Authority of The Author

UV 3685/10000 Authority of the Author Then Jesus said to them, “Nor am I telling you by what (kind of) authority I do these things.” Luke 20 v 8 Jesus on being questioned about the source of His power- from God, the devil or man, did not reply. On another occasion, Jesus read from Isaiah chapter 61, “ The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, to bring good news to the humble and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the wounds of the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the (physical and spiritual) captives and freedom to the prisoners.” He had clearly been anointed, commissioned by God Almighty to do these things- declare the good news of salvation, to deliver the afflicted, to heal the broken hearted, to set free the captives of curses, evil and prison. The word, “authority” is derived from “author.” God is the author of life and of His word. Hence, His word is also inducing and producing life. We, too, as followers and believers derive our authority to do “these things” from the Lord God and from His Son Jesus. Another meaning of authority is legitimate power. We legitimately wield the power and authority of Jesus by the anointing of the Holy Spirit to proclaim eternal life, the kingdom of God, salvation to the needy and humble. The uni-verse emphasizes the importance of humility in order to believe and receive salvation in Christ. Worldly physicians can only advice and help in the healing of external or physical wounds but Jesus, the Author of healing and deliverance can alone heal the inner man, the deep inner wounds of emotional hurt, abuse, fears of a human. By His authority, we too can be instruments of delivering the healing of the Lord to those who are humble and broken hearted around us. We need the constant guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit to carry and exercise the authority of God in our lives since we, unlike Jesus are frail and prone to temptations. We are also accountable to God for the exercise of authority. We cannot keep it idle and we cannot abuse it, too. “ These things” is not limited to just preaching and healing or deliverance. This is the reason Jesus said, “ You shall do greater things than Me.” According to life’s situations that are often unique, we are called to exercise godly power in the name of Jesus. For a lawyer, judge or police officer, the more he knows the law, the greater is his authority. Likewise, the more we know God’s word, the more we know Jesus, the more power flows in us and through us.