Exercising Authority and Employing Power

What did Jesus Do?

Jesus Dared

And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons.
Mark 1.34

The Gospel of Mark notes the so-called “Messianic Secret” that Jesus sought to maintain in order that people not be distracted by wild enthusiasm and misinformed expectations of the Messiah, and be able to instead hear the Lord’s far more important teaching about the kingdom of God and the proclamation of the gospel. Keeping such a “secret” was all but impossible, as circumstances time and again compelled Jesus to exercise the sovereign authority over all things which he shared with his Father, and to employ the power given to him as the Son of God. As much as he knew how it would complicate his mission, Jesus dared to use his authority and power to touch and immediately transform the lives of the broken, strengthen the limbs of the lame, set free those in bondage, and lead the lost to salvation.

In fact, Jesus dared to employ his authority and exercise his power right up to the time of his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, where his touch restored the severed ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest. Immediately after that last daring act of compassion, the Lord submitted to the exigencies of the hour and “the power of darkness” and permitted events so to unfold as to not allow anything to prevent his death on the cross. (Luke 22.47-53)

When Pilate appealed to the same people in Jerusalem who just a few days earlier had enthusiastically received Jesus (See Mark 11.1-10), might the crowd’s disappointed Messianic expectations have contributed to their demand that Jesus be crucified? (See Mark 15.6-15) I don’t believe most of us appreciate how daring it was for Jesus to exercise his authority and employ his power during his earthly ministry, knowing that ultimately he would be constrained to set both aside in order to undergo the painful death that alone could atone for our sins.

The authority and power of Jesus has not deserted the world at all, of course, but has been given to believers, to his Body, the Church. And it may be the most difficult and challenging lesson of discipleship for us all to learn—to dare to exercise the authority given to us by the Lord and to employ the power imparted to us by the Holy Spirit in a manner that follows Christ’s example.

A good measure of the difficulty and challenge lies in our fallen nature, which tends to incline many of us to become arrogant and offensive when even a little authority and power is given to us. The remaining difficulty and challenge comes from our unwillingness to so trust God as to surrender all authority and power and submit ourselves to suffer for Christ’s sake. Knowing when to dare to act, and when to dare to surrender may be the zenith of our education as disciples of the Lord Jesus. It was the hardest lesson for Peter to learn, yet, after boldly preaching and ministering in Jesus’ name for many years, he would ultimately “stretch out his hands and be carried where he did not want to go.” (See John 21.15-19)

I must confess that I am far more likely to be timid when I should be daring, and bold to fight when I should dare to surrender. Will you and I accept the cost to dare, and, when the time comes, dare to surrender, trusting in the Father’s will? That’s what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4