1 Samuel 1:9-20
1 Samuel 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd
Mark 1:21-28
The people were astonished by His teaching. . . . (Mark 1:22)
Indeed, they were then and they remain so today. Those who find it hard to believe both reject it and attempt to show how it is foolishness, or they attribute to Jesus the status of a wise, kind sage. They acknowledge the wisdom of the parts of His teaching that they like. They ignore what they don't care for.
But they all acknowledge His authority. They acknowledge it by arguing and trying to disprove it or by claiming Him as a wise philosopher. Either way, they must face His teaching and react to it. So forceful is the authority of the teaching and the person of Jesus that believers and unbelievers alike must address it and react to it. But believers do not have anything to explain away. We are privileged to be able to sing His praises and acknowledge Him for what He is--God, and son of God.
Father Ed Bakker
Anglican Catholic Church / Original Province
Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne
Bendigo
Australia
