This morning I have been meditating on the authority that Jesus demonstrated over the earth, both natural and supernatural, physical and spiritual. I was thinking about the fact that He calls us to represent Him, to represent the Kingdom of God through proclamation and then demonstration. When He sends out the twelve (Matt 10:1-10; Luke 9:1-6) , and again when He sends the seventy-two (Luke 10:1-16), and finally when He issues the great commission (Matt 28:18-20), He was speaking of the transfer of authority to His followers. One purpose of this authority was to demonstrate the reality of the Kingdom, here present.
Here is how He sent the Apostles, as recorded in Matthew 10:1,5-8 NIV:
[1] "Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness."
[5] "These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. [6] Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. [7] As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' [8] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."
What He gave them (verse 1) was authority. This is what they had freely received, and what they were called to freely give of, the authority they now had to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the leper and drive out demons. They didn't get this authority on their own, but rather received it from Jesus. This commission comes directly from Jesus' core purpose and message, as seen in Matthew 4:12-13,17,23 NIV:
[12] "When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. [13] Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali---"
[17] "From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
[23] "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people."
Clearly Jesus core message had to do with the Kingdom of God being present in their midst and then demonstrating the truth of that statement through His authority to heal every disease and sickness, casting out demons and cleansing lepers! His words, without the authority to demonstrate their truth, would have been easily forgotten, but when He demonstrated the miracles, healings, signs and wonders, the people were forced to take notice, and choose to either believe the validity of His testimony and evidence, or not.
Paul understood this principle and trusted that Jesus' authority, demonstrated through the power of the Holy Spirit, was the key to his success. Paul was fully capable of delivering an exhaustive defense of His faith through his in-depth knowledge of the scriptures and law, but instead He chose to rely on the proclamation of the simple Gospel and demonstrating the truth of what He said through signs and wonders. Here is how he describes His ministry - 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 NIV:
[1] "And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. [2] For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. [3] I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. [4] My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, [5] so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power."
Paul understood that experience would allow people to put their faith in God's power, not in the words of man. The purpose of Jesus' message, and Paul's Gospel proclamation was to let people know that they were able to enter the Kingdom and experience its benefits here and now. Paul was so taken by this commission, so embraced the call that he made it his life's mission and pursuit. He could have rested, could have settled comfortably in one of the churches he had founded, but instead he pressed forward, to see his part of the Great Commission completed. He said the following - Philippians 3:12-14 NIV:
[12] "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. [13] Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
He ran his race well, he fulfilled his call and in doing so he represented the Christ Jesus' teaching, His proclamation, and demonstration. Paul embraced his call and his commission. He knew that the path to success was not through long-winded exhortations, although He did give an exhaustive defense on several occasions, when so directed. He knew that the demonstration of the reality of God's Kingdom present and experienced was supposed to be the anchor for people's faith. He didn't want them basing their faith in human wisdom, but rather on God's power. He knew that his authority flowed from the 'author of it' all, from God, whose Kingdom was based on His Word and character.
Finally, my reflection affirms my belief that we too must learn to walk in Jesus' authority, not shying away from the proclamation of the Gospel and the demonstration of the Gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit. If this is how Jesus ministered, if it is how He directed His disciples and Paul, why would we think that our directions would be any different?
So today, I recommit myself to pursuing this Gospel in the fullness in which it was meant to be heard and experienced. This is our call, our purpose, to represent Christ Jesus, to walk in His authority as we proclaim His Kingdom present in our lives, His resurrection and victorious reign, and His ability to deliver us from all that is not from Him.
Amen and Amen!
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