The crowds following Jesus during his lifetime said he taught with "authority" because he lived what he preached, Pope Francis has said.
"Authority is seen in this: coherence and witness," the Pope said during his early morning Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae on January 14.
In the day's Gospel reading, Mk 1:21-28, people in the crowd remark on the authority of Jesus and how "he commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him."
Jesus' exercise of authority, the Pope said, is authentic because it can be seen. "What is seen? Coherence. Jesus had authority because there was coherence between what he taught and what he did, how he lived," he said.
