Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Give Us This Day

Home
Evangelical
Luke 19:47-20:8 – The Authority of Jesus

Luke 19:47-20:8 – The Authority of Jesus

Last updated on: May 12, 2017 at 7:27 am by Fr. Charles Erlandson

Luke 19:47-20:8 – The Authority of Jesus 2017-05-12T07:27:44-05:00 Fr. Charles Erlandson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

** Pantocrator **Who is Jesus Christ?

Careful! The way you answer this question determines everything else in life: it’s important to get it right.

The chief priest and scribes in Luke 20 get it wrong. Very wrong. “Who is he who gave you this authority?” they ask. And they should know. It should be clear by now to them that Jesus’ authority comes from the Father. Now it could be that they are really that dense and just don’t know, or it could be that they know but don’t want to admit it.

It appears from their later discussion that they have at least some idea that even the baptism of John was from heaven and therefore that even more so must the authority of Jesus be from heaven. And this is what is so wrong with their answer – not just that they are ignorant of who Jesus is but that they willfully reject Him. Though their knowledge of who Jesus was may be imperfect, they willfully reject what little they do know.

Their answer is the kind of answer that I think a lot of Christians give today. I’m not, of course, saying that Christians explicitly deny their Lord, but what I do mean is that like the chief priests and scribes, sometimes we give pragmatic answers to the question of the authority of Jesus in our lives.

Notice that the chief priests and scribes didn’t simply say, “We know that John’s baptism was from men and not heaven.” If they had said that, they would have been wrong but at least they would have been acting with honesty according to their true belief. But they don’t even do this, for this would imply consequences they didn’t like – rejection by the people, who might stone them!

And that is the way we too often live – out of pragmatism or what we think will “work for us,” rather than out of the courage of conviction and truth. We’ll follow Jesus – until there is some price to pay that we deem unacceptable. Maybe by acknowledging His authority we are afraid we will be found unacceptable by the people, just like the chief priests and scribes. Maybe by submitting to His authority we will be rejected to varying degrees by others around us, even Christians who are still playing the game of pragmatism. After all, we wouldn’t want to be radicals: they’re so . . . uncomfortable.

More likely, it is for our own sake that we don’t fully accept the authority of Jesus in our lives. We want to have little pockets of resistance to His authority and Lordship, our own separate kingdom that we try to carve out within the Kingdom of God that is in us and around us. I picture something like a Lesotho engulfed by a South Africa in my own heart.

We actually deceive ourselves into thinking that the kingdom of heaven is a democracy and that if 50.01% of myself acknowledges the authority of Jesus that it’s O.K. to have 49.99% that doesn’t. At least, by majority vote, I am following Jesus. After all, there’s got to be something left for me. It’s just not practical to give it all to Jesus because I know I won’t be able to do it anyway, and anyway I know lots of good Christians who are holding something back.

But the authority of Jesus is one of the few truly All or Nothing propositions we face in life. Either Jesus is God’s Anointed Messiah, the Son of God, and God Almighty Incarnate, or He is not. If He is, then His authority in your life is all-encompassing. If He is not, then He has no authority whatsoever.

The other side of the question “Who is Jesus?” or “What is the authority of Jesus?” is the question “Who are you?” and “What is your authority?” By what authority do you hold back the 49.99% or even 0.01%? By what authority do you deny the authority of Jesus in any way? Is your identity You, the natural man, the old man? Or is your identity Jesus Christ and His authority living in You?

Your daily answer to this question, answered more by action than by thought, makes all the difference in the world and to the world.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I submit myself to Your authority this morning. Take me, all of me, and make me Yours. I willingly, gladly, surrender myself to You. Grant that it may be You who lives within me today, and not me who lives for myself. I acknowledge the way in which I protect myself from You and in doing so expose myself to danger. Remind me of Your call on my life to deny myself and follow You today.

Point for Meditation: In what ways are you practically denying the authority of God by usurping it for yourself? What is the antidote for denying God’s authority in your life so that you can properly ascribe it to Him?

Resolution: I resolve to identify one area where I have not acknowledged the authority of the Lord in my life and to pray for assistance to more faithfully submit in this area.

Christ Pantocrator – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license

Previous Post

May 7, 2017

Luke 19:29-40 - Joy Comes in and Praise Comes Out

Next Post

May 9, 2017 Luke 20:9-26 - The Master Gardener

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Featured Give Us This Day Give Us This Day Devotional love me love my wife Love My Wife Reformed Catholicism Blog Spirit-Reality Take This Cup Uncategorized

Select a Month February 2022 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 September 2018 July 2018 March 2018 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the longest book in the New Testament by word count?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Revelation Acts Luke Matthew