The Lutheran Hour
-
"One With Authority"
- Download MP3 Reflections
-
Text: Mark 1:21-22
-
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! In a world of outlandish claims and ridiculous promises, these words seem unbelievable. Yet behind these words stand the truthful promise and power of God. Today, by God’s grace, may you be brought to faith in a Savior Who has the authority to forgive sinful souls and move believers from hell to heaven, from damnation to deliverance. God grant such faith be given to us all. Amen.
My brother, sister, and I are best of friends… now. However there was a time when anyone who listened to us or saw us in action would have been convinced that the kids at the Klaus family were anything but. Can you, like me, remember the days before the country was crisscrossed by superhighways and tollways? Back then it seemed to take forever to get anywhere as families drove through small towns with their multiple stop signs, reduced speed limits, and police who were encouraged to balance the municipal shortfall by ticketing out-of-state speeders. To make matters worse, car air-conditioners were a luxury, a luxury which our family, like many others, couldn’t afford. All of which helps explain why tempers grew short and personal fuses burned fast whenever the family took a summer-month, cross-country vacation. Everyone knew that the hours ahead would be sweaty, steamy, and mighty miserable.
I can remember some of those pilgrimages as if they were taken yesterday. Dad would be enthroned behind the wheel of our bullet-nosed Studebaker, the first new car he had ever purchased. Next to him would be Mom, riding shotgun.
In the back seat of the family car would be the three kids: my brother, my sister, and myself. Three kids trapped in a hot, back seat which had only two, roll-down windows. That meant one of us was a human sacrifice condemned to the hated, middle seat. It was hated because along with not having a window, in an age before seat belts, any quick turn made by my father sent the person in that seat slipping and sliding into the person on the side. When that happened, the meltdown which followed was inevitable.
The person who had been bumped began: “You hit me.” “Did not.” “Did so. You slid into me.” “Not on purpose.” “You’d better get back to your side.” “I can’t go back to my side. I don’t have a side. I got a middle.” “Then you get back to the middle.” That last remark was emphasized by the giving of a small, slight, shove. That first shove led to a more forceful counter-shove. Now if this battle were between my brother and myself, we would just keep on exchanging shoves… each one harder than the last. If the fight was with my sister, being the youngest and the smallest, she quickly took the matter to a higher court. This she did by calling out, “Mom, Dad, Kenny (or Tommy) just pushed me.” There were times she actually managed to say those words with a quaver in her voice and a tear on her cheek. No matter who was fighting, the battle always ended when Dad glanced to the back and growled, “OK, you guys. I don’t know who started this, but I’m the one who is going to finish it. Either you guys get along or I’m going to pull this car over… and if I do somebody is going to get it.”
Now Dad never completely defined exactly what it was he was going to do to us if we didn’t stop fighting, we didn’t want to find out. That’s because, when Dad said, “I’m going to give it to you.”… we believed him. Dad didn’t make promises he wasn’t going to keep; he never said things he didn’t mean. Now, many years later, I am thankful to have been raised by a Christian man whose word meant something, who spoke as a man who had authority.
It may well be that the expression, “he spoke as one who had authority” is new to you. If so, I can understand. Each day of our lives we swim through a sea of words. This year the United States is going to have an election. Of course a national election means the media will be filled with election ads. Let me ask, “Do you believe everything those political ads say, accept every claim and charge they make?” Probably not. But suppose, just suppose you found a candidate who seems to speak with authority. If you were to find such an honest individual; if you were to stumble upon the rare leader who has integrity, you will offer that candidate your undivided attention and faithful support. Sadly, history has shown us that such people are far and few between and many of us despair of ever finding a politician who can speak as one who has authority.
We all wish it was different, but the time has come when it seems nobody trusts nobody. We don’t believe the claims of commercials; we don’t believe politicians, and we don’t believe stock-market analysts. We don’t believe big government, big business, and our local weatherman. It seems no one is immune from our distrust, our disbelief and our doubt. Which leaves most of us wondering, “Is there no one who can be trusted; no one who is reliable, dependable, and believable? Is there no one in whom we can place absolute trust… no one we can believe in… no one who can make a difference in our lives here and in eternity?”
If you have ever asked that question; if you, even now, are longing for Someone Whose word has trustworthy authority, I encourage you to be turned to God’s inspired Word and listen to Jesus Christ, God’s Son, the Savior of the world. And if that sentence has motivated you to turn your radio dial to another broadcast, to push the button which will take you to another station, please don’t. If you are prepared to turn off this program because you are thinking: “Just as I suspected. Now he’s going to roll out some tired, old, terribly rehashed bits of Biblical propaganda which were written long ago by some deluded disciples and a select group of Jesus’ prejudiced followers.”
