Even Jesus Did Not Presume to Act without Authority

By Bob Myhan

Many seem to think Christians may act without authority from God in religious matters. However, it has been shown that such had severe conse­quences under the Old Testament and has severer consequences under the New.

Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The Lord will judge His people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb. 10:28-31)

The Jewish rulers understood that one must not presume to act without authority.

Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this au­thority?" But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The bap­tism of John--where was it from? From heaven or from men?" And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet." So they an­swered Jesus and said, "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” (Matt. 21:23-27)

Inasmuch as He was “born of a woman, born under the law” (Gal. 4:4), not even Jesus was exempt from the necessity of having authority for what He did. Though He rightly refused to explain the source of His authority in the above incident, Jesus recog­nized the authority of His Father and used three methods to establish authority for His teach­ing and practice.

First, He established authority by way of His Father’s commands. That is, He knew He was authorized to do what His Father com­manded Him to do.

"He who rejects Me, and does not re­ceive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak." (John 12:48-50)

Second, He established authority by way of His Father’s works. That is, He knew He was authorized to do what He had seen His Father do.

But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working." Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him" (John 5:17-23).

Third, He established authority by way of His Father’s implications. That is, He knew He was authorized to teach, as truth, what His Father had implied.

The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying: "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died af­ter he had married, and having no off­spring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her." Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the res­urrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. But when the Pharisees heard that He had si­lenced the Sadducees, they gathered to­gether. (Matt. 22:23-34)

His implied defense ran thusly:

1.      Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had been dead for hundreds of years when God first appeared to Moses.

2.      But God identified Himself as "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

3.      In saying this, God implied that Abra­ham, Isaac and Jacob were yet alive—in some sense—at the time of Moses.

4.      To deny this is to implicitly affirm that God is "the God of the dead."

This proved (and still proves) that there is part of man that survives physical death. If this is not the case, why did Jesus bring it up? This was such a forceful argument, that it "silenced the Sadducees."

If the very Son of God did not presume to act without authority, who is mere man that he should do so? &

It Won’t Do Any Good!

By J. F. Dancer, Jr.

Have you ever closed your mind on a subject? Do, you know that when you do that that you put yourself in a position that you can­not learn anything else about it? You are assuming that you know all there is to know on the topic under considera­tion. Do you know some people are like that when it comes to talking about the Bible and about relig­ion? They don't want to discuss what they believe or what the Bible teaches. They have learned all they intend to learn and have closed their mind on the subject.

Jesus talked about such people as these in Matt.13:10-15. Isaiah had spoken of such people years before in Isa.6:9, 10. Paul found a few people like this in Rome (Acts 28:27). And I am sure that there are still some living in our time. Are you one of them? Put yourself to the following test and see if you are one of these - if so, please change.

1.     Are you willing to study care­fully any subject the Bible teaches?

2.     Do you feel that a study is a waste of time as far as you learning more?

3.     Have you made any changes in your understanding of the Bible in the last 5 years?

4.     Do you really listen when some­one is disagreeing with you on reli­gious matters?

These 4 questions may help us to see if we have closed our eyes to keep from seeing and have hardened our hearts to keep from understanding and making some changes. Let us be will­ing to study with an open mind. &