“And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.”
The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, what is this? A new teaching — and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him — the crowd combines the amazement at the teaching with the amazement at the exorcism under the same category: authority. A new teaching is not merely novel but unprecedented — the combination of teaching and commanding authority over the spiritual realm is genuinely new in their experience. He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him: the obedience of the spirits is the key datum. Other exorcists used elaborate formulae and rituals; Jesus commands, and the spirits obey. The authority is in the person, not the technique.
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