In the course of last week’s study (Mark 2:1-12) I said that authority (verse 10) is a profoundly spiritual issue that might merit closer attention.  That’s what this entry is all about.

Authority Misrepresented

Authority is a critical biblical concept.  From a certain perspective it’s central to the message of Mark’s Gospel.  It’s also been seriously misunderstood and misrepresented in our Contemporary Conservative American Christian context.

By way of example:  about two years ago, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions attempted to justify the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant parents from their children at the Mexican border by appealing to Scripture: 

“I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained the government for his purposes,” Sessions said during a speech to law enforcement officers in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  “Orderly and lawful processes are good in themselves.  Consistent and fair application of the law is in itself a good and moral thing, and that protects the weak and protects the lawful.”[i]

This interpretation of Romans 13 – an interpretation which has been with us at least since the advent of Constantine’s “Christian Empire” back in the Fourth Century – seriously confuses the intent of Paul’s original teaching.  Let’s find out why. 

Authority and the Author

In English, authority is clearly associated with authorship.  The author or originator of a thing has (or should have) the last word where His own creation is concerned.

In Greek this connection is even clearer.  Exousia is a compound of the preposition ex, “out of, from,” and the noun ousia, “essence or being.”  This is why authority is a “profoundly spiritual issue.”  Exousia is rooted in and flows out of the essence of the Person who exercises it.  It’s a function of His being.  God has authority not because of the “position” He occupies but because of who He is.  Jesus wields authority “on earth” because He is God.    

Delegated Authority    

The Bible makes it clear that God, the central locus of all authority, has granted to some of His creatures the privilege of exercising divine exousia on His behalf:  “He makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire” (Hebrews 1:7; quoting Psalm 104).  Mankind, too, has a place in this scheme:  “Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, and hast appointed him over the works of Thy hands; Thou has put all things under his feet” (Hebrews 2:7-8, quoting Psalm 8; see also Genesis 1:28). 

Authority delegated to men and angels.  This idea is fleshed out and developed in many places in Scripture, most notably in Daniel and Revelation, where figures such as “Gabriel” (Daniel 9:21), “the Prince of the kingdom of Persia” (Daniel 10:13), “the Prince of Greece” (Daniel 10:20), “the King of the South” (Daniel 11:5), and the “Horsemen of the Apocalypse” (Revelation 6:1-4) represent both the angelic powers that hold sway “in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12) and the human rulers who serve as their proxies “on earth.”  These rulers, both human and angelic, seem to control the course of human history.  But as we discovered in our study of Revelation, this is an illusion; for in the end, all power reverts back to the Lamb and the Rider on the White Horse (Revelation 6:2; 19:11-16).

Usurped Authority

From delegated authority it’s just a hop, skip, and a jump to usurped authority.  That’s what has happened in our world. 

The original Delegate-turned-Usurper, of course, is Satan himself.  He correctly claims to be able to dispense authority (exousia) over “all the kingdoms of the earth” (Luke 4:5-8) because he is the “Ruler of this World” (John 12:31).  Unfortunately, he has turned this delegated power to bad ends; and his minions, whether supernatural or mortal, are inextricably caught up in his agenda of usurpation and abuse.  To some degree or another, all are like him because all are beholden to him.[ii]  Accordingly, “There is a very strong strand of Gospel teaching which sees secular government as the province of the sovereignty of Satan.”[iii] 

That’s why the conflict Jesus faces when He comes on the scene is primarily a conflict of Arkys.  It’s a question of the authority of Jesus versus every other form of authority, whether “in heaven” or “on earth.” 

Ordered Authority

Jeff Sessions is just the latest in a long line of nominally Christian tyrants who have appealed to Romans 13 in an attempt to legitimize their questionable actions.  Too many of us have been cowed by this intimidating tactic.  Too many have accepted the idea that “the Christian thing to do” is to “respect” authority no matter what it does because “Romans 13 says so.”     

But this is not consistent with the example of Jesus.  Think about it.  In the passages we’ve been studying, does Christ automatically defer to the religious authorities of His day?  Is He careful to avoid giving them offense?  Does He bow before their hoary and hallowed opinions?  Obviously not.  Instead, He defies them.  He purposely violates their religious sensibilities.  He sets His authority in opposition to theirs.  Most importantly, He demonstrates the true application of authority.  It’s not a matter of “lording it over” people but of healing their deficiencies and setting them free. 

