Authority Of Jesus Christ Series

Introduction

In Nazareth of Galilee, where he grew up, Jesus read the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue on the Sabbath and said that it had come true. Jesus declared that he was the anointed Messiah who would preach the gospel to the poor, free the captives of sin, and open their spiritual eyes to see God. However, the people of Nazareth could not accept that the son of an ordinary carpenter with whom they had grown up was the Messiah.

In addition, Jesus told the people of Nazareth, who rejected him, that prophets are not accepted in their hometown, and gave the example of the two prophets Elijah and Elisha from the Old Testament. He said that because the Israelites did not acknowledge and ignored the two prophets, they only performed miracles on Gentiles. When the people of Nazareth heard this, they became furious and took Jesus to the brow of the hill and tried to push him off to kill him, but Jesus showed his authority and walked through them and escaped from there.

Jesus tried to preach the gospel to the people in his hometown where he grew up, but was instead treated cruelly by them. Usually, once people experience something like that, they have no desire to go there again. However, through that incident, Jesus saw how deep the hearts of the Galileans were hurt and how inferior they were. Although they were Jews, they were poor and looked down upon by the Jews living in Judea. So, they could not hold back their anger when they heard anything that seemed to ignore or condemn them even slightly. The reason was because they had not experienced God's grace for a long time.

So Jesus did not leave the Galilee area but went to Capernaum. It may have been because God's love for sinners who did not know or understand the Word of God sent Jesus to this earth, and because of Jesus' character of pitying sinners made him think that he should somehow preach the gospel of life to them.

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I. The authority of Jesus’ words (vv. 31-32)

Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach (v. 31). At that time, Jews were allowed to build synagogues if they had more than 10 people. The synagogue had a ruler and elders, but there was rarely a teacher present. So, they gave opportunities to those passing by who wanted to teach or preach. That is why Jesus came to teach on the Sabbath.

However, the people who were taught by Jesus were so amazed and shocked. This was because numerous teachers of the law and scribes passed by the synagogue and taught the Word, and they felt an amazing authority in Jesus' words that they could not feel at all (v. 32). Jesus' message had authority. It was not the same as the messages of the scribes at the time. The messages of the scribes at that time always had a certain framework, and when they taught, “At a certain time, a certain rabbi said.” While saying this, they quoted the words of rabbis more authoritative than themselves, but never expressed their own opinions. So their words had no authority.

But one day, a person who was just over 30 came and taught. Although the content was completely different, the style was completely different. As soon as this man sat down to teach in the synagogue, he began to speak his words: “I tell you,” “truly, truly, I say to you.” Jesus’ words had power and authority. Every scribe who has ever passed through a synagogue has sought authority for what he was teaching by quoting the words of a famous rabbi. “He said so.” But when Jesus said, “Truly, truly I say to you,” he placed authority in himself. So those who heard Jesus' teachings were greatly amazed. Dear saints, who is this person who places such authority on his words?

Jesus had already read Isaiah 61:1 in the synagogue in Nazareth and declared, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (vv. 16-21). Like other scribes, Jesus did not teach, “At a certain time, a certain rabbi interpreted these words this way.” Jesus said, “I am the one whom the prophet Isaiah prophesied.” The scribes could not say this. However, because Jesus was the Son of God, he could confidently say that he was the Messiah, and because Jesus was God, every word of Jesus had authority.

That wasn't all. Jesus always spoke only by quoting the Bible. Because the Bible is the word of God, it has authority in itself. Every Sunday, we can listen to sermons similar to those taught by the scribes, or we can listen to sermons that contain powerful teachings from Jesus. The problem at this time is not those of you sitting here, but the problem of the preacher. If a preacher only preaches stories about how the world goes on, moral lessons or ethical issues such as how we should live in this world and how to live the right life, he is no different from the scribes of old.