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The Authority of Jesus
A fullness of manifest power
So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” — Mark 2:10–12
Our culture has a strong inclination to dislike authority. We experience this because we like to be in control of our lives. It doesn’t matter who has authority over us, on a regular basis, cultures collide and authority is often challenged.
If you don’t believe me, consider the political situation in your country. Most of the time, there are two or three political parties at odds with each other over different issues facing the nations they represent. When one party is in power, the citizens of the other party are upset with the laws and actions of the ruling authority.
Now, you could say that it is over the issues, not the authorities, but the authorities are the ones making decisions on the issues. This kind of authority makes people feel powerless when they aren’t part of the leading parties.
Yet, when we think of the authority of the Messiah, we know it is imparted to Jesus from…