If that’s what you’re thinking, please believe me when I say, “You’re wrong. You are very wrong.” If would be a waste of your time and my words to concentrate on what Jesus’ followers thought about Him. You and I both know a person’s friends tend to present a distorted picture of the individual being described. That is why; in the few minutes which are left to this message, you may be assured it is not my intention to visit with Jesus’ friends and supporters. If you’re still here, then let’s pick up a Bible and turn to the 7th chapter of the Gospel of John.
This Chapter tells a most interesting tale, a story which begins with a meeting of Jesus’ enemies. Over time these leaders of the religious community had become incredibly upset and frustrated with the Savior. So strongly were they opposed to Him they had taken steps to remove Him from circulation. The problem? They had judged Him to be an Upstart, a Rebel, a Blasphemer, and His teachings to be an affront to their treasured traditions. Even worse they felt His subtle and overt claims to be the promised Messiah were nothing more than lies and heresies. As far as Jesus opponents were concerned, His teachings were nothing more than lies and He was a heretic too dangerous to let live.
The story begins with the Jewish holiday of the Feast of Tabernacles. Since the occasion had brought Jesus to the temple, the religious leaders thought it would be easy to find Him, arrest Him, condemn Him, and eliminate Him. Their orders to the temple police were simple: “We want you to bring Jesus in.” No doubt those police who were given the task felt honored to have been entrusted with such an important, high-profile assignment. It would have taken them but a few moments for them to locate Jesus. They probably were disappointed to see the size of the crowd which seemed caught up by His message. But, since time was on their side, the guards decided to be patient, waiting for the opportune moment when Jesus’ arrest would cause the least commotion.
As they waited, the guards would have listened. What they heard, how much they heard is a mystery. No doubt Jesus spoke about the lost and fallen condition of humankind and the great and gracious love of God which, even now, was reaching out to save them. Maybe they even heard His invitation: “If anyone thirsts (in his soul), let him come to me and drink.” No, I don’t know how much these officers of the temple heard, but it was enough.
If you turn to the 45th verse of that chapter you will see that the police eventually returned to their bosses for the purpose of making a report. It took but a second for the religious leaders to give their guards the once over. They immediately took note that Jesus was not with them. Expressing their disappointment and displeasure, they demanded an explanation: “Why did you not bring Jesus in as you had been instructed?” I encourage you to take note of their reply. These men who most definitely did not start out as friends of Jesus, as supporters of the Savior, offered their explanation. These men who were prepared to deal with almost any eventuality; who were accustomed to hearing the best minds that the nation could produce, simply said, “We didn’t bring him in because, no one ever spoke like this man!” After a brief time of listening to Jesus, those men who had been sent to arrest Him have come to believe that Jesus is a Person Who spoke; Who spoke with the authority of God.
Read through the Gospels and you will find the guards were not alone in coming to such a conclusion. Turn to Mark 1 and you will see another situation where Jesus’ authority is recognized. The incident began with Jesus coming to Capernaum, a small fishing village along the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. As was His custom, Jesus entered the Synagogue and there He taught the people. Once again, we don’t have the theme and text of His message that Jesus shared that day. What we do have is the reaction of the people who were privileged to hear His proclamation of salvation. It would not be an overstatement to say that they were blown away. They said, “We’ve heard other teachers before, but Jesus doesn’t teach like they do. He teaches like He knows what He’s talking about. He teaches as One Who has authority.”
But, as I promised you, I’m not talking about Jesus’ friends today. I’m not even speaking about people who, like the congregation at Capernaum, might be considered neutral concerning Christ and His message. That is why I want you to forget about the opinion of the crowd and listen to one, special individual who was sitting in the synagogue that day. This person was not pleased with Jesus and what He had to say. This man, Scripture tells us, had an unclean spirit. He was under the influence and direction of an evil, malevolent devil. No sooner had Jesus finished speaking than this man gave voice to the thoughts of the evil spirit within him. He challenged: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are- the Holy One of God.”
You see, the demon not only recognized Jesus; He also acknowledged Him as God’s perfect Son. Implicit in His words is the knowledge that holy, law-fulfilling, temptation-rejecting Jesus would do what no sinner could do. The demon knew Jesus had entered this world to offer His life as the payment which would bring to an end the stranglehold that death, sin, and Satan had placed on humankind. This demon asks, he challenges, he demands to know: “Have you come to destroy us?” And of course the destruction of sin’s legacy and the presentation of God’s forgiveness is exactly why Jesus had come.
