The Authority of Jesus – Luke 4:31-37

Authority denotes rule, influence, power, and the power to fulfill one’s desires. An example of authority is the executive power that is possessed by the president of the United States. That is, the president has certain authority to make decisions that impact the country. Like so, there are many local, state, and federal authorities in this world, but no authority is as high as the divine authority of God (Ps 2:4-6). The Scripture states that God places people in positions of power and gives them authority. He gave authority to Adam (Gen 1:28) when God created him. Because God has the highest authority, He is also the source of all authority that is possessed by man in any level of government and position of power.

This divine authority is seen in Jesus. As is shown in the passage, Jesus uses this authority to teach. Unlike the teaching of the Hebrew teachers at the time, Jesus’ teaching is refreshing and new. As the author of the Old Testament, which is the revelation of the Word of God, He speaks to the people about the will of God, sin, kingdom of God, peace, faith, and sacrificial love. As the eyewitness and partaker in Creation, Jesus teaches with the authority of the Author of Creation in full knowledge of all things.

Jesus has authority because He is God. However, he willingly condescends to man by being born as a man. Jesus descends from Heaven to the earth to reach men and offer salvation, and one may say that His teaching ministry is an example of this condescension. In a way, He is condescending from heaven to Capernaum for the purpose of teaching (v.31). Jesus does not teach as a professor or a scholar; He teaches as the Son of God (Col 2:9). His teaching has the power to save people from their sins (Mt 1:21), and because God alone can forgive sins (Mk 2:7), one can be sure that Jesus is God and, therefore, has the divine, truthful authority.

Although He has the power to speak unadulterated truths independent of the Scriptures, Jesus speaks through the Word of God. This shows that the authority of Jesus’ teaching comes from the Word of God (v.32). He does not speak independently, but He expounds upon the Word of God. Because Jesus uses the Scripture for His teaching, one can be sure that it has the “stamp of approval” from God; that is, the divinely inspired writings of the Scripture is approved by God. Because of this, Christians know that the Word of God will be fulfilled (Lk 24:44).

The authority of Jesus is universal; His authority extends even over demons (v.36). Demons are real (Eph 6:12), powerful, and unclean (Mk 5:3-4). They attack sinners and struggling Christians to keep them away from Jesus. However, Jesus has the power over demons, and He will one day destroy all the demons. So as to fend off demonic spiritual attacks and fight against the kingdom of darkness, Christians are called to be holy like Jesus (1 Jn 1:9, 1 Pet 5:8-9, Jam 4:7) and defer to Jesus’ divine authority in times of spiritual attacks.

Jesus’ ministry of teaching, preaching, and sharing continues in authority, even today (v 37). We must continue spreading what we’ve seen and heard (Acts 4:19-20) if we truly understand the authority of Jesus (Mt 28:18-20).