Last week we explored a subversive story Jesus told about laborers, in which those hired late got paid the same as those who worked all day. After telling this tale, Jesus healed two blind men. This was all a bit much for the religious leaders whom he was always skewering; they had to confront him. “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” they ask him. (This week's gospel passage is here.)
Authority. We order our lives by it. Sometimes we expend considerable energy flouting it. Often, the less of it we have, the more we want to wield it over others – observe some restaurant hosts or train conductors.
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day held authority by virtue of their positions in the temple, or were given it for their reputation as teachers. But their authority was very limited. The occupying Romans allowed a nominal Jewish king and religious structure to exercise power, but only under their close and watchful eye. Any affront to the temple council’s oversight of Jewish life threatened to undermine the whole system. That is one reason they were so antagonistic toward Jesus and his followers. Their question really was: “Who said you could come in here to our temple, teach and preach and flout our Sabbath laws and heal people right and left? Who do you think you are?”
Jesus doesn’t answer them directly in this instance, but his answer usually came down to one thing: "My authority was given me by God." Which is fine, if you believe Jesus is intimately connected to God. It is not so fine if you believe he’s a deluded fool, at best, and a master manipulator at worst. What Jesus cited as evidence for his claim was his works, his miracles. (John 10:36-38) But they had trouble seeing his authority because of the packaging – Jesus was an itinerant preacher and healer, not an official clergyperson.
And this was God’s big idea – to send his Son, in whom God was fully realized, into this world as a mere human person, so we could come to know God. The passage from Philippians this Sunday expresses this in the words of an ancient hymn. “And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.” Jesus’s authority was not visible until he’d completely given himself away.
Does God have authority in your life? Though I do believe Jesus is my friend in a way, I do not imagine myself on equal footing with God – the whole revelation Jesus unfolded, and which we’ve been unpacking ever since, assumes that we honor God’s authority over us, over life itself. How does that sit with you? Is it a relief or a burden not to be God's equal?
In our current age, nothing is considered true just because the church says so, even for church-goers. But Christ-followers are not called to promote a set of ideas – we are invited to make known a risen Jesus who said he was Truth, Truth made personal, Truth made knowable. As we keep getting to know him and making him known, we will find just how free we can be under his authority.
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