“Because I said so.”
It’s the refrain of tired teachers and parents everywhere. Despite my best intentions, there have been a few times in my teaching career when I’ve used the phrase out of frustration.

Yesterday morning in church, a similar idea kept popping into my mind, and it got me thinking about the times I’ve said, “Because I said so.” The deeper question behind it was this: Why is it so hard to surrender to Jesus as Lord?

It’s an interesting question because it applies to believers and nonbelievers alike. By definition, anyone who hasn’t placed their faith in Christ hasn’t yet surrendered to Him. However, even as believers, we know that trusting Jesus fully is a daily challenge, especially when it seems like He’s leading us to do something that doesn’t make sense.

This rather uncomfortable truth brought me back to those times when I’ve told my students some version of, “Because I said so,” as if I were looking in a mirror. I realized that when I say this, it’s because I want my students to trust me. By that point, we’ve usually spent several months together. They know me. They know I’m there to help them. They know that everything I do in class is for their benefit. Yet they still struggle to surrender completely to my authority and trust my leadership.

So why is it so hard to surrender?
I spent most of my time at church yesterday thinking about this question. I believe a key component is trust.

No one in their right mind fully submits to an authority they don’t trust to care for them. When life forces us to live or work under someone we don’t trust, we naturally question them:
Why did they choose that? What do they gain from it? Are they really on my side?

For most of us, by the time we reach adulthood, life experience has taught us that the old saying is true: Power corrupts. We hear stories about political corruption and see bosses who prioritize their own interests over their employees. All of this makes trust—especially the deep trust needed for surrendering to God—difficult to come by.

And I think that’s part of the reason even believers sometimes struggle to surrender to Jesus as Lord.
We’re so used to seeing people in power misuse it. We start to expect betrayal, selfishness, or oppression whenever authority is involved.

That’s what makes the example of Jesus all the more miraculous.

In today’s passage, Jesus goes to the synagogue to teach. It’s a simple but powerful moment. He reads a few verses from Isaiah and declares that the prophecy has been fulfilled right then and there.

It’s not a message that went over very well with His original audience. But what Jesus said is a beautiful reminder:
We serve a Savior who has all the power in the universe—and chooses to use it to minister to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, and set the captives free.

This is what I believe the true glory of God is. Even though He possesses unlimited power, He uses it not for His own sake, but to bless and rescue us. Jesus is trustworthy because He is perfectly powerful and perfectly selfless.

He doesn’t seek glory for Himself in a selfish way. He doesn’t use His authority to dominate or oppress. Instead, every act of His leadership is an act of love. Every miracle, every sacrifice, every word spoken from His mouth flows from His heart for us.

And that’s why surrendering to Jesus is safe and good. Even when His leading doesn’t seem to make sense in the moment, we can hold on to the truth: If He said so, we can trust it’s for our good.

Let’s remember this today. In a world where power often leads to corruption, we serve the one authority who is always good, always faithful, and always for us.