By What Authority?

Luke 20:1-8 KJ2000

(1) And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,
(2) And spoke unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority do you these things? or who is he that gave you this authority?
(3) And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me:
(4) The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?
(5) And they reasoned among themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did you not believe him?
(6) But if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.
(7) And they answered, that they could not tell from where it was.
(8) And Jesus said unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.


For some time in our state, politicians ran for office on a platform of "law and order." They vied with each other to see who could promise the most vigorous (and harsh) prosecution and treatment of criminals. People expect our government to deal with crime swiftly and severely.

That was true in this day as well, and the "law and order" types have come around to Christ to check his credentials. After all, the man has been cleaning out the Temple of some "honest" merchants; so it would be best to see if this man has the proper authority to do so. At least, that's the cover story. His righteousness and their hypocrisy have conspired to prevent an arrest—so far.

Jesus takes up the question of authority somewhat obliquely.

He brings to their mind the late John the Baptist, and asks about his authority.

John, of course, testified to Jesus. So if John's authority is valid, then (by implication) so is that of Jesus.

This was not the answer they wanted. If they say John had authority from God, then so does Jesus. If not, the people will stone them. They're caught between the fear of stoning and the fear of the truth. They take neither.

It is still true: who you are determines how you see Jesus. As David said in Psalm 18:26, "To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd." Their reaction to Jesus shows us what they were. And our reactions to Jesus show us what we are:

Some of us are in denial. It can't be true, therefore it isn't true. Miracles can't happen, people don't rise from the dead, and therefore no evidence will convince me. I don't want to hear the truth.

Some of us are fence-sitters. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not, but I'm just going to sit back and wait, hoping for something else to come along. No commitment, no glory.

But some take Jesus in the honest man's embrace. An honest man, confronted with the facts, takes action. Even if the facts don't fit his preconceived notions, he does what is right. And when that honest man finds Jesus, he knows the pearl of great price when he sees it.