He Taught Them With Authority

01-31-2021Weekly ReflectionFr. Tony Okolo CSSp

In the Gospel of today we hear how Jesus taught His audience with authority unlike the scribes and Pharisees who came before Him. To teach with authority is to demonstrate that everything comes from Him and not appealing to any outside authority to convince His audience as done by the scribes and Pharisees of His day. This finds confirmation in the first reading of today, when Moses spoke to the people saying the Lord says, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin, and will put my words into His mouth, He shall tell them all that I command Him” He taught with personal authority meaning that He needed no authority beyond Himself.

According to William Barclay “He spoke with finality of the voice of God. To the people it was like a breeze from heaven to hear someone speak like that.” The scribes and Pharisee disagreed with Jesus not because He gave a wrong teaching, but His teachings made a big impression in the lives of His audience that the Pharisees felt threatened by the fame of Jesus. Their disagreement could be attributed to the level of jealously and feeling that their job is at stake.

Similarly, He casts out demons in His own power and authority and never appealed to any other form of power or authority to drive them out as a sign that He has power over any forces of the demons. It demonstrates to us that Jesus has power to overcome any forces of the demons in our lives, families or society. In His name and by His power all other forces would bow down. It means that Jesus’ presence needs to be encountered to be able to experience his power. The irony in the drama seen in today’s Gospel reading with Jesus’ presence in the synagogue is that even the demons are able to recognize who Jesus is and the power He possesses while the scribes and Pharisees who are the religious leaders could not. The scribes and Pharisees fail to recognize the identity and power of Jesus even as He stood before them because their minds were blinded by envy, jealousy and pride. In the same way, when we as Christians are blinded by envy, jealousy and pride we fail to see the grace and power of God in others. For us to see the amazing works of God in others especially among our family members and colleagues we need to rid our minds and hearts of envy, jealousy and pride.

These two incidents of teaching with authority and casting out demons that amazed the people to confess that they have never seen a thing like this is a sure sign that Jesus remains the only person. His teaching has authority to transform us from within and bring newness of life in us. When we open up ourselves to hear His words and believe in the power embedded in His words, we too can give testimony of the marvelous works of God. He is the only person who can destroy the negative forces in our lives that threaten to dominate us, but this can only work if we allow Him to have His way into our lives.

Finally, the second reading calls us to free our minds from unnecessary anxieties, worry and fear which affects our lives negatively. We should focus on God and take our every anxiety to God in prayer. We know that it is not easy not to worry when we are faced with life challenges, but we are encouraged because we have one in the person of Jesus Who is always there to give ears to our cries. Jesus has the power to give solutions to our problems if we have strong recourse to God. Truly anxiety and worry solves no problems and to live our lives in anxiety creates more problems for us. Let us first seek the face of God in every situation and present our case before God and He will assist us.