They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee. (Mark 1:21-28)
This passage points us to a few really interesting aspects of Jesus' teaching:
- The people who heard it called it 'new'
- Demons obeyed him
- Those who heard it were amazed
- He taught with 'authority'
The people were fascinated at the authority Jesus taught with, unlike the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees, which was, apparently, spineless.
Where does his authority come from?
So what was so authoritative about Jesus teaching? What gave him such assurance? Maybe he was just a really good, charismatic teacher. Maybe. But I have another theory.
In most faiths, God is taught as a subject by people who claim that they are indeed just people:
- Muhammed claimed to be a prophet of God, but not God himself
- Mormonism founder Joseph Smith said he received visions from God, but didn’t claim to be God
- The Buddah was said to be enlightened, but never said he was God
When it comes to this new teaching of Jesus, we have a guy claiming to actually BE God, not just a guy with/from God.
Is Jesus really God?
If we ever find his body or any of his remains, then Jesus is not God. However, there are very good reasons to believe Jesus really did rise from the dead. You have to deal with the facts and decide for yourself. I believe Jesus IS God.
Therefore, I believe that in Christianity we have God teaching us about God, not just humans teaching us about God. That’s why Jesus taught with such authority.
The scribes and the pharisees would teach saying, “Moses said …”. John the Baptist's disciples taught saying, “John says…”. Other religious leaders teach saying “God says…”.
Jesus taught saying, “I say.”
He had the authority because he was God himself. The subject he was teaching was him.
For more articles on the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, check out the related articles at the top right of this page =>>>