Haley Who's in charge? The thought crosses our minds when a 4'11" police officer approaches our car, when the little guy in the striped shirt blows his whistle and takes us out of the game, when the lady at the airport security gate says, "Move out of lane and stand over against the wall." We asked that question, briefly, but very quickly answer it ourselves. The one in charge is the one with the authority.

The Bible describes several different types of power using several Greek words, from which we get the English words "dynamite", "crater," and "exercise". But the Greek word exosia is the one that gets my attention. It is defined, when used in speaking of God as: "absolute, unrestricted right". (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words) It is translated in most modern Bible translations as "authority".

Authority is appreciated when we recognize it as something good and not something to do us harm. When we see that there seems to be an intention for authority to do us harm, it is then that we look to a higher authority. It is there that we find the Gospel of Mark so reassuring as he tells of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

In Mark we have a quickstep picture of Christ as He dwelt among men with the heart of a servant. And yet, even as He took upon himself the form of a servant, He exercised His authority on many occasions.

In Mark Chapter 2, Jesus declares His authority to forgive sin, which only God could do. People have tried a lot of things to take away sins (and the associated guilt). In the movie The Sin Eater, a little Appalachian girl tries to find the man who eats people's sins so they can be forgiven- only to discover it doesn't work.

Others try a method a little less radical but still ineffective, as they try to work off their sins thinking two rights make up for a wrong. But you can't muscle away sin. It takes the authority of Jesus Christ to wash our sins away.

Later, in Mark Chapter 2, Jesus declares Himself "Lord of the Sabbath", again something clearly perceived as a claim to divinity.

In Chapter 3 we see His authority to delegate authority as He empowers His disciples. Sometimes people with delegated authority forget that they have a higher power and so the higher power exercises His authority to take them down a notch.

In Chapter 4 He demonstrates His authority over the forces of nature. Without even so much as a ritual "stop the rain" dance, He simply speaks to the storm and it obeys His voice.

The demonic spirits in Chapter 5 quickly recognized His authority, even begging Him to go easy on them. By the way, it says there were a "legion" of demons, so it was several thousand against one, but the "One" was Jesus and that made all the difference.

Also in Chapter 5 we get one of many stories of His authority over diseases as He heals the woman who touched the border of His robe. There is significance in that which is easily missed. The border or hem was more than ornamentation. It served as a person's signature in a way, identifying their authority. This lady needed healing badly, and she knew just where to get it. Not from someone with just the knowledge to heal, but from someone with the authority to heal.

Again in that same chapter, we read about what might be considered the most important authority of all, Jesus' authority over death itself. It has been said perhaps too many times that there are only three things in life we have to do: be born, pay taxes, and die. Death certainly deserves to be on that list.

There is no way around it. Even those whom Jesus raised from the dead eventually died.

But His resurrection power was displayed several times in Scripture, the final one being Himself, for He said concerning His life: "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." (John 10:18) In His own resurrection from the dead, Jesus took the sting out of the very thing that scares us most in life, for He experienced a real death and yet is alive forevermore.

As I read through the book of Mark and I see the authority of Jesus Christ in action, I can easily come to this conclusion. His authority affects me, but it doesn't scare me. I know He is looking out for my best interests. I don't always see that with earthly authority, but I can always expect that if I'm under His authority, I'm in good hands.

In the middle of the storm, in times of sickness, and in times of war, in times of death, it's a comfort to know Who's in charge.

Eric Haley is pastor of Calvary Chapel.