“21. And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. 22. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.”
The he in this passage of scripture is Jesus Christ. His life is catching everyone’s attention. Notice in verse 22 that he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. If your not familiar with a scribe, their basic responsibility was to copy the scriptures. We live in a different day where a press can run off hundreds of thousands of copies of the scriptures, but back then they had to copy every thing with pen and paper. A scribe is a good reminder of who we are seeing today in many local churches. Those who know the stories of the Bible well, but have a terrible testimony of holy living. That is a good picture of what we see religion as today; at the church when the doors are open, they hold a leadership position, but outside the church they might as well be a scribe or Pharisee. Its sad that we see so many believers today living a fake life full of motions. When we get saved we can live just like Jesus Christ did, here on the earth, because we have the Word of God to guide and direct us. II Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly diving the word of truth.” What do people see in your life right now? Do they see you teaching or preaching with authority? Do they see you living with the Word of God as the final authority in your life? When you teach with authority you should know what you are talking about in the scriptures, but also living your life according to the Word of God. Jesus Christ changed the world. If He has truly changed you, shouldn’t others be seeing that in your life? Take a hunter for an example. Not long ago I was in a local hunting store talking to an avid outdoorsman. I believe the best way to killing a whitetail is to pay very close attention to your wind direction. This hunter explains how he just goes out to hunt and can kill a deer without all the scent control or paying much attention to the wind. Then I asked him, Did you get one last year? You will never guess what he said! No! He never killed a deer last season. So here is a hunter that has killed deer at times in his life by using his methods, but he’s not successful very often. I like to kill big bucks! I want to know the best way to kill one. When I look at a trophy room I want to have confidence in what the hunter is willing to teach me. Back to being a Christian. The more you know about the Word of God, the more you will help others! Jesus talked with authority because He knew what He was talking about. It changed lives! People got saved! Today, our churches are falling apart because the leaders and the members are not living in the Word of God like they should and sadly they are not even believing it! What are people seeing in your life right now? A follower of Jesus Christ or a scribe? DB
Memory Verse Week 7/13/20
II Timothy 2:15
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
