Authority is a tough word to hear unless we’re the one who have it and are given to exercise it. It conjures up images of being told what to do and when to do it and that rankles a bit doesn’t it? Generally speaking there’s something in us that doesn’t like being told what to do (or maybe that’s just me!).
There is an authority theme that runs through this chapter that consistently points us back towards God. Jesus taught and preached under the authority of God (vs. 1-9). We live on the earth under God’s authority, even when we ignore His power in order to satisfy our own desires (vs. 0-19). We pay taxes to the ruling authority in our corner of the earth (vs. 20-26) and as with all things in heaven and on the earth all things happen under the authority of God (vs.27-47).
Much as we might not like to have set rules and boundaries we have to acknowledge that they are good and healthy for us. Without them we descend into chaos and the world becomes a desperately difficult place to live in.
In order to live under authority, we need someone to be in charge and given that the world is entirely full of people who are flawed and fall short of the glory of God who better to have in that place of authority than God Himself? He is supreme, all loving, all powerful, knowing only love and goodness. There is no evil in Him, he alone is truth and light. So in all of His teaching Jesus consistently directs us back to our Father in Heaven because He is all we need.
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Questions:
What images does the word authority conjure up for you? Does the idea of being under the authority of God make you feel uncomfortable? How do you reconcile yourself to the concept that we are called to live under God’s authority?
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.