Teaching with Authority

New and improved doesn't always mean that.  As much as the advertisements try to convince us otherwise, the phone we were so excited about last year is now obsolete.  New packages on the same cereal you have eaten for years don't really change what is in the box.  The latest and greatest diet plan will still mean eating less and moving more.

What Jesus was teaching wasn't really new, either.  It was the same old story that had been promised and handed down since Adam and Eve.  But as itching ears and blind guides had adjusted and adapted teachings to suit their needs they had lost what was handed down.  That is why what Jesus shared sounded new.  "A new teaching...and with authority!"


The Devil works hard today to convince us that the consequences of our sin, the mess of this world and the wisdom of the day are just how life has to be.  The Gospel of Jesus breaks into that bleakness and provides something new every morning.  It is still the same old story, but to weary hearts and tired bodies this amazing news renews us every time.  We are forgiven.  We have hope.  We will live forever.  That is still new.  That is amazing.

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