Hi neophyte,
My point is this: Jesus did not 'pass on' His authority to His apostles and disciples in the way that you and Mungo imply, where it is said to have been handed down the generations, a bit like Chinese whispers. Jesus Himself, and His Father - in the disciples by His Holy Spirit - is The Authority by which doctrinal truth and spiritual gift is validated as it is being ministered or prayed. Every believer should have a measure of this Authority, which, as I tried to explain, is directly related to obedience to God like Jesus obeyed His Father. Acts 5:29, 32 (Peter speaking).
Dragonfly,
You appear not to understand the nature of authority and how it is transmitted. Your references to Acts 5:29, 32 say nothing about how authority is passed from one person to another.
Let me explain. Sorry it is long. I usually avoid long posts as people tend not to read them. But this matter of authority is very important. Please read it through
If someone has authority, then when they give them a task, a mission, an office under their authority, then they give them the authority that goes with it.
This consists of the authority to
act and to
speak in their name (within the scope of the authority they give them).
Take the example of the centurion with the sick servant in Mt 8:5-10. The centurion approaches Jesus and asks him to cure his servant.
Verse 9 is a key verse
"For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes;"
The Centurion has authority because of his rank, given him by those above him. I don't know the structure of the Roman Army but ultimately his authority comes from Caesar himself. When he gives an order to a soldier it was as if Caesar himself was standing there giving the order. To disobey the Centurion was to disobey Caesar.
Or we could put it another way - for a soldier to listen to the centurion was to listen to Caesar; to reject the centurion was to reject Caesar.
When the centurion said to Jesus
"For I too am a person under authority" he was acknowledging that Jesus too had authority from above and that his word was sufficient to cure his servant
"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed" (verse 8) This is why Jesus was astonished at the faith of the centurion.
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith (verse 10).
Now move on to Luke 9:1-6 and Luke 10:1-6 Jesus enunciates these two principles with the disciples he send out on mission.
"He summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal (the sick)." (Lk 9:1-2)
He gives them authority to
act and authority to
speak in his name. And he sums this up in verse 16 -
"Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me"
That is a universal principle when Jesus gives someone a task, a mission, an office under his authority.
Thus when Jesus sends
the apostles out on the great mission with the great commission in Mt 28:19-20
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." He gives
the apostles the authority to
act and to
speak in his name, and the "
Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." applies to them.
The NT gives us an example of people trying to usurp authority:
Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits, saying,
“I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” When the seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, tried to do this, the evil spirit said to them in reply,
“Jesus I recognize, Paul I know, but who are you?” The person with the evil spirit then sprang at them and subdued them all. He so overpowered them that they fled naked and wounded from that house. (Acts 19:13-16).
They had no authority to act or speak in Jesus’ name and the evil spirits knew that.
I now want to go back to the Old Testament.
In Ex 3&4 God gives Moses a mission and gives him authority to act and speak for God. Moses is reluctant because of his poor speech so God put Aaron under Moses’ authority to speak on Moses behalf. (4:14-15). But note what God says to Moses in verse 16
"He shall speak to the people for you: he shall be your spokesman, and you shall be as God to him." Just read them emboldened bit twice.
We see this in the plagues where God told Moses and Moses told Aaron who acted.
Now move on to Numbers 12 where we see a warning about trying to claim authority you do not have. Aaron and Miriam grumble about Moses and thinking they are just as good as him.
They complained,
“Is it through Moses alone that the Lord speaks? Does he not speak through us also?” (vs 2).
God was angry and called all three of them to the meeting tent and said to them (vs 6-8)
“Now listen to the words of the Lord:
He then turned Miriam into a leper.
1. If you reject those who Jesus has given authotity to speak and act in his name then you are rejecting Jesus.
2. If you reject Jesus you are rejecting he Father (the one who sent Jesus).
3. God will punish those who try to usurp authority