Luke 20:1-2
"One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached Him and demanded, 'Tell us—by what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?'"
This is a fair question—if asked sincerely. Where did Jesus get the authority to do what He did? To heal the sick and deliver those oppressed by the devil. To cast out evil spirits that tormented and possessed people. To command storms and bring peace to raging seas. To multiply five loaves and feed more than five thousand.
Where did such power and authority come from? The simple answer is: God gave it to Him.
But do we truly grasp the weight and significance of that answer? This authority wasn't cheap. It wasn't random. It carried a cost—a cost Jesus bore in full. And here's the greater mystery: before ascending to heaven, Jesus declared that this same authority would be given to us. The authority to heal the sick, to cast out demons, to raise the dead, and to preach the Kingdom of God with power.
If Jesus said it, then we must believe that God has entrusted us with the same authority He gave to His Son. But where is it today? Where is that authority being demonstrated? If we are truly hungry and curious, we must go deeper than just repeating, "God gave it to us." We must pursue the reality of it and experience for a desperate world.
The question still stands—not just for Jesus, but for us now: By what authority do you do these things?
And the world is waiting to see our answer—not just in words, but in power and demonstration.
To be continued…