They went
into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and
began to teach. They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as
one having authority, and not as the scribes. Mark 1:21-22
For centuries people believed that Aristotle was right when
he said that the heavier an object, the faster it would fall to earth.
Aristotle was regarded as the greatest thinker of all time, and surely he would
not be wrong. Anyone, of course, could have taken two objects, one heavy and
one light, and dropped them from a great height to see whether or not the
heavier object landed first. But no one did until nearly 2,000 years after
Aristotle's death. Legend has it that in 1589 Galileo summoned learned
professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then he went to the top
and pushed off a ten-pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same
instant. The power of belief was so strong, however, that the professors denied
their eyesight. They continued to say Aristotle was right.
You know what I wish? I wish someone would just climb to the
top of the tower and push off a ten-pound weight and a one-pound weight and
let’s just see which reaches the ground first. That would finally prove who is right and who
is wrong. But wait…Galileo did that and
still no one believed him. Even with the
authority of obvious visible proof, i.e. the two weights reached the ground at
the same time, the professors did not believe.
The problem here is
obvious. Most people are going to believe what they have always believed
regardless of the facts.
But something different occurred in the life of Jesus; something
persuasive. Mark records that when Jesus
came to Capernaum, on the Sabbath day, and entered the synagogue and taught,
the crowds were astounded. Why? One word…Authority. He taught, not as the scribes taught, but as
one having authority.
The scribes were the learned people and teachers of the
Jewish nation, and were principally Pharisees. But they consumed much of their time in
useless disputes and “vain jangling.” Jesus
was open, plain, grave, and His message was useful. Jesus moved from a past
tense message to a present tense message. He delivered the truths of God and
did not spend His time in trifling disputes and debating questions of no
importance.
How do you help people understand the truths of God? We need to learn from Jesus that it is not in
arguments and endless debates. It is in
speaking about what you know, not what you don’t know. It’s about having conviction and passion, not
just facts. We will take a few days to
look how to speak an astonishing message.
Scripture to Claim:
But the goal of our instruction is love
from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men,
straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting
to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they
are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. 1 Timothy
1:5-7
