God created the entire cosmos with his eternal word. This eternal Logos became flesh and dwelt among us in the person of Jesus. Therefore, he has authority over everything. In the letter of St. Paul to the Philippians, we read: Therefore, God exalted him even more highly and gave him the name that is above every other name, so that at the name given to Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philip. 2: 9–11) In today’s gospel passage, we mediate this divine authority of Jesus. All those who gathered in the synagogue were amazed at the teachings of Jesus. This amazement was not because of his special style of teaching. Instead, he taught them with divine authority. People felt there was a special power in the words of Jesus, and it was not mere words like those of the Scribes. In the first reading taken from the book of Deuteronomy, we read God’s promise to Moses: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command.” (Deut.18:18) Jesus is the mouthpiece of Abba, who taught them with the same authority. They noted this difference because scribes, the official teachers of the law, lacked this authority and conviction. They taught them for the sake of teaching. Their teaching did not bring any personal transformation to themselves or others. However, Jesus words and teaching touched their hearts.
We also see in this chapter that even the demoniacs paid attention to the teachings of Jesus, along with the people of Israel. In any case, the presence of Jesus among them disturbed the demoniac. This demoniac came forward by his own accord and engaged in a dialogue with Jesus. In fact, the devil acknowledged the mission and identity of Jesus. He says, Why is Jesus interfering in their business? Has he come to destroy them? In fact, this was the mission of Jesus: to liberate humanity from the powers of darkness forever and restore their initial freedom as the children of God. Then we see the devil acknowledging the identity of Jesus, saying that he is the son of God. At the very outset, we may think that when others were reluctant to acknowledge the person of Jesus, the devil was willingly doing this. It is true that the devil confessed the true identity of Jesus but was never ready to remain under his authority.
However, Jesus wasn’t prepared to let the devil’s cowardly words sweep him away. Jesus did not allow the devil to speak immediately. He cast him out. Every exorcism that Jesus performed was a clear sign of the Messianic age. It also implied the establishment of the kingdom of God to save humanity from the clutches of sin. Thus, the crowd listened to the teaching of Jesus with authority and also directly witnessed his authority as the Son of God over the powers of darkness. As we reflect on this gospel passage, let us pray for the grace that we may get rooted in the identity of Jesus as the son of God and his authority over the entire cosmos. We, too, are called to share the same authority as Jesus by speaking in his name. May our words and deeds, with authority and conviction, turn the hearts of our brethren to the Lord.