THE SUPREME AUTHORITY

“And they were terrified and asked one another, ‘Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!’” (Mark 4:41 HCSB)

I heard the late Adrian Rogers tell a story of a small boy who had a little model sailboat that he loved dearly. He had made the boat and would take it to the river and play with it in the shallows near the bank. But one day a sudden gust of wind caught it, and it was swept into the current. Run as fast as he might, the toy boat was soon taken farther and farther down the river and his cherished boat disappeared from sight. The lad was broken-hearted, until one day he walked by a second-hand shop in town, and was stopped in his tracks as he saw in the window—his little boat! It was a bit battered, the paint weathered, but he knew it was his. Racing into the store, he told the man, “That’s my boat!” The owner of the store was not unsympathetic, yet somewhat skeptical and so told him, “Son, I paid for that boat. The fellow that found it brought it in and I gave him money for it. So, if you want it back, you’ve got to buy it.” The boy had no money, but he was determined to have his boat, and so he chopped up some wood for a widow with a dull hatchet—his tender hands bleeding as he carried the wood in and collected his money. Then, he paid the proprietor, and in those same bleeding hands, walked out of the shop clutching the toy—and he said, “Little boat, you are twice mine—mine because I made you, and mine because I bought you!”

No one claims a higher authority over your life than Jesus Christ.

You belong to Him. He owns you because He created you—just as the lad owned the little boat because he had made it. You belong to Jesus and His purposes. This is doubly true, for He not only created you, He redeemed you. As the boy paid a price to buy back the boat, so Jesus purchased our salvation with His own blood. We have been redeemed from the slavery of sin and have a new Master—Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the supreme authority in life. He demonstrates it in our text.

We see His supreme authority OVER THE PERIL OF STORMS.

"On that day, when evening had come, He told them, ‘Let's cross over to the other side [of the sea].’ So they left the crowd and took Him along since He was [already] in the boat. And other boats were with Him. A fierce windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him up and said to Him, ‘Teacher! Don't you care that we're going to die?’ He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Silence! Be still!’ The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Then He said to them, ‘Why are you fearful? Do you still have no faith?’ And they were terrified and asked one another, ‘Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!’" (Mark 4:35-41)

Some have difficulty accepting Christ’s authority over them because they wonder if He can be trusted. This incident shows one of the times—and there were several of them—that the twelve disciples had doubts. Jesus had already assured them in verse thirty five that they were going to get to the other side, but when this storm broke upon them with intense fury, they forgot the promise and became terrified. They looked at the peril of their situation rather than leaning on the promise of their Savior!

You see, if Jesus’ commands me to do something and then when I do it, it brings me into a perilous position, then I may have difficulty bowing to His will. Have you ever been tempted to think like this boat-load of disciples that Jesus must be asleep and unaware of the danger you are in? They questioned His care.

If that is where we find ourselves, it will be very hard for us to submit to His authority. Yet, reflect on the fact that Jesus was asleep—and that was a good thing! He wasn’t worried. He was sure that they were going to get to the other side. It wasn’t His time to die—His hour had not come. He wasn’t going to die by drowning, but by crucifixion. This was His Father’s plan and He was in submission to God’s mission and had peace in His heart. He was under authority and therefore unafraid!

In contrast to that, we note the hearts of the disciples, where there was a tempest inside of them as great as that which raged outside of them.

Jesus responds with two rebukes:
1) The ferocity of the storm is rebuked in verse thirty nine, and
2) the fright of the saints is rebuked in verse forty.

They are overwhelmed in their response to His Christ’s authority over the storm.

Here’s the question for us, “If you submit to Christ’s authority can you trust Him?”

Yes! If He brings you into the storm, He will bring you out through the storm.

Jesus not only demonstrated his supreme authority over the peril of storms, but OVER THE POWER OF SATAN.

"Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as He got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met Him. He lived in the tombs. No one was able to restrain him anymore—even with chains—because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had snapped off the chains and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him.

And always, night and day, he was crying out among the tombs and in the mountains and cutting himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before Him. And he cried out with a loud voice, ‘What do You have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God, don't torment me!’

For He had told him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’

‘What is your name?’ He asked him.

‘My name is Legion,’ he answered Him, ‘because we are many.’

And he kept begging Him not to send them out of the region.

Now a large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Him, ‘Send us to the pigs, so we may enter them.’ And He gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd of about 2,000 rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there. The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed by the legion, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. The eyewitnesses described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and [told] about the pigs.

Then they began to beg Him to leave their region.

As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging Him to be with Him. But He would not let him; instead, He told him, ‘Go back home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you.’

So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed." (Mark 5:1-20)

Let’s do a game of word association. I’ll list a word and I want you to come up with the opposite:

“Cold…”; “fast…”; “young…”; rich…”; “black…”; “God….”

Did you answer: hot, slow, old, poor, white? I just hope for God that you didn’t say, “Satan!” You cannot say that, because none compares to God! You cannot put the Devil on the same level—even as an opposite—with God! Demonic force is powerless before Omnipotence. What authority Satan has is given by God, or he would have none. He is kept on a short leash.

The authority of the Father is seen in the Son. Jesus is observed to have authority over the forces of evil. They must do His bidding.

