Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Matthew 28:18
This is a very familiar verse to those who were raised in the church. But as Aesop once said, familiarity breeds contempt. In the Greek, the word authority also means power, dominion. So do we really think about the implications of this verse? That little 3 letter word all, means all, everything, the total of, complete. So if Jesus has been given ALL authority, power and dominion, then exactly how much authority and power does the devil have? The answer is NONE!
Makes you think and wonder doesn’t it, why we give so much power to the enemy? Especially since he dosn’t have any, but we think he does. It just drives home the truth that what we think about and focus on is what becomes powerful. When we think negative thoughts or words that were spoken to or over us we begin to believe them, because they become powerful. When we dwell on negative circumstances or situations, they become dsitorted and soon we find ourselves feeling helpless and hopeless. All these things can happen even if the events happened in the distant past.
This is why we need to stay focused on the Word and its truth. When we do it protects us from all the lies and deception that is trying to steal the truth from us. Instead of seeing everything as a struggle, rather see it as a challenge to be used to help us become more like Jesus in how we live. And in so doing, we show others who Jesus truly is and then we can also see the Father, who, many people see as judgmental, angry and punishing. Tomorrow we will observe Ascension Day, when Jesus gives instructions to His disciples to follow while they are waiting for the promised empowering gift He told them about that would change the world. Because that power He has been given, He now gives to all who believe and walk out His victory over the enemy.
Leave a Reply