Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Once we are filled with the Spirit, Jesus would have us live out of this place of the perception of our hearts in delightful anticipation of His will and purposes coming forth rather than rather than by judgment and assuming the worst of others.

It is this place of seeing as He sees that we are in a place to understand people and also rebuke and challenge them when needed. Isaiah 11:4 goes on to paint a picture of Jesus seeing clearly from the place of the heart:

 But with righteousness and justice shall He judge the poor and decide with fairness for the meek, the poor, and the downtrodden of the earth; and He shall smite the earth and the oppressor with the rod [scepter] of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

Too often we are more like the person who has a log in our own eye and looks to remove the spec in our brother's eye. We confront someone without understanding them. We point our finger at our brother and accuse them because of what we see as sin when we are actually judging them.

The Pharisees were full of judgments for others in their sin, yet they failed to live up to their own self-righteous standards. Where they looked down on the prostitutes, drunkards, and who they saw as impure as beneath them, Jesus lifted these people up as valuable. He saw them from a whole different perspective.

Jesus saw the hierarchies of power, systems of oppression and prejudice as the significant problem. When asked why He hung around sinners, He told them that it was not the healthy who needed a physician but the sick. He set free the downtrodden and oppressed while he confronted the systems, thoughts, opinions, and prejudice of the time that crushed the people.

He advocated for the poor rather than add to their burdens by condemning them. Proverbs 31:8-9 says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

It didn't mean that Jesus failed to confront sin. As an example, the religious leaders brought Jesus a woman caught in adultery and wanted to stone her according to the law. Jesus told them that the one without sin should throw the first stone. In this, He was confronting the self-righteousness of these leaders who pointed their fingers at others while living lives filled with sin.

As the all left, Jesus asked if there were any of them left who accused and condemned her. As she said 'no,' And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go [and sin no more].” (John 8:5-11)

It was out of love and wanting her best that He confronted the sin and told her not to do it anymore rather than judgment and condemnation. Jesus is the good news to all who are oppressed and downtrodden. He didn't come to condemn or add to burdens but to set us free from them.

Psalm 146:7-10 proclaims,

“He brings about justice for those who are oppressed.

He gives food to those who are hungry.

Yahweh sets prisoners free.

Yahweh gives sight to blind people.

Yahweh protects foreigners.

Yahweh gives relief to orphans and widows.

But he keeps wicked people from reaching their goal.”

One of the thought processes and systems of oppression that Jesus confronted was their way of thinking of marriage and divorce. At the time, men were discarding their wives for any reason. If they didn't like the way she looked one day, it was acceptable to divorce her.

This was based under their interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1, “If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something offensive in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house.”

In Matthew 19: 8-9 He said to them, “Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, Whoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery: and whoever marries her which is put away does commit adultery.” [a]

Jesus taught and spoke with authority (Matthew 7:29). His words had authoritative power to create, change and reverse the order of things. Jesus says in John 12:49-50 (MSG), “The Word, the Word-made-flesh that I have spoken and that I am, that Word and no other is the last word. I’m not making any of this up on my own. The Father who sent me gave me orders, told me what to say and how to say it. And I know exactly what his command produces: real and eternal life. That’s all I have to say. What the Father told me, I tell you.”

The word authority is the Greek word exousia, Strongs #1849 and denotes “the power of rule or government,” and “the power of one whose will and commands must be obeyed by others.” An example of this power as used in Matthew 28:18 where it says, “All power [exousia] in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” [3]

The Scripture in Isaiah 11:4 prophesies about Jesus when He came, “He shall smite the earth and the oppressor with the rod [scepter] of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.”

The word rod here as I denoted is actually the word scepter. A scepter symbolizes the divine power, authority and control of the King. It is the same word that is used in Psalm 2:9, “You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

Jeremiah demonstrated this kind of authority, ruling from His mouth and slaying the wicked with His words.  The Lord says to him in Jer. 1:10, "Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant."

 

Exousia power is a position of authority by one's right to rule. An example of this positional authority would be a policeman's ability to stop traffic. [4] He has the power not due to physical strength but by the privileges bestowed upon him because of his position.

Another example of Jesus demonstrating this right of His position is in Matthew 9:6, “But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power [exousia] on earth to forgive sins,(then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.”

This exousia power that was granted to His disciples. Mark 3:14-15 says, “He appointed

twelve--designating them apostles --that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority [exousia] to drive out demons.

It was also used when Jesus commissioned the 70 disciples and sent them out. Luke 10:17-19 says, “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us through your name. And he [Jesus] said to them, 'I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give to you power [exousia] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power [dunamis] of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.'” (Luke 10:19)

Exousia is different from dunamis power which is the power in action or force to perform miracles. We get our word dynamite from dunamis as it means explosive power. [5] Acts 6:8 says, “And Stephen, full of faith and power [dunamis], did great wonders and miracles among the people.”

This dunamis power is referred to in Luke 9:1 as given to the disciples as well, “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power [dunamis] and authority [exousia] over all devils, and to cure diseases.”

It was both in this exousia authority and dunamis power of Jesus that the disciples preached and did exploits. Standing in their rightful position of authority, they preached with an unexplainable boldness that had positional power but they also preached by the dunamis power of God, performing signs, wonders and miracles.

Acts 4:13 -4 says, “After they found out that Peter and John had no education or special training, they were surprised to see how bodly they spoke. They realized that these men had been with Yeshua. When they saw the man who was healed standing with Peter and John, they couldn't say anything against the two apostles.”

Lord, let us keep in step with your Spirit. Teach us to walk in the fullness of all you have for us.

a. In Matthew, Jesus notes that in living out of ones own judgment by sight, hearts were dull and callous. It is the way that those who are unsaved look at the world and their surroundings. He told his disciples in Matthew 13:13-17,

“For this is the reason I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand. Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says,

'You listen and listen, yet never understand;

and you will look and look, yet never perceive.

For this people's heart has grown callous;

their ears are hard of hearing,

and they have shut their eyes;

otherwise they might see with their eyes

and hear with their ears.'”

The word hear or listen is Hebrew word sema, Strongs #8085, and it means to pay attention, obey, consent and/or be summoned. [1] He was addressing people who would see with their eyes and hear with their ears but never perceive the truth and follow it with their hearts. Commentary notes they would not believe in faith and respond accordingly. [2]

It is rebellion and sin that makes our heart's hard. The Lord proclaims in Isaiah 48:8b, “For a long time your ears have not been open, For I knew that you were very treacherous; and were known as a rebel from birth.”

Isaiah proclaims that several with hard hearts would be awakened in Isaiah 35:4b-6: “Here is your God; vengeance is coming. God's retribution is coming; He will save you.' Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy.”

When we are saved we are given a new heart (Ez. 36:25-27). However, it does not mean that our hearts cannot grow cold and callous again. In Luke 8, Jesus tells a parable of see falling on various soils in the ground (hard path, rocky, thorny) that does not bear fruit. Not believing, not allowing it to take root and choking the word out the word with riches, worries and pleasures of life were all reasons the word failed to bear fruit.

a. For further reading on Writ of Divorce see https://bible.org/article/teachings-jesus-divorce-%E2%80%94-matthew-531-32a

1. Strong, James: The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed. Ontario : Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996, S. H8085

2. KJV Bible Commentary. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1994, S. 1311

3. Vine, W. E. ; Unger, Merrill F. ; White, William: Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville : T. Nelson, 1996, S. 2:45

4. Some clarification of the difference between exousia power and dunamis power located at: http://www.prayertoday.org/2004/trainer/war-power.htm

5. Strong, James: The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed. Ontario : Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996, S. G1411