• Rebels resent it.
• Drivers defy it.
• Tyrants abuse it … Illinois politicians, too, sometimes, I guess.
• Bullies brag about it.
• Churches debate it.
• Preachers crave it.
• We all need it.
• And Jesus had it.

In fact, he had a double dose of authority. In the first chapter of the earliest Gospel, Mark tells us that Jesus had authority greater than that of the scribes and the unclean spirits.

From the beginning, Mark reminds us to pay attention to Jesus, because he has authority – authority beyond that of visible scribes and invisible spirits, surpassing the authority of earthly people and unearthly powers. Jesus has authority, Mark insists, for head and heart, body and soul, clean and unclean, known and unknown.

Jesus taught and cast out demons … “with authority.”

Today’s readings raise broad questions of that nature.

But more specifically, this text asks about the authority of Jesus. Where did he get it? What was it made of, for him? How did he use it?

The short answer might be that he was born with it. Or it came to him at baptism when the heavens were torn open and the Spirit descended. Or it was with him from the “beginning,” since, as John says, Jesus was “in the beginning with God.”

On a different day with a different scripture reading, any of those might be the right answer. But sticking close to today’s reading, I’d have to say that the authority of Jesus is rooted in Capernaum.

That’s where he is when today’s story opens. Capernaum. A city on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, between the rolling hills and rustling waters.

Capernaum. Mark 2:1, says it’s the place where Jesus made his home after leaving Bethlehem and Nazareth. Scholars add that 70 or 80 percent of his ministry took place nearby. The Sermon on the Mount, numerous healings, and more are traditionally associated with Capernaum and its environs.

But that’s not why I say that his authority is rooted there. Rather, my premise is based on the name. Not “Capernaum,” as we say in English, but “Kephir Nahum” – where “Kephir” means village and “Nahum” means compassion. In other words, the Village of Compassion.

The authority of Jesus is set on the grounds of compassion. His life, death, resurrection, and ongoing gifts to the church are summed up in that word. Compassion.

Others strive for authority by means of power and might, political intrigue, military arms, intimidation and numerical strength. But not Jesus.

Others claim authority by being smarter than others – more college degrees, more Ph.D.'s, more books written or read. But not Jesus.

Others feel authority is theirs for the taking based on skin color, the car they drive, the neighborhood they live in, which floor of the skyscraper they work on, the gender they are born with, the number of dollars in their personal account, or the ability to obey a strict code of religious rules in Leviticus – at least certain rules in that Old Testament book while they ignore others.

When he said, “Blessed are the peacemakers” and “turn the other cheek,” he rejected the kind of authority that is based on military might and strong-arm tactics.

When he placed a child in their midst and said, “You must become like one of these,” he rejected authority that is based only on how much a person knows.

When he told a story about a “good” Samaritan, he disavowed race and ethnicity as standards of authority. When he promised “living water” to a woman at a well, he showed the impotence of male/female distinctions in determining who has access to authority. When he plucked grain on the sabbath for people who were hungry, he broke an Old Testament/levitical law, and put a new one in place – a new commandment and authority, based on … compassion.

And to Jesus, who never kept a dime for himself, two copper pennies that a woman dropped in the temple offering were like a great treasure. So he obviously didn’t measure authority in terms of objects engraved with Caesar’s image.

Jesus was motivated by compassion. That’s what set him apart from the scribes and the spirits and other would-be authorities. The scribes were all about rules. The unclean spirits were about hurting people and making them feel bad.

But Jesus was about love-in-action. Which equals compassion.

Concern for the weakest of the weak, the poorest of the poor, the outcast, rejected, sick and dying – that was the blood coursing through his veins for 33 years, and spilling from him on the cross.

Food for the hungry. Grace and mercy for a broken and unfair world, and a covenant “forever.” All these are described in Psalm 111. And we associate them with Jesus – the Christ of Compassion.

Jerusalem was the religious center of the world at the time. Rome was the political and economic capitol of the world.

But the authority of Jesus overwhelmed the authorities of the world in both of those places with a completely different kind of authority that Jerusalem and Rome could not match – an authority that first appeared, not in a big city, but in a little village. Capernaum. A place called “Compassion.”

I am happy to report that some members of this congregation have been to Capernaum. Nine or ten years ago, we walked where Jesus once walked. And one day we stood in a synagogue built right over the original synagogue where Jesus demonstrated God’s compassionate authority among the scribes and the spirits.

Being there was much more moving than I ever expected. I didn’t feel like a tourist, but a pilgrim on a faith journey.

Whether or not you have been there, I want to suggest that Capernaum (or Kephir Nahum) is where we all are supposed to live. And Kephir Nahum is a true name for the Christian Church. After all, Kephir Nahum is a village – not a place Jesus went to by himself.

Without a “village” around Jesus, without people to join him in modeling compassion and grace, his authority withers. It dries up and disappears.

We are called to be the Capernaum of Christ. It’s who we are. We are his “Kephir Nahum” for this time and place. Whenever we gather, his authority is granted to us. And that authority is exercised properly whenever we do works of compassion in his name.

So Capernaum is found, I believe, wherever we are fed and nourished compassionately at his table; and wherever the hungry receive physical nutrition. Capernaum is any place we hear the call to heal and hallow a hurting world. Capernaum is where we go to hear scripture interpreted in life-giving ways, not as oppressive finger-wagging and rules.

And Capernaum, or Kephir Nahum, is any place where unclean spirits (& false authorities) are named and routed out, so that we do not cower from them any more.

Some folks will tell you that compassion is for sissies. They say being nice indicates a lack of authority and power. Compassion isn’t tough enough to stand up to the challenges we face, they say.

But how many of them who say it would die on a cross for what they believe? The authority of compassion is tough, I tell you. Tough as nails. And more.

It makes no apologies and has nothing to fear.

We are the Village where compassion makes its home. This is where Jesus comes to us and lives with us.

In this village, there are saints seen and unseen. There is history long remembered, and history yet to be written by our descendants. And in this village there is a Table where all are welcome.

I invite you to come and be fed by our host, the Compassionate One.