By What Authority?

       Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?”

      They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

            Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things
                                                                                                      (Matthew 21:24-27)                     

      The Pharisees thought they were doing their jobs. The Jews were told that if anyone claimed to be a prophet, if they got anything wrong one time they were to be stoned to death. If anyone tried to lead them to follow other gods, they were to be stoned to death.  Judgment was to be made based on the testimony of at least 2 witnesses. They were doing what they were supposed to in asking by what authority Jesus did what He did. The problem was that they had already made up their minds and didn't want to be confused with any facts. They were like materialists today, who look at the same evidence that Christians do and declare that it is absolutely impossible that creation came to be by the work of a Creator.

           The other thing the Pharisees were doing is trying to manipulate Jesus into saying something publically that would turn the people against Him or allow them to condemn Him as a heretic. If He had said He did them by God's authority, He would have been telling the truth. The problem was that the Pharisees thought they were doing things by God's authority, and Jesus kept rejecting their additions to the Law. If He had said by the authority of anyone else, the people would have rejected Him as a prophets. So, Jesus turned the tables.

        We face this question in our own lives. Take a moral stand in our society and you're likely to be asked who died and made you God? It is assumed that you are standing on your own authority. If you point out that Scripture says that "this" is wrong, you will  be told that Scripture is no longer relevant.

       Perhaps we should question these folks about by whose authority they act, or by whose authority someone they consider to be good acts. If the good person acts on his own authority, then there is no standard by which to judge anyone's actions. It is often only by borrowing from a fairly specific ancient authority that someone is declared good.  It's the same authority that they reject. 

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Birthday of Alexander Graham Bell

Anniversary of Star Spangled Banner being made National Anthem (1931)