Yet another loud thinking on Authenticity and authority…
‘And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.’ (Mt 7:28)’… and coming to his own country he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?” (13: 54-56) ‘Is not this the carpenter…?’ (Mk 6:3) “Is not this Joseph’s son?” (Lk 4:22)
Jesus to his contemporaries was not what he is today for the Christians, even for others! He was fallible, vulnerable like any one of us: ‘… he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.’ (Mk 11:12-13) ‘…he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death… if it is possible, let this cup pass from me…” (Mt 26: 37-39) ‘When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled… Jesus wept…’ (Jn 11: 33-35) ‘And when his friends heard it, they went out to seize him, for they said, “He is beside himself.” (Mk 3:21)
Where did this otherwise ordinary Jesus get his authority? It was not from any ancestry or any position or possession, anything from outside but from the realization of being the child of God which becomes his authenticity. It is being thoroughly honest to oneself as well to others, transparent, needing no defense for one’s words or deeds, having nothing to hold on or to safeguard and let things go, let them take their own course, needing no one to authenticate… It is being genuine, wholesome experiencing and enjoying oneness with the Other (Jn 10:30, 14:9) and the others as well (Mt 25:40, 45), everyone and everything and thereby the freedom of the children of God…
None can take away authority derived of authenticity, nor will it diminish, nor can it hurt but only heal… It is ‘easy…and light’ (Mt 11:30) Where do we, the priests, the ‘alter Christos’ stand in contrast to Jesus having ‘nowhere to lay his head’ (Mt 8:20) still was not ‘anxious about …life nor about… body’ knowing that his ‘heavenly Father knows that (he) need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.’ (6:25ff)… The Sermon on the Mount has this more to say: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’ (6:19-21)
