The Ultimate Authority

Matthew chapter 28, verse 18. That's in the New

Matthew 28:18

Testament. Right at the beginning of the New

Testament, you'll find Matthew. That's going

to be in about the back third of your Bible.

Or if you're on your smartphone or tablet, scroll

down toward the bottom of the list. Matthew chapter

Matthew 28:18

28, verse 18. Everybody in here should be happy

today. The half of you that like the heater to

be on was happy earlier, and now the half of

you that like the air to be on are happy now.

So we made everybody happy today. So those of

you who don't like the air to be on are hoping

I'll preach quick today. Matthew chapter 28,

Matthew 28:18

verse 18. We'll read the verse, then we'll talk

for a few minutes. Matthew chapter 28, verse

Matthew 28:18

18. Then Jesus came near and said to them, All

authority has been given to me in heaven and

on earth. Let's pray. God, we come to you and

we thank you for the privilege and the freedom

to be into your house, dear Lord. We thank you

for the love that you have for us. We thank you

for the love that is in this place. And I pray,

dear Lord, that your Holy Spirit would be among

us today, that whatever stresses and sorrows

and pains and bitterness and hardships that we

may have come into here with today, dear Lord,

that your Holy Spirit would give us peace, would

give us strength, God, that we would leave here

trusting in Jesus Christ and his authority. I

pray, dear Lord, that you would hide me behind

the cross, that I would preach and teach in a

way that brings glory and honor to you. And I

ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Jesus

had lived his life. He had served God the Father

to the very end. He was crucified and he was

resurrected and spent some time with his disciples

before he would ascend back to heaven. And here

in Matthew chapter 28, in verse 18, we see these

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

last words of Jesus before he ascends to go be

seated at the right hand of God the Father. And

he says to his disciples, All authority has been

given to me in heaven and on earth. Now, how

much authority did Jesus have? Before this point,

if all authority is given to him now, did Jesus

not have authority before this point in his ministry?

Well, I believe that Jesus did have authority.

I believe that Jesus had full authority throughout

his whole ministry. But Jesus used his authority

in a much different way than most humans would

use their authority. Now, Jesus is fully God.

But he's also fully human. Now we see authority

all over our world today. There are people in

authority all around us. And we see a common

theme often with people who have some authority

and who have some power. It's more times than

not when someone receives authority, that power,

that authority, it almost instantly goes to their

head. They almost instantly use it for themselves.

They use it very selfishly. They use it to promote

themselves. There's all of a sudden an air of

pride and arrogance that one day you worked in

the mailroom, and the next day you've made it

up to being a businessman two floors up, and

now all of a sudden you are so much better than

those measly mailmen that you were two weeks

ago because you have some authority. And you

are better than them and you speak down to them.

And oftentimes that is the trap that humans fall

into. It's a trap that we must be careful because

perhaps some of us in this room have authority

today. Perhaps some of you are owner of a business

or manager of a group of people, teachers in

a classroom, pastors of a church. These are positions

that come with... Some level of authority. Too

many times we see it in our government, in our

businesses, in our churches, that people get

a taste of authority. They don't use their authority

for good. They use it for evil. They use it to

build themselves up. They use it for their own

greed. And that's what separates Jesus from all

the other authority figures that there are in

this world. Now Jesus is eternal. He has always

been. And He will always be. And He is the greatest

authority. He had all authority for all of eternity.

But Jesus did something that is nothing short

of a miracle. Jesus left his standing in the

presence of God the Father. And Jesus chose to

come to this wretched and rotten world. Jesus

had all authority. And what Jesus chose to do

with his authority was to empty himself of so

many of the things that come with that authority.

Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 through 8 says,

Philippians 2:5–8

Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,

who existing in the form of God did not consider

equality with God as something to be used for

his own advantage. Instead, he emptied himself

by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the

likeness of men. And when he had come as a man

in his external form, he humbled himself. by

becoming obedient to the point of death, even

to death on a cross. The Son of God, who had

all power and all authority, he humbled himself

and he chose to come to this horrible world that

we live in and to be a servant to all. For those

of you who may be in a position of authority,

here's our example. Here's our example of what

it means to lead. That Jesus says, I have all

authority in the world. I have all authority

in the world to look at humanity and look at

their sinfulness and look at their disobedience

to God and the commands of God and I would be

a right and righteous judge to bring judgment.

