Mark 1:21-22 – Authoritative teachings

Jesus and the four disciples had now come to Capernaum. A look at the map will tell us that this was a little town located at the Upper Northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was on a preaching tour of Galilee. On the Sabbath, He and His disciples went into the synagogue and there He began to teach. There would be no doubt that He must have taught with passion, clarity and sincerity. But more than just these, Mark made it clear that He taught with authority, and not as the scribes or the teachers of the law.

Just imagine the many ordinary town-folks who were present in the synagogue that day. Having heard stirring news about the teaching of this man from Nazareth, they all came geared up with great anticipation and expectation, and they were not disappointed. So we see in verse 22 that they were amazed at His teaching. The word amaze gives us the idea that they were so thunderstruck by what He said. Unquestionably, every word from His lips carried a knockout punch.

What’s amazing about Jesus’ teaching was that He did not teach like the scribes. He spoke with authority. The teachings of the scribes’ would be strewn with quotations from other scribes to lend authenticity to the messages. Such kind of messages would certainly be boring and lacking in spontaneity. But there was no such thing in Jesus’ teaching. He taught with authority – the kind that flows from the heart of God. On the one hand, He would explain the Law and the Prophets, and on the other hand, He would reveal the heart and purpose of God in mankind. Both would be communicated with unmistaken clarity and delivered with simplicity and sincerity. It would not be too difficult to detect the truth and genuineness of the Lord from His message. His audience could attest to that.

Our Lord was able to deliver the message with such clarity and authority because He was so consumed by it. He did not just speak the Word, He was and still is the Living Word. He lived it! He was a live demonstration of eternal realities. Like Jesus, if we are to communicate God’s truth with authority, He must be part and parcel of our walk and talk. We need to live His Word in order to share it with conviction and passion. And when we do that we will demonstrate the eternal realities of God in our lives. So let’s just do it!