Authority and Trust

Matthew 8:28-32

And when he came to the other side . . . two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.

Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone (Vol. 1)

The point of the story, then, is that the Jesus who has authority to teach people, as he was doing in the Sermon on the Mount, also has authority over disease both close at hand and at a distance; over the lives of people who want to follow him; and over the winds and waves on the lake, and over the shadowy forces of evil. . . . He is somebody with authority over everything the physical world on the one hand, and the non-physical world on the other, can throw at us. This is a Jesus we can trust with every aspect of our lives (93-94).

A. Orendorff

Trust is a powerful word. Almost as powerful as the word authority. Moreover, when the two are combined, as they so often are in our daily lives, they take on (it seems) a life all of their own. For example, we “trust” in the “authority” of our government whenever we trade goods for currency. We “trust” in the “authority” of the justice system whenever we submit ourselves to the laws it prescribes. We “trust” in the “authority” of banks (although perhaps less now than in previous years) whenever we turn our money over.

Yet when it comes to trusting people with authority, a turn occurs within us that takes us down a number of dark roads: cynicism creeps in, fear takes hold, pride begins to grip us, self-pity sets in, distrust overshadows. It is true that we trust the government, but who we don’t trust is politicians. We trust the justice system, but don’t trust lawyers. We trust banks, but we don’t trust their CEO’s. The question becomes, whose authority can we trust?

The answer Matthew provides, vividly throughout chapter eight, is plainly and simply, “Jesus; Jesus is who we can trust.” His is an authority over disease, distance, nature and even un-nature. Yet it is also an authority that he wields for our good, not because we’re good but precisely because we’re not. His is an authority that trumps all other authority, and (more importantly) an authority in which we can trust.