He taught them on the sabbath,
and they were astonished at his teaching
because he spoke with authority.
We know well what it means for someone to be all talk, to make empty promises, or only live up to his words inconsistently. Some people try to avert this problem by focusing on taking action. But those who can't state with precision in advance what they are trying to accomplish often cause chaos rather than producing stable results. This is why it is ultimately better to find people who can make promises and deliver. Yet, being human means being limited in terms of what we are able to promise. The more significant the issue the less control we have. So even if we want to promise a solution because of our good intentions humility ought to make us refrain from overstating of what we are capable. This is impractical in politics, because humility doesn't sell and it doesn't win votes. This tends to result in the public square being filled with hypocrisy. It begins, perhaps, well-intentioned enough. But when circumstances overwhelm intentions, good or otherwise, politicians tend to resort to blame in order to preserve their own public image.
Jesus was one who always delivered on his promises. His words were not tied to some imagined future merely by wishing or planning. His words actually brought about the future they described. For others, circumstances could be a storm resulting in an eventual shipwreck of whatever metaphorical voyage they intended. But for Jesus, his words were of a higher order and at a more irresistible level of being than any circumstance. This was something utterly unique to him, proper to the one who was himself the Word who made the universe, through whom and in whom all things exist (see First Corinthians 8:6). There was no possibility of hypocrisy, no chance that he could say one thing while secretly intending something else. He represented the Father's utterly consistent word to the world. And that word was love. Jesus never wavered from embodying that message in all that he said and did.
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!"
Jesus rebuked him and said, "Be quiet! Come out of him!"
A consequence of who Jesus was was that he didn't need to mince words with such ones as this demon, who were to him little more than nuisance. He didn't need to prove himself to those around him by talking a bigger game than the powers of darkness. Such a back-and-forth would not be helpful and so he shut it down before it could really begin. He didn't have to argue his way to successfully achieving his desire. Instead he spoke and it was simply accomplished.
"What is there about his word?
For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits,
and they come out."
It is clear that no one else has words like those of Jesus. Only he is able to speak to the deepest and most intractable problems of our world and actually solve them. His words still have power now just as they did when he calmed the storm and as they did when he silenced demons and cast them out. Do we remember to turn to him when we face storms in our lives, or when the powers of darkness seem to be ascendant? And if we remember, do we ask with faith that his word has the power that he proven it does in fact have? Our very sustained existence in being is proof of both his power and his love. That can give us confidence when we need to surrender the particular and often difficult circumstances of our lives into his hands. His authority is sufficient, and he always uses it for our good.
Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love (see Psalm 62:11-12).
Kings Return Featuring Isaiah The Alchemist - This Is The Day
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