Tom Brokaw was wandering through Bloomingdale's in New York one day. He noticed a man watching him closely. The man kept staring at him and finally, when the man approached him, Brokaw was sure he was about to reap some of the fruits of being a New York TV celebrity. The man pointed his finger and said, "Tom Brokaw, right?" "Right," said Brokaw. "You used to do the morning news on KMTV in Omaha, right?" "That's right," said Brokaw, getting set for some accolades. "I knew it the minute I spotted you," the man said. Then he paused and added, "Whatever happened to you?"

It strikes me that this is a question that people might well have asked Jesus in the first 30 years of his life. After the big flush of excitement in the manger, we don't hear much about him. There's a visit to the temple for his dedication when he's a week old, then a visit a couple of years later from the wise men. And then we see him arguing with teachers in the temple at the age of 12. And then, nothing. Well, there are some rumors and legends that got passed around, but nothing substantive.

Then all of a sudden, it's time for the grand epiphany. If you read your newsletter, you know that an epiphany is a revelation or a showing forth--an introduction, so to speak. After years of waiting, and preparation, God is pulling back the curtain and announcing, "And now, heeeere's Jesus!"

This epiphany begins with Jesus' baptism. Listen to the story as Mark tells it and then moves quickly on as Jesus begins his ministry.

Mark 1:9-28

When Jesus began his public life and ministry, what people immediately began to notice about him was that he spoke as one who had authority.

The entire passage leads us to this point--Mark in his rapid-fire style quickly marches from one event to the next, but all of them pointing to this idea of Jesus having authority. When John baptizes Jesus, God speaks: This is my son. In other words, his authority comes from God. Then he goes into the desert to be tempted, and he comes out unscathed. Then he calls the first disciples, and they drop what they are doing and follow. He and his disciples go to the synagogue and he begins to teach with authority. He casts out a demon. He has authority even over the evil spirits. And those who see it are astounded. He's an instant celebrity.

What does it mean to have authority? For those of us who lived through the decade of the 1960's, there is a certain ambivalence about the whole idea of authority. We often rankle under authority. We find it difficult to trust the authorities, because they may seem arbitrary or unfair. People in positions of authority don’t always behave responsibly.

But there are some very positive aspects of authority, aren't there? And I believe this is what Mark is pointing to when he says that Jesus spoke with authority.

Authority can mean that you have a lot of information about some subject. Someone can be an authority on snapping turtles or astronomy or computers. An authority is someone that you would trust to have accurate and helpful information. So, to say Jesus has authority means that Jesus knows what he is talking about. You can trust him to give you information that is true and that will help you.

Another meaning of authority has to do with the power and the right to act in certain circumstances. For instance, a police officer stopped a woman for speeding and asked to see her license. She replied in a huff, "I wish you guys could get your act together. Just yesterday you took my license away, and now today you expect me to show it to you." (Parables, 19.10.1) A police officer has the authority to give someone a traffic ticket. To say that Jesus has authority means that he has the power and the right to do certain things: (what are some of them?) he has the power to forgive sin, to heal disease, to calm the sea. The power to call disciples and lead them. At one point in the New Testament, he is quoted as saying that he has the authority to lay down his life, and the authority to take it up again.

Jesus knows what he is talking about, and he has the power to back up what he says.

Authority also has to do with influence. Have you noticed that when some people speak the room gets real quiet? When Alan Greenspan speaks, you can just about count on the stock market going up or down. Why? Because he has authority in certain financial arenas. He can make things happen. If Jesus has authority, he has the ability to influence people--to effect change in their life.

Authority has a realm or a sphere. I mentioned a police officer's authority to give you a speeding ticket. But, the same police officer who has the authority to give you a speeding ticket does not have the authority to step into an operating room and take out your appendix. In contrast to that, Jesus' sphere of authority is without limit. As Paul says in Philippians, his name is above every name. So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (2:9-11). People often try compartmentalize various aspects of their life into religious and secular boxes with the idea that God has the right to influence us in the areas that we call religious, but in other areas God better let us alone. But Jesus' sphere of authority extends into all areas of life.

The root of the word authority is "author." If you’re an author, you have certain rights over what he or she has written. Does not the author of life have authority even over life itself?

Jesus' authority is unlike the authority of anyone you have ever known. Mark says that Jesus spoke as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. The scribes were sort of like paralegals, who worked alongside the Pharisees in interpreting the religious laws of the day. They could do research and study cases, but they couldn't pass judgment. They could give opinions but they always had to quote someone else to give them backup to what they were saying. Getting information from one of the scribes was kind of like what happened to a helicopter pilot who was flying over Seattle, when an electrical malfunction disabled the navigation and communications equipment. Because it was cloudy and hazy, the pilot couldn't tell where he was. He then saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign, and held it in the helicopter's window. The sign said "Where am I?" People in the building quickly responded by drawing up their own large sign and holding it up in a window. The sign said, "You are in a helicopter." The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, charted his course to SEATAC airport, and landed safely. After they got safely on the ground the copilot asked how in the world that sign had helped the pilot determine their position. The pilot said, "I knew that they had to be in the Microsoft building because they gave me a technically correct, but completely useless, answer." (parables, 19.11.1)

The scribes tended toward those legally correct but completely useless answers.

But when Jesus spoke, he didn't need to quote anyone else. He had authority that was his own.

The challenge I want to give you today is: "Have you given Jesus authority in your life?" Is he the one you trust to give you the right answers? Do you consult with him about the decisions you make? Have you allowed him the power to make changes in your life? To forgive, to heal, to empower. Have you given him the leadership position in your life—the position of influence? Does his sphere of authority encompass your whole life, and not just parts of it?

In my experience it can be hard work giving Jesus that authority, because it's not what we're used to. We have been programmed, so to speak, to give other voices a whole lot of authority in our life.

For instance, consider the authority that TV can have in our life. It's been estimated that in the first twenty years of an American’s life, he or she will see something approaching one million television commercials at the rate of about a thousand a week. This makes the TV commercial the most voluminous information source in the education of a child (or for that matter, an adult). Neill Postman commented that "commercials are about products only in the sense that the story of Jonah is about the anatomy of whales. A commercial teaches . . .three interesting things: 1. all problems are resolvable, 2. all problems are resolvable quickly, 3. all problems are resolvable quickly through the agency of some technology. It may be a drug. It may be a detergent. It may be an airplane or computer or car. The basic message is that no matter what our problem: boredom, lack of confidence, money problems, marriage woes; the problem will be solved if we throw some kind of product at it. (Ill. unlmtd) We know it’s not true, but it sounds so enticing. Commercials have a powerful voice.

But they are just one influential voice in our life, there are many others: the voice of our family, our friends, peer pressure, our cultural norms.

What is the voice of authority in your life? The voice you listen to and follow?

In the final analysis, it all boils down to trust. As we observed in the First Church of Fortune, it can be a whole lot easier to trust in fate or fortune or in mouthwash than to trust in our loving God.

Our needs are great. We need someone who will be both the wind in our sails and the rudder stabilizing and directing our life. Someone who will be that authority in our lives but not take advantage of us. Someone who will genuinely have our best interests at heart.

I invite you to try Jesus. He has the authority, and his love for you is complete.