The
Authority Given Unto Christ
by
R.P. Woitowitz Sr.
18
And Jesus came, and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto
me, in heaven, and in earth.
The
Gospel According to Matthew 28:18
2
As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give
eternal life to all them that thou hast given him.
The
Gospel According to John 17:2
Brethren:
It
must be prefaced that this sermon has been a long time coming within
the mind of this author. It was long mull over and rewritten,
several times, until you have it as it is now to read.
In
the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, we find the scribes and
pharisees inquiring by “whose authority” does Christ teach and
speak. In fact, the word authority appears in the New Testament,
(depending on which translation one uses), some 50 times. Likewise
the word power also appears a great deal, as well.
Now
friends, let us look at both words.
In
Strong’s Concordance, we find that both words have almost the same
meaning. That word is exousia (pronounced ex-oo-see'-ah) - delegated
influence, authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.
Right below it is the word exousiazo (pronounced-oo-see-ad'-zo),
whose root is from the above word - to control:--exercise authority
upon, bring under the or have [the] power of. So as far as the Greek
translation goes both words are interchangeable.
Moving
forward we find in Webster’s Dictionary Ed. 1913 both words defined
as such:
Authority
- Legal or rightful power; a right to command or to act; power
exercised by a person in virtue of his office or trust; dominion;
jurisdiction; authorization
Power
- The exercise of a faculty; the employment of strength; the exercise
of any kind of control; influence; dominion; sway; command;
government.
Note
again above, that both words seem to, at the very least compliment
each other.
So,
where does Christ’s authority, and power emulate? Let us look
again, above to the quoted scriptures. In the former one, that being
Matthew’s Gospel we read that all power is given unto to Him from
heaven. This is to say from God the Father. In the latter of John’s
Gospel, we likewise read that He has received power over all flesh to
give eternal life, again from God the Father.
It
always boggles the mind of this author as to how those scribes and
Pharisees just could not make the connection. It is true, many of
them thought Him to be a madman at best or a blasphemer of the worst
sort, for He was comparing Himself to the Almighty God of Israel.
Still, in the Gospels, it is written that He spoke as one with much
authority. His words were not only words of life, but words of power.
In
the Interlinear Greek Translation we read the following:
“and
toward coming (approaching), The Jesus talks to them saying ‘was
given to me every (all) authority in heaven and on land’”
Powerful
words indeed. All authority, all power, given unto to Him. Not a
little, not some, but all authority were given unto Him by the
Father, our Creator.
Friends,
if there is any doubt as to why Jesus is our Lord and our Master,
look to the Gospels for yourselves and read, study, as to where His
powerful word emanates.
Below
are two links wherein one might find the times these words were used
