Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Holy Week: Jesus teaches in the Temple

Following the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and His cleansing of the Temple, Jesus preaches and teaches in the Temple courts. This is what is recorded in Holy Scripture in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 21, verses 23 to 27 (NIV).


23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”
 24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
   They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
 27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
   Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.


The reason behind the questioning of Jesus' authority was to question what right He felt that He had to do as He had done in turning out the money-changers from the Temple. The chief priests saw that His actions questioned their own authority over Temple matters, and so they ask Him just who He thinks He is, coming in and undoing things which they have sanctioned.


Jesus turns the tables on them by His question about the origin of John's baptism, and confused them to the point that they refused to answer other than saying that they didn't know. The reality of this is that they challenged His authority because they refused to believe who He was, and refused to listen to His teaching. 


Sadly, this is just as true for so many people today. Many people who profess to be followers of Jesus don't listen to what He has to say to them, and by turning a deaf ear, albeit on occasion rather than all of the time, they continually question by what authority He says things. Jesus tells us to love God and to love others as we love ourselves, and yet instead of doing as we're told we so often feel that it warrants a discussion first before we make up our minds. The truth is that many don't measure up to what Jesus is telling them because they question His authority to do so.


Questioning the authority of Christ is sin, and it demonstrates a lack of faith in God. If we are disobedient to His commands then we fail Him, and if we fail Him then it declares a lack of faith in, and love for, God the Father. This is not to say that all questions are bad ones. When we question to increase our knowledge of God, of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, then we are taking the opportunity to increase our faith. The problem come when we question the authority of God and His Word.

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