The Gospel texts which tell us that Jesus spoke with authority never suggest that he spoke with great energy or powerful charisma. In describing Jesus’ authority they use the word exousia, a Greek word for which we don’t have an English equivalent.
What’s exousia? We don’t have a term for it, but we have a concept: Exousia might be described as the combination of vulnerability, innocence, and helplessness that a baby brings into a room. Its very helplessness, innocence, and vulnerability have a unique authority and power to touch your conscience.
--Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI, Facebook
Image source 1: https://www.jesusfilm.org/blog-and-stories/when-jesus-really-born.html
Image source 2: Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Christ the Good Shepherd, detail (c.1660), https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/catechesis-of-the-good-shepherd-cultivating-the-christian-imagination-of-the-child/
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