pat loughery

Today in our Sunday gathering we’ll (FINALLY!) transition out of the Sermon on the Mount and into Matthew 8.

But the key to understanding what is going to happen next is what has come before (hmm, perhaps we emerging church people should be mindful of this meta-point). And before Matt 8’s discussion of Jesus’ works of good over disease and demons, we have this little easily-missed tidbit:

Matthew 7:28 through Matthew 7:29 (NIV)
28When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

There’s plenty of discussion in the blogosphere about authority and leadership structures in the emerging church, and much of it appears to be a focus on flat leadership models in reaction to past negative leadership experiences.

But can we ask ourselves this question: “Did Jesus have authority? And if so, how did he use it?”

It seems that answering these can be helpful in determining the role of authority in the future church.

As for Matthew 8, it certainly appears as though Jesus uses his authority (born out of relationship with his daddy, not out of a title on his business card or ad in Charisma magazine) to restore order to his creation. To restore health and, more importantly, to redeem the social outcast and bring them back into community, no matter how trivial or repugnant their issue.