All Authority Has Been Given to Me

The philosophical movement of the Enlightenment bequeathed upon humanity an erroneous sense that human reason alone dictates the understanding of reality.  The hubris behind the movement was based on the notion that all was real and had to be filtered through the lens of one’s reason. What developed from this type of thinking was a suspicion of all authority and anything religious or supernatural.

Especially harmful resulting from Enlightenment thought was the attack on religious beliefs, quickly deemed nothing more than myths and superstitions. The remnants are still being seen today. The Enlightenment demands that all authority, religious practice, and moral discernment must be evaluated by the ‘self’ to determine its authenticity. Commonly, modern societies enshrine the belief in science over and above any religious convictions. Hence, we see a rise in atheism today among many people who deem that the foundation of religious beliefs is, at best, improbable and unprovable.

After calling the first disciples, the next passage from Mark for the Fourth Sunday gives a counterbalance to the Enlightenment’s adherents.  In the twenty first verse of the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel, we are told that Jesus entered a synagogue in Capernaum and began to teach. “The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” Those who heard Jesus recognized his authority, and in the context of Mark, it simply means all authority comes from God and not human beings. So whatever Jesus spoke (the passage from Mark doesn’t tell us) were words not usually spoken by a learned synagogue elder who only interpreted the Word of God and did not create it.  Jesus’ words were accepted by those hearing them because they expressed the truth of God, and it resonated within them as unique.

The Gospel passage shifts from those who accepted Jesus’ authority to a man who was possessed by a demon. This demon-filled man confirms the words spoken by Jesus as the authoritative teaching directly from God. “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” The possessed one knew Jesus was God because the deceiver cannot deceive himself. The demon is evil, and Jesus is the personification of good; the contrast cannot be denied.

What happens next not only solidifies the authority of Jesus but proves that no one other than God has power over evil. “Jesus rebuked him and said, ‘Quiet!’ Come out of him!” The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.”

Why is it that the evil spirit knew Jesus was the Holy One of God, and some people do not? Unlike a demon who is pure evil, a human being, no matter how evil they may be, has been created in the image of God in which dignity and goodness reside. What makes humans different from demons is that they are duplicitous, having both good and evil within them.  Christian perfection is rooting out evil and displacing it with goodness assisted by the grace they receive from Christ. The perfection becomes complete when we are admitted into heaven.

With our duplicitous nature, we can deceive ourselves into thinking an evil can be transformed into a good if, in the end, the act benefits us in some way. This is the basis of the ‘means justify the end.’ Resplendent in culture today is this notion, which, in effect, eliminates the authority of Jesus as God’s Word. The abortion industry is founded on the principle that it is better, in the long run, to kill a baby if the mother’s desires and wants are met. You may have also heard that a young person should transition than it is for them to take their own life in despair. These are concrete examples of how Jesus’ words have lost their authority in the modern world. Only human beings can be deceived and deceive themselves. 

We can better understand God’s authoritative words when we set aside our hubris and concede we have been conditioned about the preeminence of human reason. That is not to say reason isn’t a meaningful gift, but it is to say it has its place in conjunction with the authoritative words of Christ. If both your reason and the Words of Christ are sympathetic, you can be sure you will act morally and root out the evil of your thoughts and deeds, just as Jesus demanded the evil be gone from the possessed man.