on sinful humanity. And Jesus would have been

right to do so. In all of his authority, he could

have chosen to have done that. But he didn't

choose to do that. He said, I will empty myself

of my authority. And I won't use my power for

my good. I won't use my power to make my life

better in any way. Instead, I will empty myself

of my power and my authority so that I can go

and be a slave to the people of God. To go and

to serve the people of God. To go and to serve

God the Father. And what a beautiful Savior we

have. Jesus Christ knows all of the evil and

the darkness and the bitterness. And all of the

junk that we do and that we say, and then instead

of bringing judgment on us, he showered us with

grace. And so Jesus comes onto the scene unlike

any other person with authority. And it's obvious

that his authority is so much different than

that of those who are here before him. So different

that people instantly acknowledge when he begins

to preach and he begins to teach that the listeners

instantly know that he is not preaching and teaching

like those who have come before him. And his

audience says he is preaching like one who has

authority. But his authority was being shown

and exhibited in ways that were unlike any other.

For those who had come before him, many of them

had used their power and lorded it over the people.

There were many bad kings and many bad priests

and many bad leaders in the church that had used

their positions of authority to better themselves,

to put the spotlight on themselves. Jesus Christ

didn't do any of those things. He didn't come

as an oppressive ruler. He didn't come and say,

I am the Son of God. Therefore, bow before me.

Bring all your riches to me. Do everything I

command you to do or else. That was not the heart

with which Jesus came. Jesus came with a heart

of service. So he emptied himself. And he came

and in a, Totally different style and type of

authority that had ever been seen. Jesus begins

to love people. He begins to serve God by loving

people. Now this has always been what God desires.

It's pretty clear. You kind of cipher through

all the writings of the Old Testament and it's

a lot of words there and a lot of laws there

and a lot of commands there. Praise the Lord,

Jesus kind of clears all that up for us because

he says what's really important is the law of

love, to love God with everything that's within

you and to love your neighbor as yourself. That's

really God's command and God's desire throughout

the whole Testament. He used a lot of laws to

say that, but that's really what God wanted.

He wanted somebody that would love him. He wanted

people to love him. He wanted people to love

one another. And almost every other person, well,

every person failed at that. Some did better

than others, but that's why we needed Jesus,

because he came onto the scene, and he emptied

himself of all authority, and he came as an obedient

son, as a servant to God, to love all people.

And Jesus begins his ministry. He begins preaching

and teaching of the kingdom of God. And those

who would listen, they would hear. And they would

be intrigued. And they might not understand what

he said, but they knew there was something about

him. Not just in how he taught, but in how he

lived. That he didn't come to be served, but

to serve. And to give his life as a ransom for

many, the scripture says. And so Jesus began

to walk miles and miles, thousands of miles,

I suspect, throughout his ministry. Everywhere,

town to town, everywhere he could get to. He

would go and he would preach and he would teach

and he would show love and not ask for things

in return. He was a humble Savior. He would associate

with the ones that no one else would. certainly

not the other religious men of authority. He

would dine with the sinners. He would associate

with the prostitutes and the tax collectors.

He would heal the sick. He would cause the lame

to walk and cause the blind to see and the deaf

to hear. And he would bring healing to those

who would come to him and seek it. And so often

times that healing is followed up by a common

theme. That their faith had made them well. That

because they had trusted in Jesus, it is their

faith that had healed them. Because they acknowledged

that there was some authority in Jesus Christ

that was so much greater than anything that had

come before. Because they had the wherewithal

and the faith to come and to seek Him, there

was healing in their body. But guess what? The

other people in authority didn't care for that.

And Jesus didn't do anything wrong. He loved

people. That's not a sin. He loved people. He

was compassionate toward people. He was merciful

and He was gracious. And for that, those who

in authority rejected Him. Not only did they

reject him, they desired to kill him, and ultimately

they did. And Jesus was crucified, and he was

buried, and he was placed in a tomb, and God

raised him from the dead. And he tells his disciples,

all authority has been given to me. When Jesus

came and He was on this earth, He emptied Himself

of that authority to bring grace. But one day

we will all stand before Jesus again. A Jesus

who has all authority. And there is grace available

to us today. But judgment may await us in the

future if we don't come to Jesus Christ and seek

Him in faith. If we don't come and seek His grace

and experience His mercy, we will experience

the authority of Jesus Christ in its fullness.

So what of us today? Have you experienced the

grace of Jesus Christ today? Jesus uses these

words that all authority had been given to Him.

