By What Authority...?

By What Authority…?

On Tuesday mornings, the staff here at FBC meets to do our regularly scheduled meetings. If you have been around me very much, you know that I am not a big fan of meetings. We have all been in meetings for meeting sake. But every once in a while you have a meeting that really covers a lot and is productive. Yesterday in our staff meeting, we were talking about the upcoming Global Impact Celebration which is going to be held on February 24-28, 2010. The Pastor was talking about our responsibility of telling the world about Christ. In that discussion, the topic of authority came up. We are given the responsibility and the authority to share the gospel. Jesus’ authority was questioned in Matthew 21: 23 when the chief priests and elders of the people came to Him and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things?” This question came because of the incident that happened in the temple which we looked at last week. The cleansing of the temple not only defied the authority of the Jewish leaders, but also cut into their pocket books. Jesus hit them where it hurt the most. They were also trying to discredit Jesus in order to raise suspicion of Him as a threat to the Roman authority.
I love this passage because it shows the Jewish, human side of Jesus. It was very common for the Jews to answer a question with another question. Jesus did not come right out and answer their question; instead, He asked them a very difficult question. “John’s baptism…from heaven, or from men (Matthew 21:25)?” By answering with a question, Jesus put the burden back on His opponents. The work of John the Baptist was either divinely-inspired or humanly-devised. This put His opponents in a very awkward position in which they could not answer safely. Jesus answers this question in Matthew 28:18 when He tells the disciples that “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus’ authority is not a humanly devised authority; instead, it is an authority given by God, and it encompasses the entire universe. So what does that have to do with us? Let me ask a question to answer that. Is responsibility anything without authority? Jesus has given us the responsibility to “go and make disciples of all nations (vs. 19).” With that responsibility, Jesus has given us all authority in which to get it done. We also need to be reminded that as we go and tell the world about Christ, we are never alone. “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (vs. 20).”

With Christ’s Authority,
Aaron