True Authority

This week, I preached on the final two verses of Matthew 7. The sermon was the last in a series of 22 messages that began at the beginning of the year. As I have commented a few times over these past few weeks, studying Jesus’ words at a level I had not done previously gave me an understanding of how well Jesus’ message was truly crafted, and how powerful it was then, and should be today. I guess what I am saying is that like the people who heard the Sermon on the Mount nearly 2000 years ago, I recognize the authority with which Jesus taught.

As one who has pastored for several years, been in ministry for many, has a doctorate in educational ministry, teaches part-time at a seminary, and has recently started a training organization to equip pastors and church leaders in under-resourced areas around the world, I take the Word of God seriously. That is, I take the written Word of God seriously. And I do that because I follow the living Word of God. I recognize the authority of Jesus and desire Him to have authority over me (most of the time, at least – I am not perfect!). Additionally, I appreciate the Kingdom perspective of His great sermon, for it is this sermon that has helped form my understanding of living beyond a church or denomination (as important as those can be) for the sake of the Kingdom. However, despite having read Matthew 5-7 many times and studying it to some degree multiple times, I never comprehended it like I do now. And one of the aspects I appreciate better is the authority of Jesus to teach (preach) that message.

Last week, I taught many church leaders in Kenya. It was the first instance of connecting with these pastors over the internet to provide the training we hope to do around the world. Having trained dozens of pastors while in Kenya on my two trips there so far, some who were in attendance, knew me. Additionally, my friend Simon is well-trusted by the individuals in the area. Simon set up this training and is helping to establish other sites for training, and because he knows and trusts me, I had instant credibility with each of the pastors and leaders in attendance even though I was not there physically. Such a truth is humbling because some of these individuals had little background with the Bible (others had a solid background), so they placed great trust in my words. In other words, my words and teaching had authority. I certainly did not want to misrepresent myself, but more importantly, I did not want to misrepresent God’s Word. In other words, I did not want to mislead them and betray whatever authority I had.

Any authority I may have had, however, was really no different than that of the scribes as per Matthew’s comments in Matthew 7.29. Like me, the scribes had their sources to gather understanding on the sacred texts. For them, the text was what we call the Old Testament, and the sources were tradition (oral and written) and comparing the teachings of other religious leaders in their present and past. For me, the sources represent trusted commentaries and lexicons (dictionaries to help with the Greek or Hebrew). But, in both situations (the scribes and myself), the authority we have comes from rightly proclaiming God’s Word, not from restating or re-interpreting truths from a higher perspective. That is what Jesus did – and He did so because He was, and is, the true authority. For the written Word of God (the Bible) is fully encompassed within the Living Word (Jesus).

Again, I cannot express how much this series has helped me to understand Jesus and to better appreciate His authority. But appreciation does not necessarily lead to obedience. As I wrote last week, Jesus is looking for people, who, “hear these words of mine and does them,” not just people who find them intriguing or challenging. So, the best I can do is to seek to observe what Jesus taught in this great sermon He preached and then to teach others not only what He said, but how to observe these truths as well. Doing so, will show Jesus that I not only know Jesus is the true Authority, but that I believe it as well. And in Jesus words (Matthew 7.24-25), all those who wish to be considered wise, will do the same thing.