doing so actually passes by Mark's intent. You see, we don't have one gospel, we have four. And the four gospels are written by four different authors. They're written from four different perspectives, and each of the authors has a story to tell and a point to emphasize. And if all we do is go to one of the gospels and fill in all the details from the other gospels, then what we fail to do is understand why the particular author tells the story the way he does. See, Mark's Gospel is not Matthew's gospel. Matthew's gospel is written to a particular audience. It's written to a Jewish audience, and Matthew has this goal in mind. I want you to understand all the things that Jesus fulfilled so that you see that he is the promised Messiah. Matthew's gospel is not John's Gospel. John tells us very clearly what his goal is at the end of his gospel. He says that He's written these things so that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ. So John's gospel is centered around seven signs. These seven signs that point to Jesus as the Messiah. Mark's Gospel is not Luke's gospel. Luke's gospel has more of an emphasis on what Jesus said. Luke is an historian and a physician, and he tells us in his prologue that his goal in his gospel is to lay things out in an orderly fashion to give this historical account. Mark's gospel is not like those. Mark's gospel has a completely different character. In fact, if we were talking about films, Mark's gospel would be an action adventure movie. He moves quickly from one thing to another, and his favorite word is immediately or straightaway. In fact, that word translates it immediately is used fifty times in the New Testament. Forty one out of fifty are in the Gospel of Mark. In other words, he wants you to understand where Jesus went, what Jesus did, and why he wants to get you from one story to the next. Another thing is that geography matters in Mark a great deal. Mark wants you to know where Jesus is. Much of what happens in Mark takes place around the Sea of Galilee. It's very important to note, for example, when Jesus goes to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, because sometimes what Mark is saying when he says he went to the other side is that Jesus went from the Jewish side to the gentile side. Why is this important Because one of the major themes in the Gospel of Mark is belief, not just belief, but those people who ought to believe and don't. Those people whom you would not expect to believe, but they do. And so with that in mind, let's look here at this section of the Gospel of Mark, and immediately we'll run into something that is shortened verse fourteen. Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God. Now you know, there's a whole lot more to the story of John being arrested. However, for Mark's purposes right here and right now, that's not what's important. And saying the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent believe the gospel. Next verse, passing alongside the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother, excuse me, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men, and immediately there's that word. They left their nets and followed him, and going on a little farther, they saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately there's their word again. He called them, and they left their father Zebede in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him. Now watched the contrast, and they went into Capernaum, and immediately there's that word again. On the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in a synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth, Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him, saying, be silent and come out of him. And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, what is this a new teaching with He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him, and at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. Amen, I want to talk to you this morning about the authority of Jesus, the authority of Jesus. And as I use that word authority, I want you to know that I'm not referring to positional authority as you and I are used to thinking about. We think about authority, and we think about people in authority, and we think about people who have positions that grant them authority. There are elections coming up, and those elections so confer authority on some candidates and withhold authority from other candidates based upon the will of the people. And when the will of the people has heard, that authority will be granted. They will have power to act based on the position that they have been given. But we are not talking about that kind of authority, although for many people that's the way we think about the authority of Jesus. What we think about Jesus being given this authority to act. In fact, when we talk about our salvation, we usually talk about it in terms of the authority that we've allowed Jesus to have. We talk about the decision that we made and where we asked Jesus to go, and how he went where we asked him to go. Because we asked him to go, I told Jesus to come into my heart, and he came into my heart. I gave him the authority to be my savior and to be my lord. Like Jesus looked at you and said, oh, thank you so much. I really appreciate the fact that you're going to allow me to have this authority. That's not how salvation happens. Amen. The authority of Jesus is not positional authority. The authority of Jesus is not granted authority. Unlike the people who are currently campaigning, Jesus is not running for office. He never has and he never will. Amen. That's not the authority that we're speaking of here. But what of this authority? I think if we look at the three responses to jesus authority, we'll understand a little bit more about it. There is the first response, which is the response of the disciples when they are called. The second response is the response of the