Exousia (ex-oo-see’-ah) – it means authority jurisdiction, liberty, power, right, strength.
Dunamis (doo’-nam-is) – it means force, power, ability, strength.
We were discussing Matthew 10:1 in last week’s Bible Study. “He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” [Matt 10:1 NIV]
Some translations say Jesus gave them authority, some say Jesus gave them power. The Greek word used is exousia. I heard a minister describe the difference between exousia and dunamis this way: A policeman meets a criminal on the street, both have a gun. Both have power, dunamis. But the policeman carries a badge and has the weight of the law behind him, that’s exousia, authority.
Jesus delegated His authority over evil spirits, disease and sickness to His disciples as He sent them out. Mark tells us the outcome. “They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” [Mark 6:12-13 NIV]
We’ve noted in these last weeks that discipleship has a cost, but we should also note that discipleship has a delegated authority to function in the name of Jesus Christ. We are not perfect vessels and do not always operate in that authority. We don’t always hear distinctly what Jesus commands us to do. But we should be aware that when we hear Jesus tell us to pray a certain way or speak a certain word, His authority is with us to do so.
