Authority in Practice (2026)
- God gave Adam and Eve supreme authority to rule over the earth and everything in it.
- And that authority was to pass down from generation to generation.
- But then Adam lost that authority through disobedience and sin.
- Jesus, the second Adam, won that authority back through His obedience on the cross.
- For us today walking in authority is always tied to obedience.
Matt 28: 18-19 Jesus clearly states all authority has been given to Him. Not just in heaven but also on earth.
- Walking in authority is tied to making disciples.
Matt 10:1 Here is the first time in the book of Matt that Jesus gives His disciples authority.
- This is how Jesus did discipleship, He gave them authority and then sent them out to use it.
Luke 9:1 This again, is as Jesus sends out His disciples. This is how he Discipled.
- Here Jesus gives them authority to drive out ALL demons.
- And to cure diseases. Then he adds proclaiming of preaching the Kingdom.
Mark 6:7 Here Mark only mentions impure spirits or demons.
- In all three synoptic Gospels Matt, Mark, and Luke one of the first things Jesus does is to tell His Disciples that they have authority over demons. Why?
Luke 9:6 Healing and the proclamation of the Gospel were to go hand in hand.
Matt 10:7 Notice Jesus did not tell them to pray for the sick. He told them to heal the sick.
- In the Greek it is simply the word to heal, cleanse and raise.
- It’s also an imperative active verb. Which means Jesus is commanding us to take this action of healing.
- Two key components here:
- First, It says, “as you go.”
- This implies movement. Not sitting around.
- It is of course a verb. But it is in the Greek Middle voice.
- As we go partnering with God. “I can only do what I see the father doing.” John 5:19
- “As we go in partnership with God…”
- We can simply heal the sick because we are going in partnership with God.
- Second, it says the message is “The Kingdom of heaven has come near.”
- This is not a throw away statement or a filler.
- Jesus really means for us to do that.
- As we declare, “The kingdom of heaven has come near” it actually comes.
- First, It says, “as you go.”
Luke 10:8 Again, Jesus did not say to pray for the sick. He said to heal the sick.
- Notice here again it says, “tell them the Kingdom of God has come.”
- Instead of the command “to go,” it says, “as you enter a town.”
- The going in implied in order to enter a town.
Mark 1:23 Jesus just spoke a few words. “Be Quite” and “Come out of Him.”
- This shows authority. Jesus gave all his disciples this same kind of authority.
Mark 4:39 Again, just a few words. Authority in practice.
Mark 5:11 The demons deliver themselves.
- These stories seem extreme to us, but they are supposed to be normal in the Christian life.
Mark 1:31 Here Jesus doesn’t even say anything.
Mark 1: 40 Here Jesus touches the man. Remember how contagious leprosy was.
- And then simply said “be clean” a two-word command.
Mark 2:9 Notice Jesus mentions His authority, but only in relation to forgiving sins.
- Then Jesus does not even address the sickness or the man’s paralysis.
- Jesus simply tells the man to get up and go home.
Mark 3:1, 5 Again, Jesus does not address the sickness or the paralysis.
- He simply told the man to stretch out His hand.
- Authority in practice and no fear.
Mark 7:34 Jesus just says “Be opened”
Putting it all together:
- We tend to not pray this was because we don’t understand authority.
- But Jesus gave us authority over sickness and evil spirits.