His Divine Authority

The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee” (John 7:45-52).

 The officers that were sent by the chief priests and Pharisees to arrest Jesus returned without Him. Their elders wanted to know why the officers did not submit to their authority. Their response showed that when Jesus spoke He revealed much more than divine knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. The words of the Living Word revealed even more than ultimate truth. The crowd of followers confirmed it… “And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching” (Matthew 22:33). They discerned that beyond the content and delivery of His message, the Christ spoke with a fresh, undeniable authority… “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29). Like the uneducated crowd of Christ followers, these officers may not have known the law as precisely as the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees, but they recognized the authority and source of the law that spoke to them… “No one ever spoke like this man!” When confronted with the truth of His authority, the Jewish elders confirmed that Jesus presented another authority, an authority that was far greater that the poor, legalistic remnant of the law they professed to know so well. Nicodemus urged the Jews to judge the words of Christ by the very law that He gave them… “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They resisted judging Him by the law because they knew He would pass the test and they would be compelled to submit to His divine authority. The truth is, whenever God speaks through either the written or the Living Word, followers are challenged to become disciples who joyfully discern and submit to His divine authority.

How do you respond to the word of God? Have you become too comfortable and familiar with it? It’s true that God’s word comforts and encourages us… “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word” (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17). But it’s also true that God’s word judges our thoughts and emotions… “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).  God’s word provokes us to grow up into Christ… “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). God’s word equips us to discover His will and pursue His work by revealing His truth and leading us in His righteousness… “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The truth of God’s word is released into our lives as we embrace it as disciples immersed in the truth of our teacher… “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (John 8:31-32). The difference between the many Christ followers and the few disciples of Christ in any crowd will always be our response to His authority. God’s word promises blessings to those who are changed and matured by submitting to the authority of its truth… “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:25). Today we see how the officers following Him to arrest Him became His disciples by resisting the corrupted authority of man and submitting to the divine authority of Christ.

As we grow up into Christ we are transformed by being immersed in His word and surrendered to…

His Divine Authority.