Mark 1:21-22

THE VOICE OF AUTHORITY

‘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.

Mark 1:21

Where men assemble there is always opportunity for service. Wisdom delights to dwell in human convocations. Jesus Christ, the model worker, readily found a field for wise activity. He instantly adjusted Himself to His surroundings. The time, the place, the expectations of the people, indicated that the present need was teaching; so ‘ He taught.’ He did not strain after novelties, not court attention by eccentricities. He began where the scribes and rabbis began, viz. at the text of the Hebrew Scriptures. But then He went deeper than did they. The old words became alive with new meaning. With the key, possessed only by Himself, He unlocked the treasury and brought forth the hidden riches. A strange light strayed into the hearers’ minds; a new power quietly penetrated every soul. Their dreams of worldliness were disturbed. The fetters of evil habit were loosened. Quiet convulsion, occult upheavals of feeling and purpose followed. The superior and irresistible authority, which clothed His utterance, was an authority native to the message.

I. Christ’s authority.—It is not all authority which the enlightened and the free, the honourable and the just, can revere. Even righteous authority may deserve but partial reverence. Christ’s authority is not based upon force, or craft, or popular regard; but upon right and upon conscience.

(a) His words are authoritative, because they are true.

(b) His commands are authoritative, because they are righteous.

(c) He wields the personal authority of peerless love.

(d) In all, His authority is Divine, as He is.

II. Advantages which follow its acknowledgment:—

(a) For the individual, the fulfilment of his true being, the harmony of obedience with liberty.

(b) For the human race, its one only sure and Divine hope.

III. Christ’s authority affects all.—The message of heaven is, indeed, an invitation and a promise. But it is also a command. It is wrong to overlook the just claim of Christ upon the faith and obedience of men. Men have no right to disbelieve and disobey the Son of God. In receiving the Gospel the repenting sinner acknowledges the just authority of an omnipotent Friend, a Saviour, not only gracious, but supreme, Divine!

Illustrations

(1) ‘The synagogue was emphatically the place of teaching; here the people assembled to receive instruction. It was permitted even to strangers to speak a “word of exhortation” to the assembly, and of this privilege the first preachers of the Gospel frequently availed themselves, for it afforded them with valuable opportunities for setting forth their doctrines. Our Lord’s frequent use of this privilege is also mentioned in the Gospels (Matthew 4:23; Mark 1:21; Luke 4:15; Luke 6:6; Luke 13:10; John 6:59; John 18:20). When Paul and Barnabas entered the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia, “after the reading of the law and the prophets the ruler of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on” (Acts 13:15).

(2) ‘In the life of Emilio Castelar occurs a singular illustration of sudden fame. In September, 1854, when revolt was ripening in Spain, distracted by the sorrows of his country, he wandered into a large meeting of the disaffected in Madrid. It was late. Many orators had spoken, and the audience, already tired, and annoyed at seeing a mere youth (he was then barely twenty) rising to speak, began to move away. Before he had spoken many words a few began to listen, and the impatient “Hush” which rose from the lips of the listeners secured the attention of those who were about to depart. Then, as there fell from the pale-faced, dark-eyed Andalusian speaker accent and utterance as never before had been heard in such a gathering, they grew agitated with enthusiasm, which at length burst into thunderous applause. In an hour Senor Castelar had become a celebrity; and the next morning hundreds and thousands of copies of his speech were being distributed over Spain.’