Minister's Inter-faith Blog Page 8

The meaning of Power for Jesus



A recent sermon and the accompanying sermon notes touch on the meaning of power for Jesus.   It is a picture that emerges from the temptations in the wilderness, and it is in stark contrast with that prevalent in the general population, whether in the time of Jesus or today.  It even seems a little at variance with a later passage (Matthew
10 1),where Jesus gave his disciples authority to drive out evil spirits, and to heal every disease and sickness, a power that would seem to contravene natural law.

For the scientist, power is simply the rate of producing energy, commonly measured in Watts.  Through the thinking of Einstein, we know that matter (mass) and energy are equivalent, as expressed by the relativity equation:

E=mc²

where:

  • E = the amount of energy equivalent to a given mass,  
  • m = is the mass, measured in kg, and
  • c = is the speed of light, measured in metres per second. 
For the Christian, the creator is the ultimate source of this power, energy, or equivalent mass- as the "Bible de Jérusalem" translates Genesis, in the beginning, God was la verbe, the active, creative word.  This concept of power is inherent in our universe; it has come into being as God created matter from chaos, it is the essence of our present being, and we can return it to chaos by such means as burning fossil fuel or exploding an atomic bomb. 

But the "wrong" sort of power or authority, often sought by the rulers of empire and the barons of industry, and at some times in its history also desired by the church, comes from seeking to appropriate external power, whether inherent in others (as a servile or slave labour force) or in nature; either way, chaos is created from an ordered system of power.  Jesus would have accepted this version of power in the wilderness if he had transmuted stones into bread, if he had succeeded in countering normal gravitational forces as he jumped from a peak of the temple, or if he had accepted commonly understood authority over the kingdoms beforew him.

Roy Shephard.


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