To Pilate Jesus says, “You would have no authority over Me unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11).  He’s unimpressed with Pilate’s authority because He knows it is derivative.  When He asserts that it comes “from above,” He isn’t simply saying that it has roots in God, as if to legitimize it.  He’s also referring to the chain of delegation and usurpation through which it descends.  In other words, He’s saying that it is both derivative and corrupt.           

Paul makes the same claim in Romans 13.  Unlike Jeff Sessions, Paul does not tell us that God has “ordained” the powers that be.  The word he uses (tetagmenai) means “ordered.”  In agreement with Christ, he affirms that God allows these powers to operate while simultaneously keeping them restrained within appropriate boundaries.    

As John Howard Yoder puts it, “The Christian who accepts subjection to government retains moral independence and judgment.  The authority of government is not self-justifying.  Whatever government exists is ordered by God; but the text does not say that whatever the government does or asks of its citizens is good.”[iv]

Final Thoughts:  Authority and Allegiance

In the end, we come back to what we’ve been saying all along:  the kingdom of God is a matter of exclusive allegiance.  It’s centered in our confidence that all authority, whether in heaven or on earth, belongs to Jesus alone (Matthew 28:18).  It belongs to Him because it flows out of who He is.       

As for the archai and exousiai who rule over this present world, whether human or angelic, we owe them no allegiance whatsoever.  The submission, subjection, or cooperation we render them has nothing to do with reverence or devotion.  It’s basically another way of loving our enemies (Matthew 5:43; Romans 13:8).   

---

[i] Julie Zauzmer and Keith McMillan, “Sessions Cites Bible Passage Used to Defend Slavery in Defense of Separating Immigrant Families,” The Washington Post, June 15, 2018.

[ii] I do not say that all of the angelic powers “in the heavenlies” participated in Satan’s primeval rebellion – only those who now share in his dominion over the earth.  In C. S. Lewis’s fictional scheme of things, this is what makes Earth “The Silent Planet:”  Earth alone, out of the entire cosmos, lies under the sway of the “Bent Oyarsa,” the Fallen Prince.  Thus, all authority (exousia) “on earth” is inevitably twisted and corrupt.  In a very important sense, it is all usurped authority.       

[iii] John Howard Yoder, The Politics of Jesus, p. 194.

[iv] Ibid., p. 205.

Review

Chapter 1 is now behind us.  Jesus has announced the coming of the kingdom; identified with us, His people, in baptism and temptation; challenged false allegiances to false Arkys (archai) by enlisting His first disciples and healing on the Sabbath; and demonstrated His ascendancy over the unseen spiritual authorities (exousiai) and power structures of the World. 

In Chapter 2 He reveals more of His true identity and pushes the envelope even further.  He is on an irreversible collision course with every form of human Pretense and Presumption.             

“At Home”

This sentence is worth noting for the simple reason that it gives us a picture of Jesus at home.  We know that He spent a great deal of time on the road and even made the claim that He “had nowhere to lay His head;” and yet in this instance Mark portrays Him as “back in the house,” in His adopted hometown of Capernaum.  N. T. Wright thinks it was His own house.[i]  It may very well have been.  One thing seems certain:  whatever His connection with the place, it was no secret to the people of the village.  They knew exactly where to find Him        

The Word (Logos)

What was this word (Greek logos) that Jesus proclaimed?  A word that had the power to attract such a crowd that the house overflowed with listeners?  Can you imagine the excitement, the thrill of a message like that?  Think of how it must have felt to be a part of that scene!  All the evidence indicates that it was the very same word He came preaching back in 1:15:  “The kingdom is here!  I have arrived!  Forsake all other loyalties and follow Me!  I bring you something more than a new “way of life.”  What I bring is Life itself – the genuine article.  This is the Reality you’ve been waiting for!”  It’s the same message we get in a highly theologized form in the Letter to the Hebrews.  But here it presents itself in the shape of an earth-shaking Event.  It’s a Happening that changes everything for those who are blessed enough to experience it firsthand.               

Faith and Forgiveness

Perhaps the most remarkable part of these few lines is the clause at the beginning of verse 5:  “When Jesus saw their faith … ”  Faith, we are told here, is something that can be seen.  It is visible in the actions of those who embrace it and do something with it.  “If you really believe that what you believe is really real,”[i] you behave differently.  You step out and make investments on the basis of that belief:  investments that might otherwise seem brash, foolish, offensive, groundless, and insane.  That’s how it is with the paralytic and his friends.  So thoroughly convinced are they that Jesus has the power to deal with their situation that they’re willing to tear off the roof – the roof of Jesus’ own house, if N. T. Wright is correct – in an attempt to reach Him.

