Skip to main content

226. Jesus' Authority Questioned Again

Deuteronomy 18:17-22, Matthew 21:23-27, Mark 11:27-33, Luke 20:1-8
Key Verse: Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."
Matthew 21:27, Mark 11:33, Luke 20:8

Amazingly, here is one event that appears in all three synoptic gospels and there is no deviation. Jesus is in the temple courts teaching. Jesus is confronted by the religious leaders who seek to thwart Him. He manages to ask a simple question that exposes their hypocrisy and Jesus takes the situation in hand. It's basically that simple.

The question posed by the leadership, "by what authority do You do these things?" reminds us of another question that Jesus asked His disciples much earlier: "Who do men say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15) The leadership wasn't necessarily wrong to be concerned about where Jesus derived His power, just as Jesus Himself examined His disciples to learn just how sure their faith was in Him. 

 In Deuteronomy, as we have mentioned before, the people were told to "test the prophets," (Deut. 18:17-22) so this examination in and of itself wasn't exactly wrong. What was wrong was the motive. The leadership was looking for a reason to get rid of Jesus. What better reason would they have than if they could make it appear that Jesus was a blasphemer? Then, they could be justified in having Him stoned and even the crowd could not object.

Jesus, who examines the heart, knew their true motives and exposed the leadership for the hypocrites, or actors, they truly were. They didn't really care about obeying God's law. They really cared about losing power and influence over the people. Their piety was really a fraud as was made plain as they talked among themselves when Jesus asked them about John the Baptist.

They obviously didn't think much of John the Baptist either, but they couldn't let the people know that. John the Baptist had been popular with the people and now, especially since he was dead, they didn't dare say anything against him for fear of angering the populace. They would lose their voice for sure, especially since He had died for his defense of righteousness. The people believed that John was a true prophet from God! Why, even his birth was miraculous! In truth, the leadership probably thought that John was just a zealous troublemaker, but they didn't dare to let their views be known on the matter.

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave when once we attempt to deceive." The leadership had failed in their attempt at trickery because Jesus had the true authority that they were questioning. Instead of catching Jesus as a fraud, Jesus caught them in their own web of deceit.

How about us: who do we really believe Jesus is? Do we really believe that He is who He says He is? Do we act like we believe it? Does He truly have authority over our lives? By what right, or by whom does He have that authority? It's good for us to take the time to see if our beliefs meet up with our actions and to ask ourselves who really has the authority in our lives: us, Jesus, or something else? Would you be accused of being under Jesus’ authority by your critics?

Hymn: "I Believe In Jesus"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

211. The Sons of Thunder's Request

Matthew 20:20-28 , Mark 10:35-45 , Key verse: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." Mark 10:43B-44 In our readings for yesterday, in which Jesus outlined what was about to happen to Him, for His disciples, the passage in Luke ends: "The disciples did not understand any of this. It's meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what He was talking about." ( Luke 18:34 ) Now, we see just how truly clueless they were. Jesus had laid out a plan before them of pain and suffering and death and now James and John are focused on a promotion. The disconnect is so obvious. It's really not important to know whether James and john came up with this request on their own or if their mother put them up to it. The request was made and James and John thought that they could handle the responsibility that would come with it. What is that saying, "Fools rush in where angels fe...
Post a Comment
Read more

These Boots are Made for Walking

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-15 These Boots are Made for Walking. Of course, I picked that title because it has a reference to popular culture, and it connects with our text today about “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” I was tempted to play the video of that song, but it’s really not amenable to worship. If you remember that old song, it was quite confrontational. The singer had a righteous complaint against a boyfriend or spouse who was cheating on her. She’s not going to put up with that, and the song goes on to say, “One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you!” And that “take a stand” bravado made her a hero! It was a #1 hit in 1966. I mention it because it has one interesting parallel and one major contrast with the message of grace and forgiveness. That parallel is this. God has a righteous complaint against the entire human race for cheating Him out of the loving relationship He desires with us. As the God who created us, he h...
Post a Comment
Read more

186. Ten Healed, Or One?

Luke 17:11-19 Key Verse: Then He said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." Luke 17:19 At last, Jesus has left the crowd behind and again is continuing His journey toward Jerusalem. His path takes Him and His disciples along the border of Judea and Samaria, between the pure Jews, and the hated half breeds of the day. On His way, Jesus encounters an interesting group of people. We only learn the nationality of one of them and, though we don't know the nationality of the others, because Jesus sends them to the priests in Jerusalem we can probably assume that at least some of them are Jews. Isn't it interesting that through leprosy, a disease that causes much suffering, the dividing wall of hatred has come down for the sake of companionship? We encountered one leper earlier on our Journey. Lepers were the dreaded untouchables of the day. Their disease cut them off from all they loved. It was a very lonely life. No wonder these people had ...
Post a Comment
Read more