demons when they are confronted or that's the third response using. The second response is the response to those in the synagogue when they hear him teach, and the third response is the response of the demons when they are confronted. But jesus authority is not contingent upon any of these responses. His authority remains the same in each of the three situations. The difference is how people respond to his authority. But here's what I want you to understand. Their response does not change or dictate the authority that Jesus has. Look at the first one with the fishermen. They're here on the Sea of Galilee. They're in Capernaum or kaf Nahoum, the village of Nahum, this fishing village on the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee. These fishermen have been fishing all their lives. Their fathers were fishermen, as we see from the sons of Zebedee who were mending nets in their father's boats. They became fishermen because their fathers were fishermen. Their fathers probably became fishermen because their fathers were fishermen. This is just what their families have always done. So Jesus comes to this fishing village, and he speaks to four fishermen, two sets of brothers. The first set of brothers, Simon and his brother Andrew, look passing alongside the Sea of Galilee. He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen, and Jesus said to them, follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. Please note that this is not a request, it's a command. Jesus didn't say, would you like to follow me? Jesus didn't say would you please follow me. Jesus didn't even say would it be possible for me to indice you to follow me? Would it be possible for me to convince you to follow me? Jesus looks at Simon, he looks at Andrew, and he says, follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. And what is their response? Immediately they left their nets and followed him. Immediately they left their nets and followed him. Notice also that this was not a temporary request for them to follow or a temporary command for them to follow. Jesus doesn't say follow me. I have something that I need to do and I need your help. Jesus doesn't say follow me, leave those there. You can come back to them later. He says, follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. In other words, you are currently in one trade. I will give you another trade. Follow me and walk away from everything you have and everything you are. And immediately they dropped their nets and they followed. Notice the next two, and going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father, Zebede in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him. Now, notice, with Simon and Andrew, you have the radical idea of two men who are leaving their profession in order to f Jesus. But with James and John you have the radical idea of two men who are leaving their profession. With an even more radical idea of two men who are walking away from their father and leaving their profession in response to the authority of Jesus. You see, this is the response of the Christian to the authority of Jesus, the response of the Christian when confronted with the authority of Jesus is a response that says yes before the command is even made clear. I don't know what exactly it is that you are requiring of me, but I know who you are, and because of who you are, I recognize that you have the authority to command whatever you will. So my response to you is yes, not because what you're asking of me is attractive. In fact, oftentimes it is not. Not because what you are asking of me is more fulfilling than what it is that I'm doing now. But in spite of the fact that I have no idea what it will cost me to follow you, I am following. This is the Christian response to the call of Christ, and it is an amazing thing. There are a couple of ways that we need to understand this. Number One, I want you to understand this from the perspective of your own life and whether or not you have come to the place of following Jesus like this. But secondly, for those who have come to this place of following Jesus like this, I want you to consider it in light of the fact that we call others to do the same. First, in considering whether or not we have made this response, are you an individual who has said, regardless of the cost, I am following, and I am following because of who Jesus is, no more, no less. I am following because I recognize that he has the authority to command me to do so. I am following because I recognize my great need and his great provision. I am following because I recognize that I have absolutely no hope whatsoever of dealing with my sin problem apart from Christ, and that because Christ died for sin, once for all, the just, for the unjust, I'm in desperate need of him. He is my savior. He is my lord, not because I made him my savior and made him my lord. I did not make Jesus my savior. I did not make Jesus my lord. You don't make Jesus do anything, amen. I acknowledge that Jesus my savior. I acknowledged that Jesus was my lord. I did not command him and have him bow his head and agree to do what I asked. I acknowledged the fact that he is who he says he is, and that I am hopeless apart from him. Is that you, Christian? Does that define your relationship with Jesus? Is it defined by this? Utter willingness to follow and obey and to yield to his authority because it's his authority. And on the flip side of that, if we understand it that way, is it the way that we present it? I am amazed and often embarrassed by the way we present the gospel to people. Oftentimes we present the gospel like we are representing some weak, needy, sissified Jesus, a Jesus who is begging and hopeless, a Jesus who looks out there at lost people and says, I am so incomplete without you, will you please come to me? And we present the gospel like we are representing that kind of Jesus. And we basically come to people and we say, listen, I'm looking at the happiness in your life, and your happiness, mee w appears to be somewhere around a four or a five. Jesus can offer you happiness somewhere in the seven eight to nine range. So if you will just let him, you will be so much more happy. Oftentimes that's the way we present the gospel. Notice what a far cry that is from the gospel presentation that sets up this section. Look with me, if you will back in verse fifteen. You get fourteen and fifteen. Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God and saying, if you will just let me, I will make you so much more happy. Huh. No, thank you. He came saying there is this void in your life and if you let me, I would be glad to feel it. No, huh, and saying the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel. Amen, hallelujah, Praise the Lord. Turn or burn, That's what he says. Repent and believe. That's the authority that Jesus has. That's the authority that Jesus exercises, and that's the authority to which we respond when we come to him and repentance and faith. And that's the authority we need to recognize when we are proclaiming the Gospel to lost sinners who are in desperate need of Christ, not because of their emptiness, but because of their sin. That's why sinners need Jesus, because they're sinners. Amen, because they're sinners. This is the first response. There is a second response that is a very common one. Look at the second response, beginning there in verse twenty one. And they went into Copernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes go down to verse twenty seven. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, what is this and new teaching? With authority? He commands even the unclean spirits, and they him, and at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. This is the most common response to the authority of Jesus, and that is to misunderstand and misapply it. Jesus comes and he teaches. Here's what's amazing. At this point, Mark doesn't tell us what Jesus was teaching. He doesn't tell us what Jesus read from the scroll. He doesn't tell us how Jesus made application, because the response to jesus teaching and his authority had nothing to do with the way Jesus taught. The authority that Jesus had had nothing to do with the fact that he entertained people or that he didn't entertain people. The authority was something that was not derived from his performance, but their response to his authority was merely to acknowledge that there was something different about him, to be amazed about it, and for his fame to spread abroad. To me, the most interesting time in the year being a Christian is Christmas time. One of the reasons that it's so interesting is that during that time of the year, people who have absolutely no intention whatsoever of responding appropriately to the authority of Jesus acknowledge the authority of the Baby and the Manger, the Man on the cross. They'll have nothing to do with the man who rose from the dead they don't want to hear about, but the Baby and the Manger they love. In fact, here's an amazing little fact why this is the most interesting time of the year. One of the largest Christmas trees in the world and the most expensive Christmas tree in the world, can be found in Abu Dhabi. Yeah, you heard me correctly, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, this Muslim country where believing in the Trinity is a crime legally punishable by death. It's shirk, it's blasphemy to ascribe partners to Allah, and yet the most expensive Christmas tree in the world, and one of the largest Christmas trees in the world, can be found every year in the mall at Abu Dhabi. The reason it's the most expensive Christmas tree in the world is because it's decorated with things like rolex watches and diamond rings and so on and so forth. But here's what amazes me. In the midst of this country, where if you and I walked in preaching Jesus, we could find ourselves in prison, they have a tree that is meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus. In fact, they revere Jesus. Jesus is found in their Koran. He is one of the most important prophets in all of Islam. But here's the point. It is an acknowledgment of the authority of Jesus, but only so far. It is the acknowledgment of Jesus as a great moral teacher. It is the acknowledgment of Jesus as a great man, as a great historical figure. And yet it falls short of acknowledging that Jesus is the son of God, acknowledging that Jesus has all authority in his hands and acknowledging that Jesus died for sin rose again on the third day and is our only hope of ever standing before God forgiven and righteous. In the country that I call home, we're about to have another election, and it's amazing every time we have these elections, people whose very lives and very existence spit in the face of Jesus will stand up and be inaugurated with their hand on a Bible, and will have a pastor of some ilk to offer both an invocation at the beginning of the inauguration and a benediction at the end. Because we acknowledge the authority of Jesus, but only so far. We acknowledge the authority of Jesus, so far that he makes us respectable people. But we do not acknowledge the youth authority of Jesus so far as it takes over every inch, every nook, every cranny of our lives. We will not do that. So what we want is we want Jesus, but on our own terms and to the degree that we are comfortable, but nothing beyond that. That's where the overwhelming majority of people are, even the overwhelming majority of people who call themselves Christian, they acknowledge that there's something special about Jesus. In fact, there's something so special about Jesus that we ought to go to church on a regular basis because of how special Jesus is. In fact, before we eat our food, we ought to bow and we ought to say a prayer because of how special Jesus is. When we get married, we probably ought to do it in a church