Standards, Rights, and Real Authority (Part 1)

February 01, 2015

By John Partridge

Scripture: Deuteronomy 18:15-20

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Mark 1:21-28

From 1988 to 1998 I worked for a company known as the American Gas Association Laboratories. Over the
course of those ten years the name of the company actually changed several times, but that isnt important for
our story today. Our company, commonly known simply as A.G.A. or as the A.G.A. Laboratories, did several
things but all of them revolved around gas appliances and safety. There was a research department that
developed and applied new technologies to gas appliances, a standards department that wrote the rules for
national safety, a testing department, records department, and a quality assurance department which was known
as Follow-up Services.

Although A.G.A. wrote national safety standards for gas appliances, tested appliances for compliance with
those standards, and sent engineers around the world to make sure that our clients were producing appliances
that were in compliance with those standards, we were not a governmental agency and we did not have any
legal authority whatsoever. Instead, A.G.A. was considered to be a quasi-governmental agency or perhaps a
non-governmental agency. We were privately owned. The standards that we wrote were written by
committees made up primarily of appliance manufacturers, with one seat given to national regulators. The
authority that we had came only from our clients desire to carry our mark or seal of approval. If a client
wanted to quit they could, as long as they stopped producing appliances with our seal. As a quality
assurance inspector I had some authority, but all of that authority came from the contract between our two
companies, and our clients had the right to quit any time they wanted.

As we go through our day, even though we are mostly unaware of it, we often weigh this balance between
standards, rights, and authority. As we drive down the road, we understand that there are standards, laws, with
which we must comply. When we get pulled over by the police, we know that if we have violated one or more
of those laws, the police officer has the authority to write us a ticket or even to arrest us if the violation is
serious enough. But we also know that we have rights. That police officer does not have the right to search us,
or our car, without a warrant and so if he (or she) asks to search us, we have the right to refuse. Ultimately,
although the officer has some authority, that authority isnt because of who they are, but because they are there
to enforce the law. Real authority comes from the law itself, from those who write the laws, and from the
people who elect them.

So as I said before, in much of what we do, even though we dont give it much thought, we often weigh this
balance between standards, rights, and authority. And this balance is a big part of understanding our scriptures
for today. We begin with Deuteronomy 18:15-20, where Moses is explaining how God will speak his words,
through the prophets, to the people of Israel.
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15

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You
must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly
when you said, Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.
17

The LORD said to me: What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their
fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself
will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a
prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the
name of other gods, is to be put to death.
God promises that he will speak to his people through the prophets, but as he does so, God also establishes
standards. The prophets of God will be held to very high, and very strict, standards. Prophets of God were to
speak the words that God had given to them, and nothing else. They were not permitted to make things up, to
add to what God had said, or to speak in the name of anyone other that Israels God. God is serious about how
his word is transmitted and his standards reflect that.
Failure to follow these standards was punishable by death.
And so the prophets were careful to accurately transmit the words that God gave to them and as the years
passed, the scribes were careful about how they passed those words on to future generations as were the
teachers and the priests. But because the scribes, the teachers, and the priests did not write scripture, the way
that they taught reflected that. The teachers could interpret scripture and explain what they thought that it
meant, but since they were not the writers, since they were not Gods prophets and because they certainly were
not God, they were careful in how they handled scripture and could only express their opinion about what
some of the meanings might be. But Jesus was different. In Mark 1:21-28, Jesus teaches in the synagogue (it
was common for visiting rabbis and teachers to be invited to teach) and everyone finds that Jesus teaches
differently than everyone else.
21

They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.
The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the
teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out,
24
What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you arethe Holy
One of God!
22

25

Be quiet! said Jesus sternly. Come out of him! 26 The impure spirit shook the man violently and came
out of him with a shriek.
27

The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, What is this? A new teachingand with
authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him. 28 News about him spread quickly over
the whole region of Galilee.
The people were amazed because Jesus taught as if he were a person who had authority. If you ask a police
officer why there was a particular law, he cannot really give you an answer. He was not the one who wrote the
law because a police officer does not have the authority to write laws, only to enforce them. But Jesus was
different. From the moment that the people heard Jesus teach, they knew that he was different. Jesus did more
than simply interpret scripture; he understood what it meant, why it was written, and how Gods people were
expected to obey it. Jesus taught differently because he was more than just a teacher.
After Jesus taught the lesson, Jesus confronted a man who was possessed by an impure spirit (also translated as
an evil spirit or simply, a demon). Although no one else had yet realized it, the demon knew exactly who and
what Jesus was. Jesus commands the demon, it obeys him, and the people are even more amazed. Jesus
teaches, not as one who interprets the words of God and expresses an opinion about its meaning, but instead as
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one who knows its meaning and who teaches with authority. Jesus gives orders to demons and they obey him.
No one else could do that. The people know that Jesus is different.
A lot different.
And news about Jesus spreads quickly all over the entire region.
Jesus is different because he speaks with authority. But Jesus speaks with authority because he has authority.
Jesus is not simply interpreting the words of the prophets that they had received from God. Jesus is God.
Jesus was there at the creation of the universe. Jesus was there when he gave the scriptures to the prophets.
Jesus did not interpret Gods words, he understood exactly what God had said, what God meant, and how the
people were expected to obey them. Jesus did not teach with authority because he was a great teacher or
because he was extremely bold or exceptionally gifted.
Jesus spoke with authority because he had authority. Jesus was not like the teacher who taught the law or a
soldier who enforced the law, Jesus was the one who wrote the law. And it is because Jesus had authority that
he was able to order the demon to come out. It is because Jesus had real authority that the demon was
compelled to do exactly what Jesus commanded him to do.
Today we still wrestle with this. Many people today revere Jesus because he was a great moral teacher.
But he was much more than that.
In the time of the New Testament there were many, well educated and well trained teachers. But Jesus was
neither well educated, nor well trained.
Jesus was not born into a prominent family like Paul. Jesus did not attend a prestigious school or learn from
some of the best known rabbis. Jesus was a country kid from a hick town out with a reputation for producing
things that werent especially good. There was a common phrase that everyone knew, Nothing good can
come from Nazareth. There were many great rabbis and teachers. Many of them had all the things that Jesus
did not. They came from important families, went to the best schools, and trained under the most important
and well-known rabbis. And yet, Jesus was the one who stood out. Jesus was the one who taught with
authority because Jesus was different.
Jesus was not just a good, moral teacher.
Jesus had real authority because Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus was present at the creation of the universe.
And so, Jesus did not simply interpret scripture, Jesus was the author of scripture. When Jesus read scripture
he knew exactly what it meant and how Gods people were expected to obey it.
Dont let anyone tell you that Jesus was just another teacher or that Christianity is the same as any other
religion.
Jesus taught with authority because Jesus was real authority.
Jesus has real authority because Jesus is God.

 You have been reading a message presented at Trinity United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first
page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Trinity of Perry heights in Massillon, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part
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