Through His life, His suffering, His death, and resurrection Jesus offered His perfect Self as the only acceptable substitute for humankind’s transgressions. For thirty-three years Jesus had lived for us; cared for us; healed us, loved us, suffered for us, and when He had done all the prophets had promised He would do, He died for us. Then, in a glorious, wondrous, victorious moment, three days after His lifeless body was placed into the grave, He rose from the dead for us. In that second the world knew, this demon knew that Jesus had completed the Lord’s gracious plan to save us from the destiny which we had deserved. From that moment on, all who were called to faith in God’s Son would find light had replaced darkness, hope had taken the place of despair, and heaven, not hell would be our final and everlasting residence.
In Capernaum’s demon you have heard evidence given about Jesus and His mission which had come from one of His ultimate enemies. You have heard the opinion of someone who knew, that when Jesus succeeded in His work, the forces of evil would be instantly transformed from victor to vanquished, Of course, that day in Capernaum’s synagogue, Jesus was not looking for the endorsement of the devil. He knew that such a recommendation might not be understood by those who were there to hear and those who might be told of the day’s occurrence. That explains why, before the demon could say anything else, Jesus ordered the demon to be silent and come out of the man. That the demon obeyed and did as God’s Son had ordered did not go unnoticed. And what did the people say? Once again they commented, “What’s going on here? Not only a new teacher… but a new teaching with authority. This is incredible. He commands the unclean spirits and they have to do as He says.” In short order the power of Jesus’ authority spread all over the countryside.
Jesus spoke as One Who had authority. I would be hard pressed to list all the times people heard the word of salvation Jesus shared and came to that conclusion. In Matthew 7, Jesus spoke to the people in stories, parables. Their verdict? They also were impressed and concluded His doctrines had authority. In Matthew 9 a cripple man is brought to Jesus. He hadn’t walked in years. Not only does Jesus instantly end the man’s physical maladies, He also forgives the man His sins. As for the reaction of the crowd… they were amazed and gave thanks that God had given Jesus such authority.
The examples continue. In Mark 5 Jesus enters the house of a man whose 12-year-old child has just died. The crowd on hand that day had no doubt that the girl was dead and that Jesus would be helpless to provide anything more than moral support. That’s why, when Jesus said the girl was “just sleeping”, the onlookers were surprised, shocked and scorned His comment. Then, when Jesus restored life to the child, their opinion changed. They may not have thought much of Jesus before, but they were amazed when, at the authority of His word, she rose up healthy and whole.
The point of this message is simple: during His life Jesus encountered one unreceptive audience after another. During that same period of time many of these unsympathetic individuals were compelled to put aside their preconceptions when confronted with the incontestable truth of the Savior’s words and actions. They found it impossible to say He was a fake when at His command a dead girl was restored to life; it was impossible to brand Him a charlatan when a lifelong cripple began to walk; it was impossible to count Him a fraud when a possessed man was freed from a demon which had run and ruined his life. Question, doubt, and hesitation were eliminated when they stood before the risen Christ, when they touched the nail holes in His hands and feet, the spear wound in His side. They knew, as I pray you also know: Jesus Christ has done that which only God’s Son could do. He has shown an authority which has defeated sin, death, and devil so all who believe on Him might be saved.
Sadly, our age has many skeptics, cynics, disbelievers, and doubters who deny the Christ, His work and the forgiveness, faith, and salvation which He alone can give. Why? I can offer only one reason: they have not taken a look at Jesus. They have never really met Him, seen Him, or listened to Him. They have paid attention to what others have said about Him, but they have not listened to Him. That is a sad, tragic, and quite possibly a damnable mistake.
My friends, I encourage you, before this day is over, to set aside what others have said about the Christ. Yes, forget even what I have said and go to the Gospels of the New Testament and meet Him for yourself. While I might describe a beautiful sunrise, my words would be a poor thing compared to seeing that beauty for yourself. Similarly while I can speak of the life, death, and resurrection of the Savior, my words are worthless compared to personally seeing the Savior’s cross and empty tomb. I encourage you to see the Savior, experience His power, His authority and know He has done that which is necessary to fulfill the claim, “Because I live, you shall live also.”
In the 1970s and 1980s there was a stock brokerage company named E. F. Hutton. For years they ran commercials which said, “When E.F. Hutton speaks, everybody listens.” No longer can E.F. Hutton claim to speak with authority since various wrong decisions put that company out of business. In contrast to E.F. Hutton, today I offer you a Savior Whose Word has been proven true for over 2,000 years. Listen to Him. He has always spoken rightly and with authority. May He do so to you.