because of how special Jesus is. When when we die, we probably ought to have a funeral with some religious words being said because of how special Jesus is. When our kids are born, we probably ought to have some sort of acknowledgment at that point because of how special Jesus is. On Christmas and on Easter and other times of the year, there ought to be something special that we do because of how special Jesus is. But the idea that we would drop our nets and leave our father because of who Jesus is is absolutely absurd and insane, because we don't want to take this thing too far. Acknowledge Jesus, yes, leave all for Jesus, absolutely not. This is where most of us are in acknowledging his way authority. However, we won't stay here. Look again at the text, Look at verse twenty three. And immediately there was in the synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth, Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him, saying, be silent and come out of him. And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. There is the acknowledgment of the Christian, the acknowledgement of christ authority that leaves all because it recognizes that Jesus is very God, of very God, because it recognizes that Jesus is the one who spoke the world into existence, It recognizes that Jesus is Savior and Master and Lord. Then there is that acknowledgment, that acknowledgement that will only go so far, that acknowledgment that says that there is something authoritative about Jesus, that there is even a moral authority about Jesus, this great man, this great teacher. And I'm going to pay homage to him, because I believe that his authority warrants it. But I'm not going to leave my nets, and I'm certainly not going to leave my earthly father. And then there is the acknowledgment of inevitability, the acknowledgment of the demon, the acknowledgment that after it's too late, says, I now know exactly who you are and there's nothing I can do about it. That's the acknowledgment of jesus authority that we see with the demon. And that's the acknowledgment of the authority of Jesus that we will see when every tongue confesses and every knee bows in heaven and on earth and under the earth. Because here is the reality. Everyone will make the first acknowledgment. Everyone will acknowledge that Jesus is who he says he is. Everyone will acknowledge that Jesus has all authority. Everyone will acknowledge that Jesus is very God of very God's Everyone will acknowledge that Jesus can be denied absolutely nothing. The only difference is those who find themselves in that middle category today will make that ultimate acknowledge in hell, where it will be utterly meaningless in terms of your eternal destination. Just like the demons, there will be absolutely no doubt remaining as to who Jesus is, as to what he's worthy of, and there will be absolutely nothing that you can do about it except respond when he rebukes you. That is the inevitable acknowledgment of the authority of Jesus. Oh sinner, you do not want to be numbered among those who make that inevitable acknowledgment of the authority of Jesus. What a terribly wasted life for someone to go only so far, for someone to make a cultural acknowledgment, a religious acknowledgment of the authority of Jesus, for someone to shape their lives around the moral teachings and moral authority of Jesus, but to fall short of that acknowledgment that drops your nets and leaves all, only to bust hell wide open one day, and to recognize that it was an absolute waste that your half measures helped you none at all. Jesus is not interested in you acknowledging his moral authority. Jesus has no desire for you to acknowledge his superiority to other men. Jesus is not impressed that you think his teachings are meaningful for your life, because the fact of the matter is he needs no one to remind him of who he is or what he's worthy of. He is God, and he needs absolutely nothing, least of all your permission to exercise his authority. Enough with half measures, enough with fake sincerity, enough with trying to preserve some of that authority for yourself. Nothing short of dropping your nets and leaving all will suffice, because that is what the authority of Jesus demands, and he demands it of all, and ultimately it is exactly what the Authority of Jesus will have one way or another. My advice plead with the God of Heaven that he might grant you repentance and faith, that he might liberate you from half measures, and that in liberating you from half measures, he might also liberate you from the judgment to come. As you place your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ and upon his work alone for your righteousness, Let's pray, Father, as we bow before you. We bow as a humble and grateful people. We bow acknowledging the authority of Jesus, and asking that, by your grace it might be more than a half hearted acknowledgment, that we might do more than those who acknowledged that Jesus was a great man, that we might go further than those who acknowledged that Jesus was a great teacher, that we would even surpass those who acknowledged that Jesus was a great prophet. That we might acknowledge that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, God wrapped in human flesh, who lived a perfectly righteous life, that he might impute that righteousness to those who come to him in repentance and faith, to one who died the death that the unrighteous owed, so that their sinfulness might be imputed to him, and that through this double imputation we might be justified, rescued from our sin to the glory and honor of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he might indeed have the fullness of the reward for which he died. Grant by your grace, that this might be our acknowledgment of his authority. We ask this because we believe it to be in accordance with the will and the nature, and indeed with the authority of Jesus, who is the Christ. Amen