Epiphany 4 | Ordinary Time 4, Cycle B
The issue of absolute authority and of derived authority is the most significant factor that is considered in these texts.
In Deuteronomy 18:15-20 it is said that the absolute authority of God is so awesome that the people of God pleaded that they would not hear the voice of the Lord God again or see the great fire of God again, lest they die. Therefore, God spoke through the prophet Moses rather than directly to them. God also promised that after the death of Moses God would raise up another prophet who would be like Moses and whose voice the people of God were instructed to hear.
In Psalm 111 the absolute authority of the Lord is recognized as inextricably tied to the everlasting providence of the Lord. The Lord is gracious and merciful, just and trustworthy. A person is wise when that person fears and respects the Lord. It is said to be wise and good to be subject to the absolute authority of the Lord God.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 that “There is no God except the one God.” (It is interesting to note that this statement of faith that is based on the Israelite-Jewish statement of faith in Deuteronomy 6:4 is utilized in Arabic as the basis for the Islamic Creed, “There is no allah (god) except Allah (God).” Therefore, the Israelite-Jewish Creed, Paul’s Creed in 1 Corinthians 8:4, and the Islamic Creed of Muslims are essentially the same.)
More explicitly, for Paul, according to 1 Corinthians 8:4-6, there is no God except the One God, the Father, from whom all things come and for whom we exist. This absolute authority, wrote Paul, is revealed to us as God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He wrote that many are called “gods” in heaven and upon the earth, but actually there can be and is, of course, only one God, since by logic we perceive that there can be only one absolute authority. Also, Paul wrote, there are many who are called “lords” on the earth, many “bosses,” that is, under whose derived authority we function on the earth. But for us, Paul wrote, just as we perceive that there is logically only one God, we perceive that there is logically for us only one Lord, Jesus the Christ. If it were any other way for us, we would be confused in our lines of authority, not certain whom we should serve and obey, especially during those inevitable instances when conflicting orders would be given.
So it is also this way for us today. Institutions, including our own Christina institutions, struggle to define organizational charts so that all can see to whom they are responsible. Families seek to clarify authority structures for the children in the family.
We read in Mark 1:21-28 that Jesus was remembered as a person who taught with authority, even over unclean spirits, which were forced to obey his commands. Because Jesus had been given this authority from the absolute authority of God his Father, Jesus’ fame spread everywhere, throughout the entire region of Galilee.
If we are to be faithful to God as God is revealed in these texts, we should start with God, the one absolute authority and work down, so to speak, from God to derived authority and to authority received from derived authority. As responsible leaders in the Church today, we are expected to clarify the authority structures as we understand them. The manner in which we perceive God, the one absolute authority, and the authority derived from God will be expressed in our teaching, in our preaching, and most of all in our lives within our congregations and communities.
We should begin with a clearly worded acknowledgment that God and only God is the absolute authority. We should follow this with the affirmation that the Bible, the Church and its Sacraments, and inspired individuals in interaction with each other within a dynamic process of checks and balances are the principal secondary or derived authorities for us. Beyond these, there are lower levels of authority, especially as we move into the areas of education, employment, and political and social structures.
Since the time of the early Church, followers of Jesus using Deuteronomy 18:15-20 have enthusiastically identified Jesus as “the prophet like Moses” whom the Lord God would later raise up. As Christians, we have every right, of course, to make this identification. We should always note, however, that we do not stop with the “prophet” designation for Jesus. We take Jesus far beyond that. Also, now that we give greater attention than we have for many centuries to the historical setting of the Jewish Scriptures texts and to the process by which they became and remain sacred Scriptures for Jews and for Christians, we acknowledge that it was Israel seeking clear direction and leadership that spoke within the Deuteronomy 18:15-20 text, Israel as a remnant people wishing to be led back into the “promised land” as once before they had been led by the “prophet” Moses.
