Is God's Word Our Authority? (Miracles of Jesus)

Last week we discussed the authority seen in God’s words at creation. Continuing our study we now turn to Jesus, specifically His miracles. Do His miracles prove His words to be authoritative? With this in mind, we now turn our attention to Matthew 7:28-8:32. By way of introduction to the text, the Lord had already finished His sermon on the mountain (chapters 5-7) and the people, “were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching as one having authority…” (7:28b-29a). “Authority,” is what they saw.  But do we see His authority proven through His actions? Let us look at three miracles within the text.

First, we will look at the centurion in Capernaum. This man came to Jesus on behalf of his paralyzed servant (8:5-6). Feeling unworthy for Jesus under his roof, he only asks of Him to “say the word” to heal the servant (8:8). This centurion understood that those with authority only have to speak a word. The words, “Go!...Come!...Do this!...” is all that is necessary for a job to be done (8:9). And the centurion realized that Jesus had this authority. Seeing his faith, Jesus blessed this man’s belief by simply speaking His servant to health (8:10, 13). All it took was Jesus’ words of authority, and the job was done.

Second, we will look at the storm on the sea. When Jesus and His disciples were crossing the sea, there came upon them a terrible storm, but during this event Jesus had fallen asleep (8:23-24). Being woken by His disciples, the scriptures say that He, “rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.” (8:25-26). All it took was a rebuke and everything silenced. We know according to Mark that the rebuke was as simple as, “Hush, be still.” (Mark 4:39). All it took was Jesus’ words of authority, and the job was done.  

Third, we will look at the demon-possessed men in the land of the Gadarenes (Matthew 8:28-32). These two men were in the tombs and they would become so violent that no one could go past them. The interesting part is that the demons knew Jesus had authority, and these tormentors were afraid of being tormented. They knew that they were going to be cast out, but all they wanted was to be cast into a nearby herd of swine. With this request granted, Jesus cast them out. He did so, not by some magic trick, not with complex works of the hand, but a simple command, “Go!” (8:32). All it took was Jesus’ word of authority, and the job was done.

Looking at these examples should show us that Jesus, like it was during the days of creation, has authority over all things. All it took was a word, phrase, or command, and the job was done. We could look at several other examples such as those found in Matthew 8:16, 9:1-8, etc., but the message is clear as is – Jesus’ miracles prove that His words have authority, and these are the words we must trust. But, our search continues next week. Please come back to see if God’s Word is proven to be authoritative through Christian Evidences.