BY WHAT
AUTHORITY?
What do you think has caused the
controversy about the movie? Lots of
smokescreens have been used to cover one of the most basic options, namely –
“What right, or by what authority, do you have to tell this story?”
In our culture, only certain segments of
the culture claim to have the authority to grant permission for what reaches
the ears and eyes of the public. That
“elite establishment” controls access to the flow of acceptable information and
the church is clearly not a part of that ruling party!
In Jesus’ culture, that “elite
establishment” consisted of the Romans and the Jewish religious
institution. Here described is an
encounter with the latter.
Ordination of rabbis, credentials for teachers,
etc., came from them exclusively so Jesus was being challenged about His right
to do what He had been doing.
Matthew 21:23 “By what authority … who gave
it to you?”
--What they
implied was, “We didn’t give it you!”
When they spoke of “these things,” they were referring to
more than just His current teaching—things like the recent clearing of the
temple, healing, general teaching, etc.
THESIS: All things in heaven and earth are
under the absolute authority of Jesus Christ, an authority He does not need to
answer for, but to which we must answer.
This passage provides an example of what
happens when…
I. Questions are asked to discredit Christ
instead of to discern truth.
II. Christ explodes
unbelief instead of explaining and defending it’s authority.
III. People try to
avoid consequences instead of accepting responsibility.
--As we explore this passage, let’s consider these questions
in order.
I. WHEN QUESTIONS DISCREDIT CHRIST INSTEAD OF DISCLOSE TRUTH
--Were the leaders looking for truth?
--No, their questions were intended…
…to trap, not learn
…to intimidate, not respect
…to discredit, not discover
--Not much had changed in the way the Jewish leaders viewed
Jesus since the start of his ministry.
--The leaders demanded to know…
… Signs of power --John 2:15
… Source of authority
--Matthew 21:23
·
“Unbelief is really non-progressive.” – R. C. H. Lenski
--There is nothing original about the
stubbornness and close-mindedness of unbelief.
·
“When unbelief investigates spiritual truth, it is
predisposed to reject it.” --John MacArthur
u
Arrogance led them to believe Jesus owed them an explanation!
II. WHEN CHRIST EXPOSES UNBELIEF INSTEAD OF EXPLAINS HIS AUTHORITY
--Jesus cuts to the bottom line in the way He responds to
their questions by going to the central issue—“I will ask you one thing….”
--The “one thing” about which He asks them forms the
foundation for His answer to their question about His authority:
What source of
authority are you willing to accept as a valid basis for reaching your
conclusions about what you choose to believe and do?
--Jesus chose to ask a question He knew would crystallize
the perspective the Jewish leaders had on the subject of sources of authority.
--The only source of authority acceptable in their
circles was their own man-made ideas, an ever-changing body of thoughts that
were constantly adjusting to suit the latest interpretations and spins on what
would pose for truth on any given day.
--In other words, Jesus went at the heart of their unbelief
in Him and the authority of God by making it clear that they were unwilling to
acknowledge any authority beyond themselves.
--The way He turned the tables on them was a stroke of
genius as He asked them to identify the source of authority in the ministry of
John the Baptist.
Matt. 21:24-25a And Jesus answered and said to them, “I will
ask you one thing too, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what
authority I do these things. 25
“The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?”
--That this exchange was no chance encounter was obvious by
now—the Jewish leaders had agreed on their plan to trap Jesus with the question
of His source of authority.
--Now they are forced to retreat into a “dialogue,
consideration, reasoning” among
themselves to try to recover from the twist that had just occurred with this
provocative question that they knew they did not dare answer!
Matt. 21:25b-26 … And they began reasoning among themselves,
saying,” If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not
believe him?’ 26 “But if we
say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude; for they all hold John to be a
prophet.”
--Was it possible for them to be honest? Not in their estimation because either way
they answered promised to bring consequences they were not ready to accept.
A. HIS
AUTHORITY WAS FROM GOD
--First,
that would mean that they would have to deny their own monopoly on the
“authority business.”
--Second, it
would mean that if John’s authority was from God, then they would have to
accept it as authoritative over themselves and His testimony would have to be
believed:
1. Jesus was the Lamb of God
John 1:29 The next day he saw
Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin
of the world!
2. Jesus was the Son of God
John 1:32-34 And John bore witness saying, “I have beheld
the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 “And I did not recognize Him, but
He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit
descending and remaining upon Him, this is the one who baptizes in the Holy
Spirit.’ 34 “And I have
seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
B. HIS
AUTHORITY WAS FROM MEN
--If they concluded that John only had authority from a
human source, then their admission of that belief would have incited the crowds
who had strongly affirmed that John was a prophet of God—therefore His
authority would have originated with God.
--They said “we fear the
multitude” – 21:26
--They could not risk the anger of multitudes who
believed John to be from God.
u Their time of reasoning concluded – Dishonesty is best policy! Therefore,
they answered…
Matthew 21:27 – “We don’t know!”
III. WHEN PEOPLE AVOID CONSEQUENCES INSTEAD OF
ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY
--Either answer carried consequences
they were unwilling to face.
--Their
role as religious leaders, as well as religious people, placed responsibility upon them they were unwilling to accept.
--The truth was of no interest to them – they discussed only options to
save face!
--They
proved to be spiritually empty, religious believers, arrogant cowards hiding
behind a cop out answer, “I don’t know!” when it was their life business to
know!
Jesus responds to their stubborn refusal to admit their
unbelief by telling them that He has no intentions of submitting to their
demands about His authority when they themselves had no authority to answer His
“one question.”
·
Bottom line
(for them)
--They had no interest in the truth.
--They limited their reasoning only to what might result
from their answers, not whether they were true.
--They were their own authority and recognized no other.
--They dismissed obvious evidences that refuted their
conclusion, they “suppressed the truth” and “preferred darkness to light.”
·
Bottom line
(for us)
By
what authority do you do what you do?
What do you consider yourself authorized, empowered, capable and free to
do? Jesus Christ has authority …thoughts…emotions…words
…relationships…sexuality…eat/drink…whatever!
u Jesus Christ has authority over all things!
We yield to Him and answer to Him in all things! As we try to understand the dynamics behind
this exchange between Jesus and the chief priests and elders, that is the primary
lesson to be remembered. We have no
authority over Him, nor can we demand from Him an explanation of why He does
what He does—from what source His authority and power come.
Why? Because He is Lord!
Do not be
surprised when people refuse to believe that Jesus Christ has all authority in
heaven and earth because it is very likely that they will prefer to say that
they do not know or that it is impossible to know by whose authority He did
what He did.
Once again, ask yourself by what authority you do what you
do when you choose to set aside what God’s Word says. When we understand who He is, we no longer can willfully choose
to turn away from the One who has authority over every speck in the
universe…and certainly has every right to exercise that authority over
everything that touches me and my life!
February 22, 2004
© David Horner 2004
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