"Authority to Preach" August 21 Readings: John 12:20-50, Matthew 21:18-27, Mark 11:20-33, Luke 20:1-8

Today's Reading - John 12:20-50, Matthew 21:18-27, Mark 11:20-33, Luke 20:1-8

Background

The passage is John is first here because it is a continuation of a previous reading in John. Jesus is preparing for the end. John 12:23 is rife with irony. "The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." Think of what was about to happen to him. Arrest. Trial. Beating. Mocking. A crown of thorns. Carrying his cross. Nails in his hands and feet. Agony. And he called this being "glorified." Only Jesus would say that because he realized that the path to greatness was to lay down his life for the world. In verses 25-26, he called his disciples to follow him on the path of the cross, giving up their lives to him and for the sake of others.

Jesus was sinless, but in his battle with the Pharisees, he was not exactly innocent. He did most of his miracles on the Sabbath and said many things that insulted and infuriated them. He entered Jerusalem knowing that it would force a conflict.

And then Jesus began the "Battle Royale" by cleansing the temple, sending the money-changers packing. The religious leaders began to try to trip him up with difficult questions. Poor men - they brought knives to a gun fight. Their wisdom not only couldn't trap Jesus, they ended up looking foolish every time. In today's reading, Jesus' authority is challenged and their sincerity is what took the hit.

See the note at the end of the devotional for a discussion of the apparent contradictions in the gospel accounts of the passion narratives. 

Devotional - Authority to Preach

Ever heard a line and thought, "Wish I'd said that." Or, perhaps after an argument was over you thought of the perfect line, the precise comeback that would have settled the issue and won your verbal battle and you want to kick yourself for not coming up with it earlier. Jesus, full of wisdom and the Spirit, said those things when he was challenged by the Pharisees who were trying to both find a reason to arrest and kill him, and to make him look bad in the eyes of the populace.

Jesus was encroaching on their territory, teaching in the temple courts. How dare he? What right did he have to do such a thing? He was threatening their power, their control, their authority and they demanded to know who he thought he was to do such a thing.

Tell us by what authority you do these? Luke 20:2

Jesus never gave a straight answer to a question like this, challenging his authority. He answered their question with one of his own.

Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Luke 20:4

In a second, the balloon of their arrogance was deflated. That's because of what we talked about yesterday - they cared more about man's applause than God's truth. If they said John's baptism was divine people would wonder why they didn't submit to it and repent. If they denied John, an immensely popular and revered figure, they would offend many. They were in quite a bind - when you lead for the sake of popularity questions like this will always be quite a challenge. When people's opinions matter more than the pleasure of God such troubling issues will abound.

So, the Pharisees did the only thing they could, they folded their hand and admitted defeat. Since they refused to give Jesus an answer he refused to answer them.

But make no mistake, there is an answer, one that Jesus would make clear to his disciples a few weeks later, just before he was taken into heaven. "All authority has been given to me," Jesus said, and that authority he gave to us - to go anywhere to preach the gospel. Anywhere, anytime. On anyone's turf!

Father, I thank you that Jesus' death and resurrection gave us all the authority we needed to go anywhere to proclaim his name. 

Think and Pray

Remember that Jesus' work is the only authority you need for anything God has or will call you to do. Whether the world receives or rejects our message, our authority rests in Christ, not in the responses of people.

NOTE on apparent contradictions: 

Today's reading brings to light one of the key problems with the Synoptics. The story of the cursing of the fig tree appears in both Matthew and Mark, but details vary. We read the Mark story a couple of days ago and in today's reading Jesus and the disciples pass by and find the curse has had its effect and the fig tree has withered. In the Matthew reading, Jesus cursed the tree in the morning and it withered immediately. What is happening here? Were there two fig trees? That is a simple but highly unlikely solution.

The solution lies in the nature of the gospels and especially the minds of the writers. The men of that time did not have the strict sense of chronology that we do today. Both Matthew and Mark were telling the story about Jesus' curse on the fruitless tree. Mark relayed the details in two segments - the cursing on the way out of town and the observation of the withered tree on the way back in. Matthew combined these into one story as fit his theme.

All of the elements were still true. Jesus cursed the tree, which likely began to wither immediately. When they returned the next day the process was complete. He did and said what the scripture says he did and said!