[Listen to an audio version here]
Because of this past year, many people have gotten out of the discipline of gathering. Before the pandemic, we may have gathered on Sunday and in a small group, but now we have gotten out of the habit. Why is this? Because we are tired, overwhelmed, and busy. That’s what generally keeps people from doing so.
There are so many good things that require discipline. They require strength and power to complete. Where are we going to get the strength, even when things get difficult, to keep going and doing the right things?
But our situation is often worse than that. We not only fail to do the right things. We do the wrong things. We spend our time on that which is useless or positively harmful. Some of you are completely stuck in a pattern of doing the wrong thing. You’re stuck in bitterness or addicted to pleasure or fixated on some wrong in the world. You’re stuck in a toxic relationship and keep going back. You hit a wall, and you keep descending to a low and unhelpful place. You get tired, and you start blaming and attacking. You feel like you’ve got nothing left. I know. I’ve been there, too, especially in this past year.
What are we to do? Well, we don’t have to rely on ourselves. Jesus has what we need, and that is what we learn from what Jesus says in Mt. 28:18, “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.'” He has the power, and He makes it available to you.
Let’s consider this more carefully by looking at Jesus’ authority and then how this power helps us.
Jesus’ Authority & Power
In this passage, Jesus met His eleven disciples on a mountain. Judas had betrayed him and was no more. The eleven remaining disciples met him in Galilee. They went up to the mountain to meet him. Some worshipped Him, and some doubted.
They knew that Jesus had risen from the dead, but what does that resurrection mean? What is its significance? What is going to happen next? Jesus told them. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” He has not only risen from the dead. He is exalted over all things.
Jesus was now exalted as the ruler of heaven and earth with all power and authority given to Him. That is one of the most important aspects of the resurrection. He rules over the entire world with all power and authority given to Him by His Father.
In Psalm 110:1–2, David prophesies concerning the Messiah, “The Lord says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies!'” What Jesus is saying in Matthew 28:18 is that this had now been fulfilled!
And this is the amazing thing. The Apostles got it. In spite of the fact that they were persecuted and opposed by the authorities of this world, in spite of the fact that they were a small group of believers, they walked around like they owned the place. They believed that whatever happened before their physical eyes, the true reality was that Jesus was reigning right now and was in the process of redeeming and restoring the world through His almighty power. They saw Jesus with the eyes of faith. They saw Him as reigning with all authority and power.