““He taught them as one having authority…”

A friend’s father is a university professor who begins each term in a special way. On the first day of school he wears 2 buttons one on each lapel of his blazer. The button on the left says, “I’m in charge.” The button on the right, “Always question authority.” I love the image, and I would have loved to have Professor Barker. What a healthy sense of authority. Well, I’m not sure Jesus had two buttons on his tunic the morning he stepped into the synagogue, but the people there were impressed by his authority. What we know is that his authority was unlike the scribes; what we are left to wonder and explore is what his authority was actually like.”

Lectionary Readings:
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Mark 1:21-28
Psalm 111