Back in Luke chapter 19, you can go back and

Luke 19 · chapter mention

read that this week. In Luke chapter 19, Jesus

Luke 19 · chapter mention

tells a parable. A very similar parable is found

in Matthew chapter 25. Jesus tells a parable

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

of a noble man. And in that parable, it says

of the noble man that this noble man went off

to a faraway land to be given authority. And

when this nobleman left, he gathered up his slaves

and he gave... Some of them, ten of them, ten

minas apiece. That's money. He gave them a little

money apiece. And there were some, it said, there

were some in the community that rejected him.

They were appalled that this nobleman was going

off to seek authority. And once this nobleman

had obtained the authority that he had gone away

to receive, he came back. He came back and he

went to his slaves to see what they had done

with what he had left them with. And the first

slave had done well. The first slave had took

the money that he had gotten and he had doubled

that money. The next slave that came, he had

done well too with what the master had left for

him. And then the third slave come. And he had

done absolutely nothing with what the master

had left him. He hadn't lost it, but he hadn't

used it for anything. One had made some effort

and done really well with what he was given.

Even the other, not as well as the first, but

he had made some effort and done something with

what the master had given him. But there was

one servant who had done nothing with what the

master had left for him. And the master was not

pleased with this servant. The master said, at

the very least, you could have put it in the

bank. You got a little interest off of it. You

could have got something. But instead, what I

left you with, you gave me nothing. I've returned.

I've returned with all authority, and you have

done nothing for me. Now, we don't see it in

the Luke chapter 19 passage, but in Matthew 22,

Luke 19 · chapter mention

very similar passage. It says to take this one,

this good for nothing servant, and cast him into

the outer darkness where there will be weeping

and gnashing of teeth. Now this parable, no doubt,

was about Jesus Christ. One who would one day

be given all authority. The one who had given

authority to his servants. The one who had given

responsibility to his servants were expected

to do something with what they had been given

so that when the one with all authority returned,

he could rejoice with them. So that he could

say to them, well done, my good and faithful

servant. And to some of them, he was able to

say those words. But to some, he was not. And

here Jesus uses the same language in Matthew

28. He was the one who went away to a faraway

land, so to speak. He was the one who was placed

in a tomb. He was the one who gave his life.

He was the one that God raised from the dead.

And it is in Jesus Christ that all authority

rests today. So Jesus tells his disciples before

he ascends to heaven, all authority in heaven

and on earth has been given to me. And the next

words he utters are, therefore, go. Therefore,

go. The one who has all authority has called

us in the same way as he has called his apostles.

He has called us to do the work. He has equipped

us to do the work. He has blessed us to do the

work. And one day we're going to stand before

the one who has all authority. And what will

he say to you and I? Will he be able to say to

us, well done my good and faithful servant? Or

will he say to us, Away with this one. May be

cast into the outer darkness where there will

be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus has the

authority to save your soul. Jesus has the authority

to forgive your sins today. Will you submit to

that authority? There are lots of people that

are authorities in this world. There are a lot

of people who hold a little bit of authority.

And sometimes it goes to their head. The ultimate

authority, the ultimate example is Jesus Christ

and the love that he has shown for us. Will you

accept his authority today? Will you submit?

To him today. Is he the authority in your life

today? Is he the one you submit to? Is he your

master? The one we submit to. The one who is

our master. That's the authority in our life.

Who is that for you? Or what is that for you?

What or who is dictating your life today? Is

it Jesus Christ? If it's not, you're submitting

to the wrong authority. Let us pray. God, we

come to you today. We thank you for your good

word. We thank you for Jesus Christ for being

a better authority to us, God. We thank you for

your grace and for your mercy. We thank you that

Jesus came and he came with that grace and mercy

and love and gentleness and compassion. And I

pray, dear Lord, that if there are some in this

room today that do not know Jesus Christ, that

through your words, through the truth of the

gospel of Jesus Christ, that today that they

would humble themselves before him. That today

maybe there are some in this room or some listening

online that know that their life is not in a

good place and they are searching and they are

seeking and they are struggling. I pray, God,

today that they would know that Jesus Christ

is their only hope, their only strength. And

I pray that through faith they would humbly submit

themselves and seek Him today. That they would

seek Him for forgiveness of their sins, God.

That they would seek Him for strength. God, that

they would experience and feel the compassion

of Jesus Christ today. God, maybe... Maybe today

the authority that we are submitting to in our

life is, it's just not you if we're honest, God.

Maybe there are other things that have become

our master, other things that have become our

motivation, dear Lord. But God, I pray today

that we would just take a moment and repent to

humble ourselves before the authority of Jesus

Christ. God, we thank you for love and for mercy

and grace today, and I pray that each one here

would experience that love through Jesus Christ.

And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.