Mark 1:21-22 “They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”
This passage in Mark one reflects the tension that is constantly present between those who have information and those who have experience. At the time of Christ there were many bible teachers within the culture. Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and more all had a public platform to teach within the community of Israel. They were well educated, groomed by the generation of scholars that preceded them but there was one overshadowing problem with all of them. They were men who had taught theory and principle but they were not men who had experienced the very things they were teaching.
When Jesus appeared on the scene within the regions where he ministered there was an immediate reaction from amongst the people. Here was a man who was more than a good teacher. Here was a man who transcended the scholars of the day. Jesus spoke in such a way that moved the hearts of His hearers like they had never been moved before. He spoke as one who had authority. The religious leaders of the region spoke as men who had opinions based on study. Jesus spoke as a man who did not simply have beliefs about God, He spoke as a man who knew God! People marveled at the authority he spoke with. They saw the difference between His life and message and the life and message of those who had been teaching them the rest of their lives and this difference captured their hearts and filled the people with a sense of expectancy so that when he made statements like Mark 1:14-15"The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" the people’s hearts burned with faith and expectancy and many were moved to repent of their sins.
The secret of this authority that Jesus spoke with, the foundation of this authority was the life that Jesus lived in the presence of God. In John 8:38 Jesus identifies the nature of his message “I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence.” Jesus lived in the presence of God and spoke from that place. His words came from the Father and were a manifestation of God himself. Jesus revealed to his disciples why his words carried so much power to move the heart and to bring change in the lives of people in John 6:62-63. He confidently affirms to them “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” The authority that Jesus spoke with was the very power of the voice of God himself, speaking through His son!
This principle carries an even more profound implication when we consider Peter’s words in 1 Peter 4:10-11 “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.” Every believer has a mandate to speak with the same authority that Jesus spoke with. Every believer has a mandate to speak from the same place of experiencing God. Do not be content to simply repeat principles that you have read in a book or heard in a message. Abandon yourself in the presence of the Father until you are speaking from the same wellspring of experiential Christianity that was the power behind the ministry of Christ. Get your own experience of God. Begin today!
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