To that end, if we may help you hear our Lord, please call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for November 27, 2011
Topic: SuicideAnnouncer: And we are back once again with our speaker emeritus, Pastor Ken Klaus. I’m Mark Eischer. Pastor Klaus, with almost 30 years of experience as parish pastor. I’m hoping you can use that experience to help us in our topic today.
Klaus: I’ll certainly try.
Announcer: A listener writes: “A member of our church took his own life and the pastor refused to do the funeral. Three years ago, however, he did a funeral for another suicide. Many of us are confused; some are mad. Why would he do that?”
Klaus: Okay. Without knowing specifics, I’m going to have to make some guesses.
Announcer: I can think of some questions, maybe, that are implied in our listener’s letter.
Klaus: Please.
Announcer: First, why would a pastor not conduct a funeral? Isn’t a funeral supposed to comfort the living?
Klaus: It is. But, to provide comfort, you have to have basis for it. The comfort of a Christian funeral is always based on an individual having faith in the Savior.
Announcer: … and through faith in Christ, we are also confident that that person is now with the Lord.
Klaus: Now, if a person, through his words and actions, went public in saying he had no use for Jesus, well, hard to give that Christian comfort. In his message, a pastor can only reflect the relationship an individual had with his Savior.
Announcer: Now, is that your opinion?
Klaus: Oh, no, hardly mine. Jesus said the same thing in Luke 12:8-9 (ESV). He said, “Everyone who acknowledges him before men, he would acknowledge before the angels. Anyone who denied him before men, he would deny before the angels of God.” The disciples suggest the same in the way they treated Judas after he committed suicide. They didn’t claim his body. They didn’t treat his memory with a great deal of respect.
Announcer: Okay. But, are we saying that people who commit suicide don’t go to heaven? That suicide somehow negates faith?
Klaus: Ahhh, that’s the heart of it, isn’t it? The Bible records six suicides. There is nothing in Scripture to indicate that those fellows who had rejected God made it to heaven.
Announcer: All right. But can you really equate suicide with rejecting God?
Klaus: Yeah. That may be a push sometimes. There are times when a person may not be responsible for his actions that he’s doing.
Announcer: Such as?
Klaus: Off the top of my head, without trying to exhaust the list; people who have a negative reaction to a medication, folks who have lost some of their normal brain functions, someone who has been overcome by an emotional crisis, a hormonal imbalance. They do exist. On such occasions there may be no rejection of the Savior… and if that’s the case, we dare not say that heaven’s doors were closed to that individual.
Announcer: So why do you suppose this pastor might perform a Christian funeral for one suicide but not the other?
Klaus: Mark, I can’t say why this pastor did what he did. It would be my guess, why I said what might be part of it. He may have felt he could offer the family comfort for one, but not the other.
Announcer: Now, in your own experience, did you ever have to confront such a situation?
Klaus: Yeah, I did.
Announcer: And what did you do?
Klaus: Well, my leaders, especially the elders, and I tried to find a reason why the person had done what he had done. “Is there anything which would allow us to say this person still had faith?” or “Were they responsible for their actions?”
Announcer: All right. But, some would say anyone who commits suicide isn’t mentally sound. A sane person wouldn’t do such a thing. Right?
Klaus: I don’t agree with that. I remember a number of years ago the IRA in Ireland had a committee to select the next person who would starve himself to death in protest. That was a suicide and it was done very logically. The kamikaze pilots of World War II knew what they were doing. And so have some of my suicides.
Announcer: All right. But, when all is said and done, isn’t the funeral a time to witness to those still living?
Klaus: Yeah… to those who are in church but also to those who aren’t. If everyone heard about the individual’s suicide were in church to hear what the pastor said, fantastic. But many will hear of the situation on the phone or the paper or the radio. They will never hear the pastor’s message. All they know is, “Bob did himself in and Pastor Klaus is doing his funeral. I guess his church must think suicide is okay.” That would be sending the wrong message.
Announcer: Okay. Now, one last question. We can’t look into someone’s heart. How do you know what that person was thinking–or believing-at their last moments?
Klaus: We don’t know. We let the individual tell us.
Announcer: How do they do that?
Klaus: Suicide or no, we never know what was in a person’s heart. We’re talking about the fruits of a person’s life. Jesus said: “If you abide in him, he is in us, and will bear fruit.” John 15:5-6 (ESV) We show what is happening by what we do.
Announcer: Thank you, pastor. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“O Word of God Incarnate” arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“Son of God, Eternal Savior” arr. Michael Burkhardt. From Hymn Improvisations, vol. 1 by Michael Burkhardt (© 1993 MorningStar Music Publishers)
“Fugue in d minor” by J.S. Bach. From Organist Frederick Hohman & Johann Sebastian Bach by Frederick Hohman (© 1988 Pro Organo)