Ezra and Authority

Here's my material for my men's group for next week, as we continue through Ezra. 

Are you living under the authority of Jesus Christ? 

Our text for June 11 is Ezra chapters 7 & 8.

In Ezra 7:1 – 10 what do we learn about Ezra? Is there anything significant about his family tree? What do we see about his heart, his desire, his passion?

Based on the limited information contained in these chapters, how might you characterize Ezra’s relationship with the King? How did God work through this relationship?

Please consider the following passages: Proverbs 16:10 – 15; 20:2, 8, 26 – 28; 22:11; 24:21; 25:5 – 6; 29:4, 14; 31:1 – 9.

Matthew 20:20 – 28.

What do we learn about leadership and authority in these passages?

How should we exercise authority?

How should we respond to authority?

How can we teach others about authority?

What have we learned about authority in our own lives – both in terms of using it and in terms responding to it?  Please give some examples of when you “didn’t get it” and when you did “get it”. In other words, when did you not use authority responsibly? When have you not responded to authority in a responsible manner? How has your understanding of authority matured over the course of your life?

Ezra was under the king’s authority, and the king found Ezra trustworthy to place in authority.

While there are many “go-to” places in the Gospels that speak of authority, three passages that speak strongly to me are Matthew 20:20 – 28; John 13:1 – 17, and Matthew 8:1 – 13.

I have used Matthew 8:1 – 13 in previous handouts, and I have used it in teaching and preaching for decades, and when I use it I ask the question, “What did the centurion see in Jesus that caused him to place his faith in Jesus?”

Without fail, 100% of the time people respond, “He saw that Jesus had authority, that Jesus was in authority.”

However, the Gospel accounts of Jesus and the centurion are consistent in that the centurion did not view Jesus as being in a position of authority, but rather as being under authority. The centurion understood the nature of authority because he was a military man who, I think, thought deeply about his responsibilities. He knew that all of his authority was derived from the chain-of-command that went right up to the Roman Emperor – the centurion was not a loose cannon doing whatever he wanted however he wanted.

Jesus was, of course, living in submission to His Father, (yes, yes, the Trinity and the Incarnation are mysteries, at least to me), John 5:19, 30; 6:38; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10.  

I use the centurion passage to teach about authority and also to show how easy it is to read the Bible but not read the Bible, to miss the point of a passage because we assume we know what we’re reading and so we superimpose our own images and thoughts on a passage. If we don’t submit to the Biblical text we’ll not “see” the Biblical text.

In my marketplace career I was keen to remember, and speak and act, as a man under authority; the authority of Jesus Christ, the authority of the firm I worked for, and the authority of my clients to whom I had a fiduciary duty. Even when I had my own very small operation in Maryland, because I had an agency relationship with my clients, I needed to be mindful of the authority and duty of those relationships.

In essence, I could never speak and act on my own authority, my authority was always derived; from Jesus Christ, from my firm, and from my clients. This, for the Christian, should simply be the way we live – we ought never to speak and act on our own authority – for outside of Jesus Christ we have none, we have been bought with a price, the blood of the Lamb (1 Corinthians 6:19 – 20).

I could give you many examples of pain I have caused when I have acted on my own authority, which is to say that I know what I’m talking about. I could also give many examples of managers who have worked for me who have grown when they have submitted to authority, when they have learned to be servant- leaders. I could also give many examples of managers who have worked for me and who never “got it” – they used their positions for their own benefit and didn’t really care how they treated their employees or our clients and customers – they didn’t know how to submit to authority. This latter group did not tend to remain employed – they either couldn’t stand the accountability and left of their own accord or I had to free them up for hopefully a better future elsewhere.

I could also give many examples in the church world of people, including pastors, choir directors, praise team leaders, Sunday-school superintendents, deacons, elders, denominational officials, seminary leaders…you name it…who are in “authority” but don’t “get it” to the detriment of others. Thankfully there are also many examples on the positive side. But, of course, we see this in any group of people, PTAs, service organizations, sports organizations…it is the fallen nature of man outside of Jesus Christ.

All the more reason for us to learn to live under authority so that we might use the authority given to us in Christ to be a blessing to others.

The work of Satan is characterized by lawlessness and rebellion. Our society, indeed our world, is being swept away by lawlessness. We are rebelling against God’s moral law, against common decency, against God’s special revelation in Jesus Christ and His Word, against pretty much all authority. The human authorities we do have are also engaged in rebellion (Psalm 2) and are legalizing the repudiation of the image of God and His Law and codifying sin and demonic images of humanity – resulting in hideous confusion and a moral and spiritual meltdown which, like a nuclear-plant meltdown, is spreading toxicity into our environment.

This lawlessness is, I think, often as present in our churches as it is in general society. We don’t know the Bible, we don’t obey the Bible, we explain away the Bible’s clear moral and ethical teaching, we make excuse after excuse for our collective and individual disobedience and sin, we are ashamed of holiness, we are ashamed of Christ and go with the flow around us.

Chesterton wrote, “A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.”  Are we alive or are we, and our congregations, dead?

Will we, will I, will you…live under the authority of Jesus Christ…no matter what?

Love,

Bob