“All authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” The Lord Jesus Christ spoke those words after His resurrection and we need to lay hold of those words today. Our Savior is the Savior who has all authority. Listen to what He says now, “And Jesus came and spoke unto them saying, ‘All authority is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.'” All authority. He has authority to teach. In Matthew 7:29 when our Lord finished what we call the Sermon on the Mount, the people were amazed at His authority.

You see the teachers they were accustomed to hearing spoke from authorities. “Now Rabbi so and so says this” and “Rabbi so and so says that.” Our Lord didn’t do that. Our Lord spoke with authority. He has the authority to teach. He has the authority to forgive. He said to a man one day, “I forgive you of your sins.” The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins, Matthew 9:6, and the people were shocked! Who gave Him authority to forgive? Today He can forgive you. He has that authority. He has the authority to overcome Satan. In Matthew 10:1 He gave authority to His disciples and sent them out and He said, “I give you authority over Satan. You can cast out demons.” Authority to overcome.

Now He tells us at the end of Matthew’s Gospel He has all authority. Now if He has all authority, this means He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He has delegated a certain amount of authority to people. Parents have authority over their children. Employers have authority over their employees. The government has a certain amount of delegated authority over citizens but here we have the Lord Jesus saying, “I have all authority.” That means He deserves from us all obedience, all reverence, all trust. If He has all authority, there’s nothing to be afraid of! He is controlling everything. If He has all authority, we should not question Him or doubt Him. He knows what He is doing. If He has all authority, then His Word is with power and when we trust His Word and obey it, He gives to us the victory. Let’s live today for the One who says, “I have all authority.”