power and authority

Isaiah 40:25-31
Ephesians 1:15-23
Mark 1:14-28

Once again I'm intrigued by Mark's abundant use of "immediately" in presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ (1:1) and the gospel of God (1:14). But we'll explore that another day...

Another present theme for me is that of power and authority, and we see this theme in all the readings for today. Isaiah prophesies, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength... they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength..."

Paul concludes his prayer for the Ephesians with a petition that they know "the greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the greatness of his might which he accomplished in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come; and he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all."

And in the gospel we hear of people being amazed and astonished at Jesus' authority, in his teaching, and in commanding unclean spirits who obey him.

The power of God, given (Isaiah says) to the weak and faint who wait on the Lord, and displayed in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, seated far above all rule, authority, power and dominion, is working in, albeit, in a hidden kind of way in Jesus of Nazareth. Our Tuesday night group has been reading portions of Newbigin's "The Gospel in a Pluralist Society" in which he has a beautiful section on this hidden kingdom in his chapter "Christ, the Clue to History."

For now, his reign continues to be hidden, that faith may continue to be operative - it is still possible to "repent and believe in the gospel"; it is still possible to hear his call and leave one's (pre)occupation and follow him wholehearted, as an act of the will, an act of obedience, and act of trust and faith. One day his reign in power will be manifest to all, then every knee will bow and every tongue confess out of the sheer overwhelming display of power - then faith will not be operative or an option...

God give us grace today to live as those who, though weak and faint, wait upon the Lord; as those who commune with him who does reign over all, and continues to have all authority in heaven and earth; and yet who live out our lives even as he did - in humility, in absolute trust in the Father, engaging the evil that destroys the creatures of God with the power of God, and yet not immune to suffering and even death in that engagement. This is at least part of what it means to follow him who calls us to leave everything and trust in him alone.