Mark 1:21-28

Jesus’ kind of teaching was a regular source of amazement to others! If we go through the pages of the Bible we would be struck by how many times it records people’s amazement at Jesus.

They were amazed at his authority: how he dealt with the Jewish tradition yet revived the true Faith; how he handled hypocrisy and repudiated bad politics; how he touched the untouchables but rejected rulers who treated the poor with contempt; how he challenged his relatives but welcomed the repentant; how he positioned the children first and spoke toughly to those who misled or abused them. Yes, they were amazed at His authority: how He commanded the elements of nature and they obeyed Him; how he freely forgave sins; how he drove out a demon with a word; how he placed the Love of God as the greatest commandment and Love of Neighbor as almost equal to it; how He healed the sick and raised the dead.

But they were most amazed at His teaching because as Mark 1:22 records, “He taught them as one who had authority, not as a teacher of the law”.

So what’s new about Jesus is not just the incredible way He taught, but who He is - that is the authority. His very life was a marvel to the first-century audience that transformed the lives of the unlearned fishermen, the prostitutes, the rich and poor alike, children and adults into men and women who touched their generation with the same Good News so effectively that, they reproduced their commitment to Christ in others. This new kind of approach to life reached beyond the walls of Jerusalem, beyond the extremities of the Roman Empire to the ends of the earth.

Somehow in God’s own mysterious ways, every follower of Christ today has been inspired by the same new teaching some two thousand years ago. Christians who come from many cultures and languages are all witnesses to Jesus’ new kind of teaching. Christianity is ranked the largest religion in the world today. According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, in 2010 there were 2.18 billion Christians around the world, nearly a third of the global population.
    
This authority to carry on Jesus’ new kind of teaching, the authority of internal grace - has been passed on to all of his followers.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

 If you and I are committed to Christ in his kind of teaching and authority, we too will transform the many people who have not had the opportunity to encounter Christ. Jesus’ new kind of teaching must be reproduced over and over again in our lives. This is much more than simply passing on information, it is about the total transformation and conversion of one’s life. This is Christian education at its best!