Jesus and Power

At community group tonight we were looking over the passage in Mark 1:

They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and {began} to teach. They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as {one} having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are–the Holy One of God!” And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”

And we got to talking about power and authority. One of the questions that we were asked is what would it look like if the Church acted with this authority. And another question that is always there week in and week out is how does this inform our faith and actions. We always leave that question to be pondered, without a definitive discussion on it.

Power was one of the big conclusions I talked about in my first paper on atonement. Jesus, as a figure in Mark’s story, is incredibly powerful. He is teaching with authority, and backing it up with his spiritual authority to heal and cast out demons. The surprising thing to me is not that Jesus is acting with authority or has authority – but rather how he uses that authority.

In reading through NT Wright’s historical work (starting the third volume now), along with others like Scot McKnight, Ben Witherington, and David Daube it seems plain that both John the Baptist and Jesus are specifically critiquing the way power is used. Jesus is not like King Herod trying to prove his greatness and worthiness while ruthlessly killing his brothers or the people. Or the Pharisees, laying down un-carriable burdens. Or the Shammites willing to die, to kill, and to sacrifice the lives of the Jewish people to stand up and fight against Rome. Or the priests, hopelessly intertwined in compromise with their pagan overlords. No, Jesus is doing something very different with the authority and power of God.

What would the Church look like with that authority?