By What Authority

By what Authority

Mark 11:27-33

Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz

27 They came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him, 28 and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” 29 And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 “Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” 31 They began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 32 “But shall we say, ‘From men’?” — they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. 33 Answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

By what authority is a question that the church has used throughout its 2000 year history. The proto-orthodox church that Paul established became the dominant faction of early Christianity. Instead of working with other forms of Christianity to form a greater understanding of the life of Jesus, they decided that they were the only ones who had the authority to be the church. For centuries the catholic-orthodox church had been destroying any movement, not conforming to their understanding of Christianity. To question the church was not accepted.

A great example of the church’s authority is from the movie “Luther,” released in 2006. Martin Luther asked his theology professor how the catholic church could condemn the saints from before the catholic-orthodox separation as false saints. The professor’s answer was, “are you challenging the church’s decision.” Luther was not challenging the church’s authority but instead asking about the inconsistencies of the decisions of the church. History says that Luther saw the problems in the church and, through his actions, started the Reformation. The authority of the church became supreme, even surpassing the Bible.

The Bible must be the ultimate authority of the world, not the church. That idea became the Protestant movement. Five hundred years later, the mainline protestant churches have returned to a “catholic state” because they use their rule books as the supreme authority. They need to return to having the Bible as their ultimate authority.

The answer that Jesus was given by those who were challenging him is interesting. Who would agree that “we do not know” is a valid religious response? The Temple leaders approached Jesus with that question, “we do not know by what authority you have?” They left the question unanswered. Numerous aspects of the world are not understandable, nor are they explainable. There is nothing wrong with the answer, “we do not know.” It is better to say that something is not known rather than trying to create an explanation. For example, how can the bread and wine used at a communion celebration be turned into the body and blood of Jesus? Many theologians have tried to answer this question. There is nothing wrong with saying, “we do not know.” It is one of the mysteries of the LORD that we may never fully understand. Even in today’s world, some things happen in nature and physics that cannot be explained. To accept Jesus on faith means that there are things that are believed in without explanation.

This is a difficult thing for so many people today to accept. At times, faith in Jesus’ words and actions requires a person to simply accept what is being taught. Millennials are taught in school that there is more than one answer to one question. Also, there are questions that we cannot answer. One needs to ask questions. It does not mean there will be an answer. It is better to say “I don’t know” than it is to fabricate a solution.

Jesus was in Jerusalem, and He knew that He was traveling to His early death. Why? History tells us that prophets from the LORD made their way to Jerusalem to confront the authorities and met death. The authorities did not want to hear the message from the LORD. But this time, the messenger and the message were more potent than the leaders. Jesus’ death led to His resurrection, which was a significant turning point in history.

The world culture started to change that day. It took some time for Jesus’ message to change the Roman Empire, but eventually, it did (300 years later). By whose authority did this change occur? That’s an easy question. It was by the LORD’s authority that culture changed. People turned away from the pagan gods of their ancestors to the God of Israel and the lordship of Jesus Christ.