No state has genuine authority. But most people think they do. Most think we’re obligated to obey even bad laws. When someone (other than ourselves) breaks the law, we think it appropriate for agents of the state to punish that person, even if we disagree with that particular law. I have heard that it is nearly impossible to get a jury to consider nullification of bad laws, because almost all jurors think they “have to” help enforce the law.
Why? The arguments for government authority are very weak (see here and here). I turn instead to psychological explanations, drawing on social psychology …
Because of this obedience [following Jesus in self-giving service] Jesus will forgive me my heresy. I am like one of those satraps who has been sent to the borders of the kingdom. He must rule there as best he can, and he knows quite well that he does many things differently from what the king intends. But he trusts that when the king comes, he will not be rejected, but will be judged according to whether he has in general administered his office in the spirit of the king.
He comes to us as one unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside. He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same word: ‘Follow thou me!’ and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is.
Pursuit of Percipience 