THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHALLENGED

Reading from Luke Ch. 20 vs 1- 8

Isn’t it interesting how most of the times we’d rather lie to ourselves than face the truth? I’m not sure if it’s the fact that facing the truth requires us to deal with things we don’t want to or maybe we just are comfortable with lies. Regardless it’s a good thing for one to ask themselves if there are any areas of your life that you’re running from searching and addressing. The Pharisees and scribes were such a special bunch, I wonder about how their thought processes went or even how they dealt with their beliefs. I think about how Jesus really shifted them in a way that made them unwillingly reveal the truths about themselves that they hadn’t accepted or dealt with. He rocked their world for lack of a better statement and they hated it but I always wonder if they ever asked themselves why.

Jesus on this particular day was doing his usual, teaching and preaching the gospel to people and the Pharisees, scribes and elders showed up and went to address him. They probably gathered prior to their arrival and had some discussion I can imagine like ‘ahh! Jesus is busy teaching again, who does he think he is? Who even allowed him? He is just fake and so and so. You know what? Let’s go question him, there’s no way he can be doing all these things’. I know the picture seems made up but they probably did discuss stuff to do with their traditions and how Jesus wasn’t following how they did stuff. Them being Pharisees and scribes, going through trainings and maybe indoctrinated and believing certain things couldn’t quite sit with the fact that Jesus was speaking how he did and doing what he did. It made them question but I think they never quite asked themselves the right questions, they always took a defensive stance and felt that he was going against them when he was just trying to tell people about God and the good news.

So they went to him and they asked him to tell them by what authority does he do the things he does and who actually gave him this authority. When we go back a little and or check the other gospels, these are the guys that accused Jesus of doing what he did by the power of demons. Now they were coming at him asking like tell us, I suppose it’s a good thing but then again I’m assuming they wanted clarity like they’d accept whatever Jesus would say. But the stance I believe never did change, they were asking who powers him, who sent him, who allows him to do or say the things he did. Thing is Jesus wasn’t your average teacher or prophet (because he wasn’t) but it was amazing in those times to see the things he did and hear what he said, the crowds gathered for different reasons  but always to see what he could/would do or teach. Now that much they understood but what the real issue was was the fact that they believed their own authority and teachings and all they got trained in and however they worked, that they did this by the authority of God and by the law. That being said, you then see that since they opposed Jesus and all he did they basically didn’t believe in anything he did because they didn’t think he did it by the authority of God or with accordance with the law like they did. Even though Jesus didn’t break any law but only went against their strict traditions.

Now Jesus I like because he never did respond directly, well at least not all the time, he either posed a question or gave a statement that would read the person. For him he is always about addressing the root and fixing where the real problems are and not what we assume them to be. He knew that with the Pharisees just saying the usual, that he is teaching by the authority of God or that he was God was just going to make them angry or more defensive. So he says to them that he’ll also ask a question and he said for them to tell him, “was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” This was the kind of question that not only would answer their question but also have them check themselves on what they actually believed. It’s not the easiest thing to be faced with the kind of things about yourself that you never thought were a problem or ever needed help with. We like to stay as we are, we are valid for our beliefs or how we feel in as much as our regular thought processes don’t have that question come and challenge the regular state of being. Then one day it comes and you have to ask why am I like this or why do I respond this way? Why do I believe that or do I actually believe that? Jesus was asking the Pharisees and scribes to ask themselves what they actually thought about John, did they believe what he preached and the things he had done? Where did they think he got that authority from to preach that message? Was it God who they thought breathed and worked through him or was he another fake they had issues with?

They make me smile how a parent might smile at a child who they know has the answers but can’t seem to direct their energies to them. I imagine they huddled to discuss like hmm if we say it’s from heaven he’ll ask why we didn’t believe him but if we say from man the people will stone us to death because they were convinced John was a prophet. It’s interesting how they went around the point or the answer, it was easy for them to see the decision others made about John or Jesus but they failed to see how they never looked at their own. They had a hard stance on the matter but never wanting to sit with the truth, they feared the consequences of it. They feared in a sense to stand for what they believed, because think about it, if they didn’t believe John or Jesus as they did, they were saying that God was not in what they did. Its how they behaved anyway but another thing about this would be them needing to face the great majority of People who thought the opposite of what they thought. Now that’s where I suppose one of the issues was, they couldn’t deal with going against the people or the people retaliating, it’s funny because they feared people standing for what they believed when they went around doing it. They seemed to have this pride and could not be told, they just believed what they decided yet couldn’t stand for it before the people. What I think was worse was they never ever tried to search the word/scripture to actually see that John and Jesus were fulfilling scripture.

You believe you fight for truth but you can’t face it, they couldn’t even be honest enough with the failure to decide, they just said to Jesus that they didn’t know. I always think of them and how they were always just a step from salvation and how they held themselves back. Like why not just sit in that uncomfortable place, say okay I’m not actually sure about this and I fear what that might mean to the things I’ve believed my whole life. Jesus responded that he too would not tell them by what authority he does what he does, it wasn’t him being difficult but more seeing how they’d just miss the point. They were failing to see the real issue there and him saying one thing or the other wouldn’t probably change their stance, they were already on the defence. You cannot help a person who doesn’t want to be helped or to listen, you’ll labour trying when they’ve already made their choice. You have to just wait and pray that God leads them and they come to the realisation of the issues. It’s going to be the same for us, we’ve most likely met people who will argue against the Christian faith and what Christ did, how it’s not true or whatever. You can argue but you’re really just arguing and fighting the underlying wall, just show love and listen, you should never force anyone to see Jesus. We must pray for them and hope that one day they see him or they get the encounter that makes things clear and they get to unpack whatever misconceptions and beliefs that are there. But for now like Jesus, be patient, ask a question but always show love and let them see his light shine through you. Remember Jesus love you always!