Life Under Jesus’ Authority

Authority and submission. These two words are so heavily laden with sorrowful experiences and resistance that we only dare whisper them in public spaces, if at all. It is all too easy to think of stories where authority has been used to tear down, control, and abuse others. Equally, it is easy to see a history of humanity bucking the control of authority for the sake of independence and perceived freedom. For these reasons, our culture in the West resists any authority or submission. Yet these are words and concepts we find in the Bible—words and concepts that describe the author and perfecter of life and our relationship to him. In our passage this week, we read of Jesus possessing an authority over and above all of humanity, an authority by which he can judge the world's submission to him and an authority he uses to lead, build up, and liberate people into the kingdom of God.