There resides in what is called an “ authority “ a power which we shall do well to contemplate. By it I mean that position as an adviser which is gained only by diligent study and habitual practical research; or else by the inherent endowment or special gifts of a superior nature. The medicine man, the legal man, gain authority by study. The importance of finding in Jesus the authority in the affairs of the soul, and also of the mind when brought up against eternal questions. There is a class of mind which takes delight to fathom the unfathomable. Faith is as much an integral part as our ignorance, in our imperfect condition. It is the aim of faith to turn ignorance into bliss in the perplexities of life, with respect to most of which it were folly to be wise. What a calamity if in this half-fledged condition we knew all about ourselves and God. We should shake our dispositions with thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls. Christ knows. He is the authority for the soul. (U. P. Philpot, M. A.)
Authority His result of knowledge
We have lately learned among the laws of solar light which have been revealed to us-for science also has its late and lagging revelations-the astonishing fact, that beyond the atmosphere of our world, as of all other worlds, all is blackness and darkness, even till the eye again reaches the airy envelopes of other worlds, and catches the bright particular stars which are the sources, direct or mediate, of the rays that play upon its tiny pupil. And so we find it to be round all the circle of science, round every world of knowledge there is also a darkness which no knowledge can penetrate. We live and move and have our being upon the edge of a ring of precipitous and abysmal darkness. But, as we have seen to be the case in the fiery- citadels of heaven, so we Christians believe it to be in the moral world; that, dark as its surroundings are -in respect of the origin and workings of evil, and all the problems that hang about this inquiry, there abides above and beyond all a Paternal source of Light. “God is a central and Personal Sun, Who gives light to all, and borrows none from any, and in Whom,” as Jesus shows Him to us, “is no darkness at all.” In that light Jesus dwells, “having no part dark,” and from that light He speaks to us, and teaches with an authority which is unique. (U. P. Philpot, M. A.)
Divine audacity
Audacity, in reverent sense, better expresses the word than authority. This He did-
1. In declaring His pre-existence.
2. In declaring His identity with the Godhead.
3. In assuming Divine prerogatives.
4. In arrogating exclusive rights, and exhausting in Himself the similitude of things.
Lessons:
1. A proof that Christ was what He professed to be.
2. This was the only consistent course.
3. An audacious Christ should have an audacious Church. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Authority of our Saviour as a teacher
The nature of this authority.
1. It was the authority of truth. There was no artifice or affectation in His manner; no excess; solemnity. Earnestness of conviction apparent.
2. It was derived from the intrinsic truth of the doctrines which Jesus communicated, as from the sincerity with which they were taught.
3. It arose from the purity of His character. It was the authority of a good life.
4. It was the authority of heaven. The Divine assistance was afforded to Jesus; God confirmed what He said, and miracles were wrought. We are too familiar with Christ’s doctrine to be astonished at it. (F. W. P. Greenwood, D. D.)
Truth, not beauty, gives authority to doctrine
The question is not whether a doctrine is beautiful, but whether it is true. When we want to go to a place, we don’t ask whether the road leads through a pretty country, but whether it is the right road, the road pointed out by authority, the turnpike-road. (Hare.)
Christ an unconventional but model preacher
I. He was A model as to the matter of his preaching, which was unconventional. Christ taught Himself.
1. He had nothing higher to represent than Himself.
2. He had nothing that the world required more than Himself.
II. HE was A model as to the manner of his teaching, which was unconventional.
