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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"

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