Jesus: Seed, Sower, the Tree of Life. Part 7: Power and Authority Given to Us
This is the final post in a series about the Parable of the Sower, primarily as recorded in Mark 4: 1 – 20. But this post is a bit different. Rather than writing about the parable itself, which I did in parts 1—6, this post examines the consequences of Jesus’ seed sown into us. For those with noble and good soil who received the seed, the DNA of Jesus is planted in their hearts. This seed germinates in our hearts and as a consequence Jesus lives in us, the Tree of Life. Now that we have the DNA of Jesus, “Christ in us, the hope of glory”, we can begin to do the things Jesus did. After all, Jesus told His disciples, “I tell you the timeless truth: the person who follows me in faith, believing in Me, will do the same mighty miracles that I do – even greater miracles than these because I go to be with my Father (John 14: 13 TPT). Jesus did many miracles, but at the end of Mark 4 and in Mark 5 Jesus shows us the 5 categories of miracles that all of His miracles can be grouped into. His point? With His seed growing in you, you have the power and authority to do these types of miracles also! Let’s briefly look at the 5 categories of miracles. But first Scripture from Ephesians:
Because we have the seed and therefore the DNA of Jesus in us, Paul can write:
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparable power for those who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 1: 18 – 20 NIV).
Paul wrote, with the DNA of Jesus growing in me, I have power, like “the working of His mighty strength" that God used to raise Jesus from the dead. That is a lot of power! Yes, and much more (John 14: 12). And not just power, but the authority to use it. Let’s look at what Jesus did after He finished teaching the parables in Mark 4:
After a long day of teaching 4 parables (the Sower, Lamp on a Stand, the Growing Seed, and the Mustard Seed) from a boat at the beach (the best of both worlds), when evening came Jesus told His disciples, “Let us go over to the other side” (Mark 4: 35 NIV). Jesus meant to the east side of the Sea of Galilee, land of the Gentiles.
As they were crossing over, a furious squall hit them at night. The boat was about to sink, and these tough fishermen, who had fished on this lake all their lives, were terrified. It must have been quite a storm. They called out to Jesus, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown”. Apparently, they did not yet understand who Jesus was. He was more than a teacher. No matter. Jesus stood up, “rebuked the wind and said to the waves, quiet, be still” (Mark 4: 39 NIV). And they were. Miracle 1.
When they reached the other side in the region of the Gerasenes, a man with an evil spirit rushed from the tombs to meet them. He was violent and must have been a threat to the nearby village – they had tried to chain him hand and foot, yet he broke the chains and the iron shackles on his feet. But when he saw Jesus he fell to his knees and loudly shouted, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me” (Mark 5: 7 NIV). Interesting that the demons knew who Jesus was, but not His disciples. There is a post in there somewhere, but not now.
Long story short, Jesus cast out a whole legion of demons from the man, sent them into nearby pigs, the pigs ran down a steep bank into the lake and drowned. When the villagers of the nearby town arrived on the scene, they found the man dressed and in his right mind. Jesus cast out all the demons. Miracle 2.
Jesus and His disciples got back in the boat, His mission accomplished among the Gentiles, and returned to the west side of the lake. Busy 24 hours for Jesus. Once again, he was surrounded by a large crowd. Jairus, one of the synagogue rulers, pushed through the crowd and intercepted Jesus. “My daughter is dying. Come and put your hands on her and she will be healed and live”. Jesus agreed, but before He could set off for Jairus’ house, in one of the most poignant of Jesus’ healing miracles, a woman who had suffered a bleeding illness for 12 years, was healed when she touched His cloak. Jesus cried out, “Who touched my clothes?” (Mark 5: 30). After she confessed, Jesus told the woman, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (Mark 5: 34 NIV). Jesus healed the woman physically and emotionally (“go in peace”). Miracles 3 and 4.
Now Jesus could follow Jairus. But it was too late. The little girl had died. Jesus took the girl’s father and mother and the disciples who were with Him into the little girl’s room, and with the words, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” He raised her from the dead. Miracle 5.
