By What Authority

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day leveled a lot of accusations against Him, but they certainly never accused Him of being timid.

Jesus boldly rode a donkey into Jerusalem in a clear proclamation of His identity as King.

Then, He boldly drove out the merchants in the Court of the Gentiles in a clear proclamation of His authority over the Temple.

Now, the “leading priests and elders” come to Him and challenge His authority and, by extension, His identity. His authority and His identity are bound up with one another. If He is not who He says He is, He has no right to do what He does.

They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?” (Matthew 21:23, NLT)

Jesus responds to their question with a question of His own.

“I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied. “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?” (Matthew 21:24-25, NLT)

This is brilliant.

Jesus recognizes this question for what it is – a trap. They are hoping He’ll give them a reason to arrest Him on charges of blasphemy. Jesus refuses to give them what they want.

See, Jesus had been baptized by John and so is implicitly aligned with him.

Jesus is saying, in a very Jewish way, “I got my authority the same place John got his. So, where do you think John got his authority – from God or from man?”

There is a right answer, but the religious leaders are stuck. They can’t say John got his authority from God because then Jesus will ask why they didn’t believe John’s message. They also can’t say John got his authority from man because the people (rightly) believed John was a prophet and they could end up with a riot on their hands.

So, they cop out entirely. “We don’t know.”

It was the wrong answer but, perhaps, a more honest one than they realized.

Here is the problem.

If they accept Jesus’ identity as God, then they also have to accept His authority as God.

But that would mean giving up their authority. It would mean submitting to and trusting Him.

That is something they simply can’t bring themselves to do.

So, because they reject His authority, they also reject His identity.

Every one of us must face the same choice. Every one of us must answer the question Jesus once posed to His disciples.

“Who do you say that I am?” (Luke 9:20, NLT)

Listen to C.S. Lewis on the matter.

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ This is the one thing that we must not say.

A man who was merely a man and said the sorts of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he’s a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.

But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

These are the only answers we can give. These are the only options available to us.

But make no mistake. There is a right answer.

Who do you say that He is?

Have you accepted His identity as God? If you so, have you also accepted His authority as King?

Take time to read Matthew 21:23-27 and consider what it means for Jesus to have authority over your life.