There
is just something attractive and reassuring when someone speaks with authority.
We
know this on a secular level: when the “experts” in a given area speak, we tend
to sit up and listen. But even these experts leave us wanting a bit – we say to
ourselves: “This sounds right, but it is only as up-to-date as today’s date: it
may, theoretically, change by tomorrow.”
However, with Jesus, it was
different: when people listened to him they got the sense that what he was
saying would not change tomorrow, or ever; and what he is saying was true
yesterday as well: he spoke the “real deal.” And so they were astonished at his teaching: it was not
only intellectually satisfying, but it also moved hearts to a whole change of
course of action. It was pretty evident that this man was from God; even the unclean spirits knew and proclaimed
this.
One truth that Jesus spoke
over and over again is that he will come
again as judge of men’s actions, and that we had better be prepared for such a
reckoning. For those in line with the truths that he taught and modeled
things would go easy; for those who chose rather their own truths and
man-made-idols things would not go so well. The time for change, then, is now!
We each have promises and vows to keep, loved ones to care for, rules to follow
and preaching that must be put into practice – today – so that we will be ready
when the time of rendering account
comes.
The
Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s
refuge; of whom should I be afraid?
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