On Whose Authority?
In the account of Matthew 21:23-32, Jesus’ authority was questioned by the religious leaders, “The chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority
are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?’” (v. 23) Why did the religious leaders question Jesus? Their system was threatened, so they had to protect it. God’s Word is often questioned today in attempts to justify our actions. It’s nothing new; it began in the garden. In Genesis 3:1 it reads, “And [the serpent] said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?’” When they said, “these things” to Jesus, they were referring to His teaching and miracles, and they were probably thinking about the cleansing of the temple. They couldn’t deny anything; His miracles were obvious and too numerous to be fraudulent. His teaching was with force and clarity, all His words had authority. Jesus was too wise to fall for their trick and instead turned the tables on them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: the baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?” (vv. 24-25a) Jesus caught them in their own trap: they had hoped for a claim that they could use to charge Him with blasphemy. Because John was popular as a prophet, they couldn’t affirm him without condemning themselves, because John had hailed Jesus as the Messiah. And they couldn’t deny John without fear of the people’s response, because John was a hero of sorts. So, they made a political calculation to back off, “They answered Jesus and said, ‘We do not know.’” (v. 27a) But Jesus declined to play their game, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” (v. 27b) The religious leaders were hypocrites and Jesus exposed them openly—He continues to do so today!
Sin cera, Erik
Erik O. Garthe is Associate Pastor at Canton Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland.