Crumbs 127 Whose Authority?
Scripture Mark 27-33-WEB27 They came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him, 28 and they began saying to him, “By what authority do you do these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 The baptism of John—was it from heaven, or from men? Answer me.” 31 They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven;’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 If we should say, ‘From men’”—they feared the people, for all held John to really be a prophet. 33 They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
As I have worked my way through Mark’s Gospel I have become intrigued by the way in which Jesus dealt with different people . I see that His comments matched the spiritual needs of the person He was addressing. A book on the subject needs to be written. Here Jesus’ enemies set a trap for Jesus, tempting Him to claim divine authority and thereby in their eyes to commit blasphemy. But Christ’s reply was not simply a clever way out of danger. It was what this group of people needed. To follow Christ we too must start with the teaching of John to Baptist : i.e. repentance. It is a gate way to the teachings of Jesus. These folk needed radical change in their lives and thinking. This was the first step.
Another issue underlies this incident. It could have resulted in the arrest and death of Jesus. That it did not was entirely due to Jesus’ wisdom. He had come to die but He would be incontrol. This is a principle we see throughout His life. The life, death and resurrection challenge us. Who is behind them? By what authority…? Jeus us challenges us through the centuries. What was the source of His power? Who was the source of Hs authority? Each of us have to answer these questions.
Questions
What do we learn from how Jesus deal with people?
In what ways was John the Baptist’s teach a preparation for Jesus’ ministry?.
