“One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, ‘Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.’”
Luke 20:1-2
The pharisees asked Jesus by what authority he was teaching and preaching the gospel. They wanted to know who gave him the authority to say these things? After all, in their eyes, he was a carpenter who had brothers and sisters who from Nazareth- and no prophet comes out of Nazareth.
And so Jesus asks them questions, if you remember the passage, which both answer their questions and reveal the hypocrisy of their question (what a wise guy Jesus is!). Long story short, Jesus’ authority came from heaven.
I am thinking about being a servant of the Lord who speaks for the Lord and the Holy Spirit is asking me the same question, “By what authority will you speak and live for me?”
In my heart I desire so deeply to respond in the same way Jesus did. To say that my authority is from heaven.
The Lord has gripped my heart about abandoning the foolishness of establishing authority based on earthly and religious principles that evangelical Christendom is so accustomed to doing.
To live and to speak,
not based on my education or degrees I have from anywhere,
not based on my skills or gifts,
not based on the size of my ministry,
not because the picture of my face is somewhere,
not because of how many books I wrote,
not because ‘I am the authority on the subject,’
not because of what people think about me
but because God Almighty has anointed me to speak His words and therefore the people must respond!
Therein lies my authority!
The goal is not that they would respond to me (who cares if they respond to me?), but that they would have to respond to God!
…oh that my heart would truly be engaged in that.
God make me an anointed servant of the Lord who receives his authority from heaven and not men.