And what is His response to this outlandish appeal for help?  This, too, is astonishing and wholly unexpected.  He doesn’t say, “Rise up and walk” – at least not right away.  Instead, He tells the man, “Your sins are forgiven.”  Apparently this is the central issue as far as Christ is concerned.  This is the real point of the kingdom He comes to inaugurate:  not temporary remedies for earthly ailments, but total restoration of the Relationship between broken people and the One they’ve offended.  Once that problem is resolved, everything else will follow.                    

The Right Question

You have to hand it to the scribes and Pharisees on one point:  they knew how to ask the right questions.  So steeped were they in the Scriptures that they immediately grasped the deeper implications of what they were witnessing.  Sins forgiven?  Who indeed but God can make such a pronouncement (see Exodus 34:6-7; Isaiah 43:25; 44:22)?  For Mark, the author of the book, it’s essentially a rhetorical question.  “Don’t you get it?” he seems to say to the reader.  “Don’t you realize who this is?”  It’s not without cause that the religious leaders accuse Jesus of blasphemy at this juncture.  Wright says that this brief narrative gives us “a tiny version of the whole Gospel:  Jesus teaching and healing, Jesus condemned for blasphemy, Jesus vindicated.”[i]  It’s the whole story in a nutshell.        

Forgiveness and Authority

Authority (verse 10).  Not just any authority, but authority to forgive.  And not just authority to forgive, but authority to forgive on earth.  These are the key phrases to bear in mind here. 

Authority, Mark seems to be telling us, is not about “bossing people around.”  Instead, it’s a question of releasing them from bondage and letting them go (Greek aphiemi).  And it’s a present reality – not just a hope for the future.     

These studies in Mark, together with past reflections on the Book of Revelation and passages such as Romans 13:1-8, are leading gently but inexorably toward a simple conclusion:  Authority is not just a matter of hierarchy or control.  It’s a profoundly spiritual issue.  So profoundly spiritual, in fact, that we may want to dig into it a little more deeply in our next installment.    

For time being, let’s just note that, in this context, Mark once again employs the Greek word exousia:  the very word used by Paul (along with archai, “Arkys”) to describe the spiritual “powers and principalities” from whom Christ has set us free.  “All authority (exousia),” Jesus tells His disciples at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, “is given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).  And He proves it in this passage not only by forgiving the paralytic’s sins, but by restoring Him to full health.  It’s another “sign” of the coming of the kingdom.

Final Thoughts

Forgiveness.  Think about it long enough and you’ll begin to realize that it’s an absolute miracle.  Anyone who has ever really had something to forgive – something genuinely hurtful – knows how true that statement is.  And the kingdom Jesus brings is centered upon forgiveness:  freedom, release, and healing for our poisoned souls.  Reconciliation between God and man and between man and man. 

That’s what makes it such an impossible and devastating reversal of everything we take for granted.      

---

[i] Wright, p. 17.

---

[i] Del Tackett, The Truth Project.

---

[i] N.T. Wright, Mark for Everyone, p. 16.

Review

Last week’s discussion of Mark 1:35-45 elicited several intriguing comments.  Nearly all were concerned with the leper’s flagrant (Craig called it “blithe”) disregard of Jesus’ order to “tell no one” about the healing.  Why, asked Dorothy, would Christ give commands that He knows are certain to be disobeyed?  And why do we (wondered Craig) willingly, deliberately, and happily go out and do the very thing Jesus has told us not to do?  Does this kind of careless and exuberant disobedience have the potential to thwart God’s perfect plan? 

Before diving in, I’d like to raise another question of my own:  was this leper’s “disobedience” really such a bad thing?  On the surface it seems innocent enough.  After all, the man was genuinely grateful and understandably excited.  He just wanted to tell the world what Jesus had done for him.  Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? 

Well … maybe.  And maybe not.  It all depends.

Let’s keep this in mind as we pause and “hover” over this section a few moments more.       

Our Text:

               43 And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, 44 and He said to him, See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them. 45 But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news about, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.

Kingdoms in Conflict

We’ll begin by revisiting the reason for Jesus’ command.  Why did He want the leper to remain silent?  Last time we said that He was hoping to suppress “the kind of publicity that gets attached to showy wonder-workers.”  But there’s a bit more to it than that. 