One of the excuses people give for not submitting to the authority of Christ is to justify their disobedience as, “the Devil made me do it!” He cannot. He doesn’t have that authority. We can choose to be obedient to Christ if we wish and we should.

Jesus is Lord—even of the demons as we discover here.

Now, this guy was in a bad way! He was completely given over to demonic control. He lived in a graveyard. He was isolated from all others. He possessed supernatural strength and no chains could hold him! He was tormented—without a moment’s peace. He was self-destructive. But this was no problem for Jesus! Even a demonized man recognized the authority of Christ. This wasn’t just a demon but many demons as the word “Legion” is a military term for the largest combat unit in the Roman army, but still no match for the Son of God. In fact, there were two demonized men! (Matt.8:28 ff), but Mark chose to focus on just one of these twin titans of terror.

You would have expected the people to be happy for this man, but instead they were more concerned about pigs than people! Jesus was rightfully their Lord, but none can serve two masters and these folk had chosen to serve Mammon—the god of materialism. Sadly, many still do today.

We witness Christ’s supreme authority over the peril of storms, the power of Satan, and furthermore OVER THE PAIN OF SICKNESS.

“When Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him while He was by the sea. One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet and kept begging Him, ‘My little daughter is at death's door. Come and lay Your hands on her so she can get well and live.’

So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following and pressing against Him. A woman suffering from bleeding for 12 years had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse. Having heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His robe. For she said, ‘If I can just touch His robes, I'll be made well!’

Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was cured of her affliction.

At once Jesus realized in Himself that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched My robes?’

His disciples said to Him, ‘You see the crowd pressing against You, and You say, “Who touched Me?”’

So He was looking around to see who had done this. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came with fear and trembling, fell down before Him, and told Him the whole truth.

‘Daughter,’ He said to her, ‘your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be free from your affliction.’" (Mark 5:21-34)

We should not doubt the authority of the Great Physician over any disease. If He cannot heal the sick, then He cannot save our soul—for that is a far greater affliction! But, we see that He can.

I’m no faith healer, but I know the One who heals through faith. Neither can we claim authority over Christ in demanding that He heal someone, for He has authority over us and has the right to make demands of us. We cannot make demands of God. Always remember that He is the Master and we are His servants. Don’t even think about reversing the roles!

If, in His providence—His perfect wisdom and love—He sees fit to allow us to suffer for a time, there is a higher purpose being served. Both Jairus and this dear woman believed in Christ’s power to heal! Yet, while she was healed, his daughter dies. This is the sovereign choice of God—and He knows what He is doing.

Many touched Jesus that day, but there was a touch of faith that unleashed the power of God! All healing is Divine healing—sometimes it is done through the natural processes God has designed, or a doctor He has given wisdom to, or a medication made from the elements God has placed in nature or miraculous intervention—but if we get well it is because Christ has authority over sickness. It may be that resurrection is required! What we do know is that in the end—all who trust Him will not be disappointed!

Christ displayed His supreme authority over the peril of storms, the power of Satan, the pain of sickness and also OVER THE PROBLEM OF SORROW.

“While He was still speaking, people came from the synagogue leader's house and said, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher anymore?’

But when Jesus overheard what was said, He told the synagogue leader, ‘Don't be afraid. Only believe.’ He did not let anyone accompany Him except Peter, James, and John, James's brother. They came to the leader's house, and He saw a commotion-people weeping and wailing loudly.

He went in and said to them, ‘Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.’

They started laughing at Him, but He put them all outside. He took the child's father, mother, and those who were with Him, and entered the place where the child was. Then He took the child by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum!’ (which is translated, ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’). Immediately the girl got up and began to walk. (She was 12 years old.) At this they were utterly astounded.

Then He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this and said that she should be given something to eat." (Mark 5:35-43)

Death is called the last enemy—yet Jesus never went to a funeral that He didn’t turn into a festival! That was rooted in His power and based on His resurrection life.

Jesus is described in Revelation as holding the keys to death, hell and the grave! He has authority over this terror to mortal beings. If we need not fear death, then we need not fear anything!

Jesus will raise us with the voice of authority. Paul put it this way:

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope. Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For we say this to you by a revelation from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord's coming will certainly have no advantage over those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel's voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words." (1 Thess.4:13-18).

His voice has authority to summon the dead back to life!

Remember the story of Lazarus—Jesus’ dear friend and brother to Mary and Martha? As you recall, he died, and when Jesus came to the cemetery, he had been entombed four days already. Jesus had them roll back the stone, and He uttered His command, “Lazarus, come forth!” The old boy got up from the cold slab and shuffled to the door, bound in his grave clothes--alive!

Someone has well-said that when Jesus spoke that if He had not called Lazarus by name, everyone in the graveyard would have gotten up! Indeed, that is the authority by which our Lord will speak someday on that “Great Gettin’ Up Mornin’” and we will fare exceedingly well!

Jesus is Lord. He has the right to reign over you and over me. He will reign forever and ever. That is without question. The only issue that must be resolved is will we submit to His authority now? That will determine whether His authority opens the pearly gates of Heaven to us or His decree sentences us to the Lake of Fire.

Even in my life as a Christian, there are times that I am faltering in my obedience. I must repent—He is Lord and has the right to direct me. I am twice His—He made me and He paid for me.