According to the world’s leading authorities on… you fill in the blank. With enough experience, training, education, and public connection with a topic matter and people may respect what you have to say on a matter, and might actually listen. You might be asked to give a TED talk.
Rock skipping. You can find world champions and people who love stone skipping so much that they practice daily and the record skips are usually over 10 skips in the water for a length near 100 yards. The results are self evident, these rock skippers are in a class all by themselves, the championship winner is the authority on rock skipping. If you really want to know what makes for good skipping, you would want to listen.
People listened to Jesus closely. It was self evident how well he taught. Already on the one day that Jesus taught in the temple as a boy as recorded in the gospel of Luke, all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. Already in Mark chapter 1 Jesus is teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath, “And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.”
In the gospel of Matthew following the Sermon on the mount, the “crowds were astonished at his teachings, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, not as their scribes.”
But it was not just in teaching that Jesus displayed authority, in Mark chapter 2 while Jesus was teaching in a home it was crowded. Four men carrying a paralytic were trying to get the man to Jesus to be healed. They could not make it in through the door so they gently removed a piece of the roof from the house and found a way to lower the bed down to Jesus in which the paralytic lay. Seeing their great faith, Jesus , said “My son, your sins are forgiven.”
As some of the scribes questioned in their hearts how Jesus could speak like that and what blasphemy it was, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus perceived their questioning of him :
Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
It was not just in teaching that Jesus showed authority, but over sin, to the point that he had the authority to forgive the sins of others.
This authority to forgive sins was connected with something more than practice or background and identity. It was connected with submission to the will of the Father, it was all about Jesus’ journey to the cross.
Our gospel reading for this morning takes place on the next day after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This is the Monday before Jesus’ crucifixion. Already at this point the pharisees and chief priests are a little out of their mind with anger at Jesus after the crowds cheered his coming into the city and after he cleansed the temple. In response to their anger and jealousy, they turned their thoughts to the idea that Jesus has no authority to do any of the things he does.
And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
They thought they were trapping him by asking this question. If he answers he is doing the things he is doing by human authority, he is outmatched. By their positions they were of higher authority according to the rules of the land, they had positions in the temple and Jesus did not. Jesus’ authority from this vantage point would be like Wikipedia- As in long in words and reputation, but short in documented credibility.
If Jesus says he is doing these great works by divine authority, they can accuse him of blasphemy, of attributing God’s authority to himself. They can accuse him of claiming to be God, a position beyond the imagination of the temple authorities and their understanding of the scripture.
Jesus does not fall for their trap, but instead asks them to answer a similar question about authority- was John the Baptist’s authority from man or from God? They see that no matter how they answer they would make for themselves enemies; so they refuse to answer.
Jesus asked the authorities about what they thought about John the Baptist to draw out they really believed about the role of prophets sent by God. Were they willing to acknowledge the truth right before their eyes, that an unlikely candidate was God’s prophet, not a well groomed student in the temple, not a high priest, but John wearing camel’s hair and preaching repentance out in the wilderness.
As the authorities in the temple sacrificial system they believed Jesus had no right to do any of the things he did, unless they gave the right to him. They felt they held all the authority and Jesus was trying to take it from them.
Jesus condemns the scribes and pharisees frequently throughout the gospels, as their teaching was putting unrealistic and heavy yokes upon people, in a way where the authorities were above everyone else and could brag about their superiority. They were teaching for their own personal benefit and not for the kingdom.
Sadly, there are people today who call themselves Christian authorities who are in it for their own personal benefit and not to advance the kingdom of God. There are people would not be able to answer the question of whether the baptism of John comes from heaven or man.
Think of some of the so called Biblical scholars who have books in the Christianity section of Barnes and Nobles or the library. They have academic degrees and use them as their authority to repeat a tired old heresy of the church, historical criticism, that you can know more about God’s Word from historical or sociological speculations about the past than from taking the actual content of the scripture at face value.
The fruits of this discipline pushed by secular Universities is always some story of how the Jesus of History was very different than what picture we see in the scripture.
If such a scholar was asked whether Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, they would use a lot of words to talk about this, sayings about what faith is or community beliefs that grow and develop over time- but they would not simply say yes.
If you can’t say yes to the truth of God’s work in the world in dying on the cross and being raised on the third day you have no authority. The chief priests could not say yes about John the Baptist and likewise too many who claim to be Christian authorities could not say yes about Jesus.
“For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your mind and believe him.”
Even when you saw it, you did not believe. They did not afterward change their minds, perhaps they reasoned, ‘Those outcasts of society, those sinners, what do they know?’
Their credibility is gone, it’s shattered. So what if a drug addict is now free of addiction because of Jesus? So what if someone now serves Jesus instead of opioids?
Where some look at the last becoming first as a marvelous testimony of the power of Jesus to bring light out of darkness – others see and do not believe. “It just goes to show only crazy people follow Jesus.”
Even though Jesus had all authority in the world, He submitted to human authority so that we could be saved. And in a short number of days his divine authority was evident for all, as he was raised from the dead. Because of his resurrection He was given all authority over heaven and earth and he opened the door to all believers, no matter how great their past sins. By God’s grace we have seen this and we have believed!
Because Jesus has authority, we go forward with courage and purpose, belonging, authority. “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”
Real authority in this world comes from following Jesus, living with a servant’s heart, and loving others with the love and truth of Christ.
This is how authority works in families, instead of parents saying “do it because I said so”, it is through care and unconditional love and respect of other family members that healthy Christ centered relationships form.
Christ shows us the way of leadership in family relationships with a servant’s heart, with a willingness to lay down our lives for others. Real authority is not in saying I am more powerful than you so you must follow me. “The Lord lifts up the humble, he casts the wicked to the ground.”
This is not natural for us, we must pray for the Holy Spirit to work repentance in us to renew us so that we stop trying to claim our own authority in this world. We sang in our hymn of the day: Renew me O eternal light, and let my heart and soul be bright, illumined with the light of grace that issues from Your Holy face. As Jesus’ truth shines in us we can start to let go of the authority we want to have as one who is in charge and take hold instead of the authority we have as a follower of Jesus.