In Mk 1:22 Jesus has authority both as God manifest in the flesh and as man. His words have authority. Authority is legal power. A right to command or to act. Power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior. Jesus had the power of authority.
We live in a society that says “you don’t have the right to tell me what to do”. People naturally do not want to be told what to do. But in this verse, we see that the people clearly recognized the Lord’s power of authority.
God’s Authority
God is the Creator. He has the absolute power to do whatever he wants to do and he owes nobody an explanation, justification, or reason for doing what he does. He owns all of this. The heaven and the earth are his. Ex 19:5 “for all the earth is mine”. Job 41:11 “whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine”. In Isaiah 48:13 he said, “my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together”. This is the power of authority.
This is why the devil has devised so many different religions. The multiplicity of gods challenge God’s authority. The devil asked Eve, “Yea, hath God said”? He introduced her to a contrary authority, and he usurped God’s when he did. Rev 13:2 “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority”. The devil is trying to limit God’s power of authority.
When the devil brought sin and death to men through Adam’s disobedience, look what happened to us in Mk 7:21-23. Thus, God gave us the Ten Commandments to teach us to not do the things that are in us that will kill us. His commandments keep us from being ensnared by death. God gave us the law from out of the world to liberate us from the bondage of sin in the world. Therefore, the law is not restraining; it’s liberating. Rectitude is straight not strait.
God delegated some authority to rulers. With authority there comes power. Where the word of a king is there is power. The powers that be are ordained of God. This is why you are commanded to “submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake…”. We do it because God is ultimately the one we are obeying.
Jesus’s Authority
God delegated all power to Jesus Christ, Matt 28:18. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He has the power of authority.
Mk 1:22 “And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes”. The scribes introduced their traditions, “making the word of God of none effect”, Mk 7:13. Jesus didn’t do this.
Because he is God, Jesus doesn’t owe anyone an explanation for what he does, either. Matt 21:23-27, “neither tell I you by what authority I do these things”.
And as God was able to delegate authority to rulers, so Jesus was able to give his disciples “power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases,” Lk 9:1.
Likewise, Jesus has authority to judge. Jn 5:27 “and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man”. This is what should cause us to fear before him.
Jesus had the authority to lay his life down and to pick it up again. And he has the power to save all men through his death, burial and resurrection when they believe. You may not like this salvation, but it’s all you get. He is the way, the truth and the life, and there is no other way.
In 1 Cor 15:24, in due time, Jesus will put down all rule and all authority and power.
The Bible’s Authority
Our Bible is called the Authorized Version King James Bible. It is called Authorized because of its recognized power of authority. These written words are the words of God in writing. They have the power and authority of his spoken words, 2 Pet 1:16-21. And more so because they are written. The spoken words of God were written on tables of stone on Horeb. And the words God wanted written on paper are the ones you find in your KJV.
God wrote prophecy, the sure word of prophecy, and you can be sure that all events are going to unfold just the way he said they would. Concerning Israel, all attempts to end war or settle their land with 2 states are destined to fail, because they are not in accord with the authority of God’s words.
Religions which run contrary to the words of God use the Bible to support their doctrine. Yet, the Bible is not their authority. God is not their authority. They are their own authority. That’s why they are wrong. You don’t need religion. You need God, Jesus, and the Holy Bible. They are the only ones who have the power of authority.
You may ask, “Who gave you the authority to speak like this”? The Lord did. Titus 2:15 “These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee”. That’s what you have come to like about Bible believing preaching. It’s authoritative and it’s powerful.