Authority: who has it and who gets it? Parents have it - or that’s a rumor I heard once. And, we know it’s a good thing when children begin questioning that authority. In my mind, teacher’s have it. Until I remember the first time I questioned what I was taught. Then, I began to wonder: why do I give teachers authority? The same thing happened to me in the church. The church has all kinds of categories for authority that work - until they don’t. Abuses of power, decisions we disagree with, order we don’t want to fall: all of these are moments when we question authority.
“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” The question comes from the Chief Priests and the Elders. Who are they, we might wonder. These are the elite, the leaders of the Temple. They are the ones in charge of the Temple. And, in case we wonder why they are asking the question, here’s what Jesus has been up to in the Temple:
Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, ‘It is written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer”;
but you are making it a den of robbers.’
The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. (Matthew 21: 12-14).
This is, of course, after he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey while the people cried, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” He is hailed as King and then behaves like a king, or at least as one who has power. Except, he is not the “official” authority. He is not a chief priest or elder; he is not one of the elite Temple authority. Why, then, is he acting like one; why is he claiming power as someone who decides the use and care of the Temple? What authority does he have and who gave it to him?
Today’s Gospel is the beginning of five challenges between Jesus and the Temple authorities. The stakes are high. Twice Matthew tells us that the Chief priests AND Pharisees are trying to entrap Jesus. They want him to fail. He undermines their authority. They have created a system that works well for the elite: filling up the treasury and requiring the people to travel hundreds of miles to worship. Meanwhile, Jesus has fed and healed the crowd. As he journeys across Israel, Jesus tells the crowd, “the kingdom of God is near to [them].” The crowd, for now, is loyal to Jesus. The problem is the chief priests and elders depend on the crowd. Indeed, the crowd has its own power. If the leaders of the Temple lose their authority, what will happen: to the Temple, to them, to a whole way of life that depends on certain people being in charge. And so, the chief priests and elders, the Pharisees and scribes, are united in one goal: to reveal Jesus as a fraud, to prove he has no authority. Jesus must succeed at every challenge.
Today’s challenge is the longest and includes three parables. The chief priests and elder come out with their strongest punch: prove you are who you say you are. Except they already know who he is. His life, as told in the Gospel, tells them all they need to know. They are avoiding the real question: how will it change them, if they believe? They are not leaders. Instead, they are power hoarders who care little for the people under their authority. Already, in the first challenge, Jesus shows how their power is weak and ineffective.
Jesus’ answer to the question comes in two parts: a question and three stories. Each piece chips away at Jesus’ accusers.
First: What about John? John appears in the wilderness proclaiming a Baptism of repentance (Matthew 3: 1). Crowds from all over the region come to be baptized by him. Even the Pharisees and scribes come for baptism. John rebukes them: “You brood of vipers!” he says, “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” It is not enough to be baptized: they must be transformed; they must change their ways. John calls their authority into question because of the duplicitous nature of their actions. And John continues to assert his own authority with an added warning, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me…” John prepares the way for Jesus, exalting his authority above his own. John and Jesus are intimately linked. John’s baptism prepares us to follow Christ into the fullness of God’s kingdom among us.
The Chief Priests and elders are in a tight spot. The crowd, a crowd loyal to John’s baptism, is watching them. If they reject John, the crowd may revolt: the community agrees that John is a prophet. If they affirm John’s, then why do they not submit to John’s baptism and why reject Jesus? They do not know the answer. They have already lost.
Then, Jesus tells a story of two brothers. This is his version, of the two sons tradition. These stories are, hopefully, familiar to us. If not, do a quick Bible search for Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, or Aaron and Moses. Luke’s Gospel tells its own version in the parable of “The Prodigal Son.” Today’s parable has its own twist.
“Which brother does the will of the Father,” Jesus asks. Whenever Jesus asks a question, I assume it’s a maneuver or device. Before I answer, I try to remember how Jesus lived. I try look at the question from the perspective of mercy, or in favor of the most vulnerable. I try to imagine how the question is asking about who is first and who is last. Jesus’ own answer to this question reveals a depth to the parable. Jesus calls attention to those who are normally cast out of the community of the righteous. Except, their faithfulness, shown by repentance and transformation, draws them close to God. The parable is not only about these brothers; it is about anyone who repents and returns to God.
As we eavesdrop in the Temple, how do we answer Jesus’ questions? How do we understand the baptism of John? Do we unite ourselves to this baptism, repenting and returning to the Lord? How do we judge these two brothers?
Authority: who has it and who gets it? I wonder what authority Jesus has in our lives?
The first thing Jesus does in the temple is call for justice. He demands that the Temple become a place where people have access to God. He cures the blind and the lame in the temple. Access to God is not limited by what human authority deems righteous. Jesus comes close to the people and reveals God’s mercy for the people. His actions show how far the Temple has come from God’s ways, God’s authority.
The Gospel shows the difficulty of repentance. For the chief priests and elders to repent, some things will have to change. Are they willing to relinquish themselves, and the systems they depend on, to God’s authority? Are we?
The good news of the Gospel is the mercy of God’s justice. There is John the Baptist, who calls us to repent and bear fruit worthy of repentance. And there are the two brothers. Even the brother who says yes and doesn’t go can still say yes. Any one of us can repent and return. The parable invites us into this wondering. How often have we said no, only to say yes; how often we’ve said yes, when we really meant no? The good news is we can always change our answer; we can always return to God.
This week as we go about our days: may we be attentive to our yes’ and our no’s, especially to God’s ways in our lives. May we bind our wills to God’s mercy and justice. May we give up ourselves that God’s kin_dom will reign.
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