TEACHING WITH AUTHORITY

TEACHING WITH AUTHORITY

“The people were spellbound by His teaching because He taught with authority and not like the scribes.”  St.Mark

What a privilege it must have been to see the Lord at the beginning of His public ministry as he carried, radiated holiness into the crowds. How clearly and directly He spoke to the souls of men!

Moving forward through the Holy Spirit, He reached out to the people with both hands. The Holy Spirit, swept forward, launched the Kingdom of God, and the human spirit was shaken to its foundations.

The accounts of these first events are vibrant with spiritual power. Accordingly St.Mark recounts: “… and they were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as One having authority, and not as the scribes.”

‘ASTONISHED’  literally means shaken out of themselves. Such was the divine power that poured from His lips. Jesus’ sentences, teachings were not simply, merely, correct, as were those of the scribes, they were the words spoken with convictions, thus having authority.

His teaching stirred; it unseated their complacency, it opened their eyes, it was a new beginning, this was something they had heard about … but never realized the truth behind it, this was a revolution, this was an eye-opener. Christ’s teaching hit the roots of their heart and spirit and made a mark.   It was impossible to hear and ignore.

This account continues with the casting out of an unclean spirit. The Lord’s acceptance of the inevitable struggle with satanic powers is part and parcel of His Messianic Mission.

Jesus did not come to bear witness to the truth only, but to establish contact between God and man, and to break the power of those forces which oppose God’s Divine Will. He is to penetrate  Satan’s artificial darkness with the ray of God’s truth, to liberate man and bring to light his conscience, to quicken his heart and be free, once and for all.

After reading an article by Romano Guardini.