Bowling?  We were both a confused by the question.  Up to this point, the nurse’s questions were routine, expected.  “Are you eating well? Sleeping well? Any pain today? Are you stressed or anxious? Do you exercise regularly?”  And then “What about bowling?”  My daughter was unsure how to respond.  I was waiting for context to give us a hand.  “Bowling? My daughter repeated.   And then the nurse articulated more carefully, “no b-u-l-l-y-i-n-g!”  Ah! Now the question made sense.

Apparently, bullying has become such an epidemic that it has found its way into the standard of care for the routine doctor’s visits of school-aged children.   But it is so new?  Most of us remember other children whose self-appointed task was to make our lives as miserable as possible for a variety of inexplicable reasons.  

For me it was a neighbor who delighted to demand I do the impossible.  Most memorable was when he told me that if I did not uproot a hundred-year-old oak tree, he would blow my house down with his cannon while my family slept.   It was a credible threat.  I had seen his toy cannon.  And I went to bed for weeks expecting to hear the fateful shot at any moment.

The bully exercises power over others without legitimate authority.  And sometimes employs legitimate authority for illegitimate tyranny.  The relationship between power and authority is sometimes hard to discern.  But it is instantly clarified when abused by either the brazen bully or the cowardly ruler who has authority but will not exercise power justly. 

The relationship between power and authority is at the root of sociology and informs our relationships and conflict management.  When relationships lack a proper balance between authority and power, we feel bullied or, perhaps, neglected.  Often counseling seeks to identify and restore a consensual balance.  While sin is a distortion of this balance.  We claim the authority that belongs to another.  Or exercise power outside the will of the One who entrusted it to us.

Jesus exercised power over the wind and the waves, over sickness, hunger, and thirst, over temptation, sin, death and the Devil and his demonic hosts.   In a moment of doubt, the imprisoned John the Baptist asked, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.”

While their hearts were unbelieving, the question of the religious leaders in Jesus’ day was legitimate. “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”  Jesus’ power was undeniable.  But did he have authority?  Throughout the Gospel of Mark, this question is like a beating drum.  Every time Jesus teaches, heals or casts out a demon, the crowds are astonished and exclaim, “what is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 

Who is Jesus?  What has he come to do?  And what is our response?  As Mark asks and answers these questions, they are all bound up in the larger question of Jesus’ authority.  Not only does he have power to save but he has authority.  The implications of this are tremendous.  If his word and works are authoritative, then we not only may believe them, but we must.  

Authority demands a response.  It is not enough simply to see and consider who Jesus is and what he came to do.  His authority urgently demands we respond.  What is your response to Jesus?  Have you accepted the authority of Jesus word and works?  The people of Capernaum heard and saw Jesus’ authority.  They declared it with their lips but refused to believe it with their hearts and lives.   Jesus would later say of Capernaum.

And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you. -Matthew 11:23-24

In Jesus we see the power and authority of God to save men from the strong-man, the prince of this world, the enemy of our souls, the accuser of the brothers, the Devil, Satan himself.  Hebrews reminds us.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. -Hebrews 2:14-15

Join us as we examine Mark 1:21-28 and consider the authority of Jesus to save and our response to it. We meet Sundays at 10:30 am on the square in Pottsville, Arkansas right next to historic Potts’ Inn for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube.