Sermon for Evening Prayer, October 5, 2022 - Authority

 2022-10-5 Deuteronomy 5:1-21 Matthew 8:18-34

In the name of the Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. 

In yesterday’s New Testament reading from Matthew 8, we encountered three people who recognized the authority of Jesus.  They not only recognized His authority, but they had a good idea of what that authority meant for them and how it could shape their life. The leper knew that Jesus had the authority to heal him. The Centurion knew that Jesus’ authority extended beyond his own body.  If Jesus only spoke the word that the Centurion’s servant is healed, even from a distance, then the Centurion knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that when he returned home, his servant would be healed. Then, Peter’s mother-in-law, received Jesus’ healing. She trusts that he has the authority to make her well so that she may offer proper hospitality to him.  

Today’s New Testament reading is the second half of Matthew 8. Here we encounter three situations where Jesus’ authority is clarified. His authority demands an immediate obedience and it extends over all of creation, visible and invisible, and over all forces, natural and evil.  

The first situation is with two would-be disciples.  The scribe who is attracted to Jesus, learns that in order to follow Jesus and learn from him, that he will have to live with uncertainty. The ministry is an itinerant one. There is no clear or predictable sense of where they will travel or where they will stay the night. We do not know the scribe’s response to that. But, it must have been jarring that Jesus’ authority demands living a life of uncertainty where “my goals and plans” are secondary to the Lord’s.  When we look at Jesus’ life, we see that He never exercises his authority for his own comfort or self-promotion. Jesus comes to expend himself on behalf of others.  This will eventually lead him to the cross. In following Jesus we receive the benefits of His sacrifice in the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of eternal life with God. Those benefits also mean that we give up all guarantees of comfort or a predictable, stable existence. 

The other man received a jarring response from Jesus that would have offended his cultural sensibilities.  The fourth commandment tells us in no uncertain terms that we are to honor our parents. This means, amongst other things, that we take care of them to the best of our ability in their old age and bury them with dignity and respect. There are at least six other Bible passages that say the same thing.  The ethos within a Jewish man of the first century would be strong to do right by Dad. So, Jesus’ demand to leave those responsibilities behind and follow him immediately causes some consternation. How could Jesus contradict his own teaching in the fourth commandment? 

This passage has generated a number of interpretations. The one that makes the most sense to me is from Professor Kenneth Bailey.  He says that “bury my father” is a cultural short hand expression for “complete my filial obligation until my father dies - and that is not necessarily something that is on the verge of happening.” In other words, I want to follow you but not this year. 

Well, when Jesus calls, the only answer is “yes, I go now.”  This is how one responds to authority. Not, well, when it is convenient for me and mine, we will stop by. 

The second incident that leads us to understand the nature of Jesus’ authority is when he calms the storm.  How can Jesus sleep through a storm like this? Exhaustion? Professor Jeffrey Gibbs says that Jesus can sleep because the storm has no power over him.  He has power and authority over the storm and sea. So, he is resting like a baby while the disciples are frantic with worry.  

The disciples do have faith the size of a mustard seed.  They know to go to Jesus for help. They turn to the Lord in their fear.  But, they do not yet understand that they will not die in this storm because it is not yet time for Jesus to die. He will not die on the water. He will die on the cross. 

Only after Jesus’ resurrection, and during the period of instruction before his ascension, will the disciples faith and knowledge grow.  They will eventually provide the teaching that enables to church to write in the fourth century that Jesus is the “only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man.”  

The church will eventually get there, but not right this instant.  The disciples have to witness the authority and power of Jesus first.  On the sea, when they wake him up, they behold His authority over even the sea and the weather.  In due time, their faith will grow so that they can accurately answer their own question about “what sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Jesus has authority to heal. He has authority to call people to Him for salvation.  He has authority over the elements of the world. And, he has authority over the spiritual entities, good and evil, that we cannot see, but which impact humanity.  In the third encounter, the disciples and the poor gentiles who are taking care of the pig herd, witness Jesus’ authority over demons.  He casts out the demons from the two possessed men and directs them to the pigs.

Satan and his demon cohorts are about destruction and death.  They tortured and destroyed the lives of the men they possessed.  They destroyed the livelihood of the pig owners and killed the pigs.  

Jesus has the authority to cast out demons.  He has the authority to bring peace to tortured souls and minds.  

Jesus called us to follow him.  We experienced his authority when we submitted ourselves to baptism as adults or when the adults in charge of us submitted us to baptism as infants.  The mark of the cross was laid upon us then. We were called into discipleship.  As we navigate our world, we return again and again to God’s Word, his House, and His Sacraments, so that we can experience anew our Lord’s authority upon us.  We rejoice that he has authority to even forgive our sins. 

In the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.