Remember, Jesus is proclaiming a starkly revolutionary message.  He’s announcing “The Arky (arche) of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1).  He says that “the kingdom of God has arrived” (1:15).  In effect, He’s asserting His predominance over all other authorities and governances, whether that means the unseen spiritual powers in “heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12) or the human officials and magistrates who serve beneath them.

This message is easily misinterpreted.  In Jesus’ day, Jewish religion, culture, and folklore had built up a vast complex of wrong-headed political assumptions about the nature of the Coming Kingdom.  Something similar has happened in our own time, despite Christ’s clear assertion that His kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36).  At the moment of the leper’s healing, the temporal authorities (especially the religious ones) already perceive Jesus as a threat.  So He attempts to defuse a potentially explosive situation by telling the man to keep silent.  He goes even further by instructing him to fulfill the specifications of the Mosaic law “as a testimony to them.”  Revolutionary though He is, He wants to avoid misunderstanding and unnecessary trouble.  His objective is to keep the lid on the pot until He’s had a little more time to clarify His intent

 

“A Time to Be Silent, and a Time to Speak”

“Say nothing to anyone …”  Commenting on this, N. T. Wright asks, “Are there any times when we, today, should be silent, however much we want to speak about Jesus and what He’s done for us?”[i]

Jacques Ellul thinks so.  He says we live in an age when people can’t really hear the Gospel message.  They can’t hear it because they think they already know what it’s about.  They’re laboring under the burden of many centuries’ worth of accrued misunderstanding and misperception:  staggering under layer upon layer of mutation, caricature, and misrepresentation of the Truth, most of it perpetrated by so-called Christians.  In this sense, they’re very much like the Jews of Jesus’ time. 

“To proclaim the Word of God to men in the abstract,” writes Ellul, “to people who are in a situation which prevents them from understanding it, means that we are tempting God.”[i]  Referencing Jesus’ warning against “casting pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6), he adds, “We need a revolution … which attacks the bases of a civilization whose efforts tend solely towards transforming men into ‘swine’ – all men – who by this very fact can no longer receive the divine ‘pearls.’”[ii]  Writing in another context, he concludes, “There is a time for speech and a time for silence (Ecclesiastes 3:7).  We shall often have occasion to meditate on this.”[iii]

When does the “time for speech” come?  Good question.  According to Ellul, it must be preceded by “the creation of a new style of life” among believers – a “style of life” that prompts unbelievers to wonder and ask.  There’s a lot we could say about this.  But perhaps that’s a subject for another time.  

Final Thoughts:  No Plan B

So:  did the leper’s blabbing “confound the Lord’s purpose and will,” as Craig put it?  That’s easy to answer:  we know it didn’t. 

The man tells everyone what has happened to him; Jesus retreats to “deserted places;” people seek Him out anyway; and the story moves on indefatigably to its predetermined conclusion.  The Son of Man “goes just as it is written of Him,” despite human blunders, errors, and sins (Mark 14:21).  For in God’s economy, there is no such thing as “Plan B.”  It’s always “Plan A,” morphing, changing, adapting, branching out into brand-new and unforeseen avenues of fulfillment and fresh revelation. 

That’s the way it’s always worked – ever since the Garden of Eden.  And that’s the way it goes in our own bungled but blessed lives.             

---

[i] N. T. Wright, Mark for Everyone, p. 14.

[i] Jacques Ellul, The Presence of the Kingdom, p. 141.

[ii] Ibid., p. 143.

[iii] Jacques Ellul, The Politics of God and the Politics of Man, p. 161

---

Review

In our last installment we saw Jesus asserting His unique authority as God Incarnate (Hebrews 1:6; 3:4), Son of Man (Hebrews 2:9), and Inaugurator of the Coming and Present Kingdom (Mark 1:15).  He did this by performing miracles of healing, casting out the “rulers of the darkness of this age” (Ephesians 6:12), and defying long-held assumptions about the Mosaic Sabbath Law (Hebrews 3:3), thus challenging the Religious and Nationalistic sensibilities of His contemporaries.

In this section He continues on this revolutionary, “anarchic” course.        

Verses 35-39:  The Priority of Prayer

After a long day – and night – of healing the sick and subjugating the “spiritual hosts of wickedness,” Jesus is up “exceedingly early,” spending time in prayer; probably during what was called “the fourth watch of the night” (3:00 to 6:00 a.m.).  This kind of solitary communion with the Father was “Ground Zero” for Him.  It was the power source behind everything He did.  Simon and the others don’t get this, of course.  They want Him to hurry back to Capernaum and “strike while the iron is hot.”  But Jesus isn’t interested in “capitalizing” on the buzz of the previous evening.  “Let’s go somewhere else,” He says.  “Other towns need my message too.”  Not a brilliant marketing strategy, perhaps.  But it reflected the sense of calling He had received during His hours of solitude with the Father. 