5 miracles that demonstrated Jesus had power and authority over: 1) the natural world; 2) demons; 3) physical illness; 4) emotional illness; and, 5) last but not least, death. We have the DNA of Jesus. Remember that a seed carries all the DNA of the parent organism so that the offspring is a perfect, complete version of the parent. When Jesus sowed His seed into us, He sowed His DNA into us. All of His DNA. We received His peace, His joy, His faith, His hope; and His power and authority for us to exercise in His name.
I have written this before somewhere in this blog: when a father takes a son into the family business and changes the name (for example) to Van Wagoner and Son Paint and Wallpaper Company, the father completely trusts the son to conduct business with the integrity and values of the father. Jesus expects the same from us. But the amazing thing is that He calls us son or daughter and gives us the right to use His power and authority, growing in us, to advance His purposes and plans, which come down to one overarching purpose – advance the Kingdom of God.
Because of Christ in us, for those of us walking in faith, healed and made whole (rocks removed, thorns and weeds pulled up) we can perform these same miracles! That means we can tell the hurricane to turn out to sea, cast out demons, heal people physically and emotionally, and even raise the dead. Of course, not in my power, but in the power and authority of Jesus living in me!
Is this strange, even unbelievable? Do you know anyone who has raised a dead person back to life, except Jesus? I know a man who claims to have raised 9 people from the dead, but I have not observed this miracle myself. But I have seen many people emotionally healed and spiritually delivered through prayer. I have seen others physically healed through the power of the Holy Spirit. And I have seen prayer prolong lives, for example, of people with cancer. Doctors gave them months to live, but they lived for years as the result of prayer. Some are still alive 10 or more years later, although they still have cancer.
If you believe the Bible, as I do, Jesus gave His disciples instructions to do just what I am talking about.
“When Jesus had called the Twelve together, He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases and He sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick . . . So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere” (Luke 9: 1, 2; 6 NIV).
Jesus also sent out the 72 with similar instructions. In Matthew Jesus also gives the disciples instructions to go out, deliver people from demons and heal them physically, “He called the twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness” (Matthew 10: 1 NIV).
How much more power and authority do we have than those disciples? We have the seed of Jesus, the Holy Spirit within us; we have Jesus living in our hearts. They did not, and they still performed healing and deliverance miracles.
Some say that those miracles were for then, those gifts are not for now. I object to this thinking for 2 reasons. First, the Bible does not tell us these gifts are not for today. In fact, if you believe that then you are forced to say that much of the Bible is not relevant to 21st century life. Second, don’t go to Africa, for example, where healing and spiritual deliverance are commonplace. In fact, don’t hang out with me. I have prayed for a lot of people, and I see emotional healing and spiritual deliverance regularly. I see less physical healing, but I have seen some.
Christianity is, in part, about power and authority. The Father has given Jesus, “all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28: 18 NIV). Jesus makes it clear in Mark 4 and 5 that He has delegated that power and authority to us to use for His purposes and in His name. That is why John writes, “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5: 10 NIV), referring to us individually and the Church collectively; and in Psalms, “You made him (mankind, human beings) a little lower than the heavenly beings (“angels” in KJV, Elohiym in Greek, which can be translated as angels, gods, godlike, or the true God!) and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him (mankind, human beings) ruler over the works your hands; you put everything under his feet (Psalm 8: 5, 6 NIV, KJV).
By doing these things, God has restored mankind to his original place in creation last seen in the Garden of Eden before the fall. This is the Kingdom life God has planned for us to live from before the beginning of time. We have the power; we have the authority. It is time to use these responsibilities, in Jesus’ name, to push back the darkness, take back the territory, and defeat the power of evil we see rising up all around us. It is time for the followers of Jesus Christ to do what only the Church can do – go out, heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, and loudly proclaim the name of Jesus, which means by His power and in partnership with Him (although we are the junior partners), all for the glory of God. If we do this, our world will be radically different. We will have, “Rescued them from the dominion of darkness and brought them into the Kingdom of the Son He loves”. Our purpose? Release and advance the Kingdom of God, take back the territory, push back the darkness, and defeat the power of evil — in partnership with Jesus, we push back hell and insert heaven! Hallelujah!
John