Authority matters. We should be checking it routinely. But what about authority on matters of faith and religion? What about Jesus' authority? First martyr Stephen upsets the authorities while Jesus tries to convince his own disciples of his authority.
Our media world brings us information, lots of it and very fast. It comes from any and all kinds of sources. We look to see if it is credible, if it is authoritative, if it can be believed. Each person likely has their own methodology. But it gets tricky when a respected someone-we-know brings us something startling.
How about telling 1st century religious authorities in Jerusalem that they are corrupt, no-good weenies who have become frauds and fail to serve the God of their faith. That's what Stephen did and it gained him a summary execution by stoning. He definitely ticked them off, but there was one special phrase that he uses which underscores how he understood Jesus' authority as opposed to the authority of the Temple leadership in the Sanhedrin.
We can imagine that convincing people of Jesus' authority in matters of faith and spirituality was pretty challenging. However, we should also realize that Jesus had a difficult time convincing his own dimwit disciples of his sacred authority.
The exchange that begins Jesus final discourse comes in the beginning of John 14. Jesus has to pick his face off the floor a few times, but he ends up revealing some powerful insights to his disciples, then and now.
Get the full scoop in the service video below.
Our media world brings us information, lots of it and very fast. It comes from any and all kinds of sources. We look to see if it is credible, if it is authoritative, if it can be believed. Each person likely has their own methodology. But it gets tricky when a respected someone-we-know brings us something startling.
How about telling 1st century religious authorities in Jerusalem that they are corrupt, no-good weenies who have become frauds and fail to serve the God of their faith. That's what Stephen did and it gained him a summary execution by stoning. He definitely ticked them off, but there was one special phrase that he uses which underscores how he understood Jesus' authority as opposed to the authority of the Temple leadership in the Sanhedrin.
We can imagine that convincing people of Jesus' authority in matters of faith and spirituality was pretty challenging. However, we should also realize that Jesus had a difficult time convincing his own dimwit disciples of his sacred authority.
The exchange that begins Jesus final discourse comes in the beginning of John 14. Jesus has to pick his face off the floor a few times, but he ends up revealing some powerful insights to his disciples, then and now.
Get the full scoop in the service video below.
| 05-10-20-ff-answers.pdf |
| 05-10-20-the_authority_challenge.pdf |