We had an argument about it. The two of us were looking at the statue, Michelangelo’s magnificent rendition of Moses in St. Peter in Chains church in Rome. As I recall, the argument was not about the rather strange fact that Moses has horns. These probably come from the biblical reference to "rays of light" seen around Moses’ face after his encounter with God on Mt. Sinai. Nor were we arguing about the obvious power exhibited by the statue. There is a chip on Moses’ knee, supposedly from Michelangelo himself, who, impressed with the life-like appearance of the work, is said to have thrown a chisel at the statue, saying, "Why don’t you talk?"

As I recall, the gentleman with whom I was having this discussion was contending that Moses was about to stand up. The expression on his face, with a slightly furrowed brow, the fact that one leg is cocked back, the tablets of the commandments he is holding, all suggest, according to this version, that Moses is seeing something, perhaps the golden calf the people have made in his absence, and that he is about to stand up and do something about it.

Not necessarily, I said. Some people just sit like that sometimes. And who knows what he’s looking at? Yeah, he looks stern, but Moses was a pretty serious guy. He seems to be sort of playing with his very long beard. Maybe he’s just thinking deeply about something. That was my read of the statue.

Now that I look at it again, I’m thinking he’s about to stand up and do something. I think he does look concerned, or ticked off, not just lost in thought. I’m guessing I was wrong. And did I mention that at the time I was a sophomore in college and the person I was arguing with was the chair of the Classics department at Davidson? We were in Rome on Classics Abroad, a three month study tour of Greece and Italy. As I think back, it’s just barely possible that Dr. Labban, who was not exactly a rookie to the world of Renaissance art, might have had a better read on the statue than I did. Maybe.

But you know how it is. It was 1974, and respect for authority was crumbling all around us. After all, Dr. Labban’s real specialty was the ancient Greek and Roman stuff. Did he for sure know all that much about Michelangelo’s work? Yeah, he did.

But you know how it is. Sometimes our respect for authority just disappears. I used to blame it all on Richard Nixon, stemming from the Watergate thing. But I’m currently reading a book which says you really have to start with Lyndon Johnson, and his desire to go it alone when it came to handling the war in Vietnam. Nixon, he says, followed in the same vein, then added Watergate, and our trust in authority hasn’t been the same since.

Remember that authority is different from power. Generally, someone has authority by virtue of holding a particular office or position. Police officers have the authority to direct traffic or arrest someone because they are police officers. Judges can send someone to jail because they are judges. Power is the ability to make something happen, to get something done. A thief with a gun may have the power to force a clerk to surrender the money in a cash register. A dictator in a country may have a great deal of power even if he is not the elected ruler.

But these days, who is an authority? If you have a tv show does that make you an authority? If you have written a book? If you have particular academic degrees? We like to think our medical doctors are authorities on diseases and physical problems, that attorneys are authorities on legal matters, that teachers are authorities in their areas.

But we know that some people who claim to be authorities are not as knowledgeable as they say they are. The authorities in charge of the response to hurricane Katrina failed in some important ways. Somebody is wrong in the creation/evolution dispute. Either those who say the universe is 6,000 years old are wrong or those who say it is several billion years old are wrong. Or maybe both, but they can’t both be right. Yet each side has its authorities.

It doesn’t take long for this discussion to hit close to home. Whom do we allow to be our authorities? To whom do we look when it comes to how we run our lives and the decisions we have to make? Who are the authorities when it comes to what we do with our money? What we do after we graduate from high school? How we raise our children? How we spend our free time? How we prepare for retirement?

All through our lives we face all kinds of decisions and choices. Where do we go for input and information? Sometimes we can let our heart be our guide. Sometimes we can allow our emotions to dictate what we do. But sometimes, often in fact, it would help if we had an authority to whom we could turn for help and advice. It would help if we had someone who was trustworthy, someone who really, genuinely could help us sort through the stuff of life.

The people in the synagogue in Capernaum thought they had found such a person. This Jesus, they say, taught them "as one having authority." The footnote in my Bible says, "Jesus spoke without citing various spiritual authorities in support of his teaching." In that day, and still today in the Judeo-Christian tradition, one often interprets scripture by beginning with what biblical scholars through the centuries have said about a particular passage. Augustine thought this, Luther said that. The Jewish people have volumes of biblical interpretation containing the opinions of those who have carefully studied scripture. We Christians have series after series of interpretive works.

And such would probably have been the approach of the scribes in Jesus’ day. They most likely would have referred to what some of the famous teachers had said, then perhaps added their own view. Jesus, on the other hand, seems to consistently offer a fresh approach. In fact in large measure it is his interpretation of scripture which gets him in trouble with the religious leaders of his day. He seems to have his own slant, his own view, his own way of reading scripture. Luke says on one occasion he is in the synagogue and reads from Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor." Then he sits down and says, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." That’s an interesting interpretation! Certainly not what the people expected to hear.

After he casts the unclean spirit out of the man they exclaim, "A new teaching–with authority." Sounds like a broad use of the word "teaching," but we get the point. Jesus is doing something new, something different. He is not simply reciting what others have said or doing what others have done. He is speaking and acting with authority. Why authority and not power? He obviously has power over the unclean spirits. But Mark wants to stress his authority as the Christ, the Son of God. He deserves a hearing, Mark says, because of who he is, because of his position, his office, as Messiah.

The question for us is, are we willing to accept his authority in our lives? When we are faced with a choice or decision, do we ask, not just what would Jesus do, but what would Jesus have me do? Do we consider what Jesus might have to say, what example he set? Do we allow Jesus to be an authority for us?

It’s not easy to do that. There’s the Jesus who welcomes children and takes pity on lepers and widows. But there’s also the Jesus who says, if someone asks for your coat give them your shirt also. There’s the Jesus who says, whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. There’s the Jesus who ends up on a cross because of what he says and does.

Are we willing to allow Jesus’ teachings and Jesus’ life to speak to us with authority? Are we ready to say, yes, because I believe he is who Mark says he is, I trust him completely?

The good news is, when we do accept his authority, he can remove unclean spirits from us. When we accept his authority, we are given new life. When we accept him as the ultimate authority for us, our lives are reoriented in sometimes scary but wondrous new directions. When we accept his authority.

The reason I went on Classics Abroad my sophomore year was that I had Dr. Labban my first semester as a freshman. After our first test we had to go meet with him. I had made a d on the test. And I wasn’t particularly concerned, it being one of my first college tests, plus the fact that I never figured to be an academic star. So I strolled into his office, expecting a sort of, well, hang in there son, kind of speech.

"Did you read the material?" was his opening line. I was taken aback. "Yes sir," I responded, "All of it." "Did you take notes?" he then asked. Notes...well...no, it really hadn’t occurred to me to take notes. "I, I know you can do better," he continued, his stern manner and Texas accent both very apparent. "I’m just going to disregard this." And with that he virtually threw me out of his office.

I was almost in tears. But for the next four years I took notes on what I read. I almost copied everything I read. And I graduated with better than a B average. Thanks to Dr. Labban. Fortunately, on that first encounter, I accepted his authority. And eventually I did with the statue of Moses, too.