Verses 40-42:  The Healing Touch

There are several details worth mentioning here. 

First, the leper[i] initiates contact with Jesus.  This is the kind of active, seeking faith that Christ always commends and rewards.  Remember how many times He said, “Your faith has made you well.” 

Second, the words “If you are willing” both defer to Jesus’ authority and assume His power.  It’s not a question of what He can do, but of what He chooses to do as Sovereign Master.  And of course, Jesus is willing.  He says so Himself.

Third, many ancient manuscripts have “moved with anger” instead of “moved with compassion.”  A “difficult reading” to be sure.  That’s why most editors and translators have rejected it (though apparently it was adopted in an early version of the NIV).  But we’ll want to book-mark it for further reference when we get to verse 43.   

Fourth, Jesus heals by touch.  Yet another violation of the Law of Moses.  According to Leviticus Chapters 13 and 14 (see especially 13:45-46), lepers were to be excluded from normal society.  Anyone who touched a leper would himself be considered ritually unclean.  Yet Jesus reaches out and puts His hand on the man, thus “defying both the law and the social taboo.”[ii]  It’s no wonder that, even at this early stage of His ministry, officialdom was already watching Him like a hawk.

Side-note:  We can all relate to this leper right now.  In a time of “social distancing,” everyone experiences the want of human touch – especially those who live alone.  We know firsthand what it is like to avoid and be avoided; and the message here is that Jesus has the power and the authority to penetrate that barrier.  Jesus touches the untouchables.  He can break through and enfold us in His loving embrace.    

Fifth and last, the cure was immediate and complete.  No mistaking the supernatural quality of the authority on display here.              

Verses 43 & 44: “Tell No One”

Jesus’ charge to this man is remarkable for the violence of the language it employs.  “Strictly warned” is a pretty tame translation of the Greek embrimaomai, which originally referred to the “snorting of horses” and could mean “speak harshly, criticize, be angry or deeply moved.”  It’s the word used to describe Christ’s feelings as He approaches the tomb of His dead friend Lazarus in John 11:38.  To make matters worse, Jesus didn’t simply “send the man away;” He actually “threw him out” (Greek exebalen).  Why such a stern response?

It all has to do with our theme of the “Incognito Messiah.”  “Don’t tell anyone about this!” Jesus commands the man – just as He had commanded the demon in 1:25.  He wasn’t looking for the kind of publicity that gets attached to showy wonder-workers.  He wanted people to focus on the message of the Coming Kingdom – the new Center of Allegiance – instead of on flashy miracles.  And it grieved Him to think that unless they “saw signs and wonders,” they would “never believe” (John 4:48).[i]

Also noteworthy are the instructions Jesus appends to His stern exhortation:  “Show yourself to the priest …”  Remember Martin Luther?  “The Christian is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; the Christian is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone.”[ii]  Even in the act of smashing false Arkys, Jesus reminds us not to give unnecessary offense, “So that the name of God and our teaching may not be spoken against” (1 Timothy 6:1).                      

Verse 45: The Word Spreads

As it happens time and time again in the Gospel accounts, Jesus’ warning has the opposite effect on the former leper.  And so the word spreads; and at the end of this section, Jesus is right back where we found Him at the beginning:  alone in “deserted places.”  Yet even there they sought Him out.     

Final Thoughts

Jesus heals.  Jesus delivers from oppression.  Jesus touches those who desperately need to be touched.  But in the end, Jesus is much more than all of this; for Jesus, as the early Christians expressed it in their most primitive Confession of Faith, is Lord.  And once you’ve said that, you’ve said it all.

---

[i] The Greek word lepra referred to a variety of skin diseases, most of which were unconnected with what we call “leprosy” today. 

[ii] Eckhard J. Schnabel, The Tyndale New Testament Commentary on Mark, p. 63.

[i] Referring to the healing miracles of Jesus, Alfred Edersheim comments, “There is nothing more marked than the pain, we had almost said the humiliation, which their necessity seems to have carried to His heart.” (Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Vol. I, Book III, Chapter XV.  

[ii] Luther, “The Freedom of the Christian.”

---