The Crisis of Authority: An Exposition of Matthew 21:23-32
The word “authority” has many applications. A person who is an expert in a particular subject area is called an “authority.” Another word for government at various levels is “authorities.” Others are authorities in religion. Others are “moral authorities” who act out a sense of violations of their moral views. One could see Jesus acting in such a matter when in the preceding passage, he drives the merchants and moneychangers out of the Temple. He acted out of a sense of moral outrage. This is true as far as it goes, but we shall see that there is more to the authority of Jesus than being a religious leader a moral philosopher or being a social justice warrior.
The cleansing of the Temple followed by Jesus’ teaching on the Temple grounds outraged the priests and the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. The Priests considered themselves to be the gatekeepers of the Temple. They claimed this authority from the Torah itself. So when Jesus cleansed the Temple, they felt that He had scorned them. It is also true that the Priests had a nice racket going. They were not particularly religious themselves, but it paid well. They had become a sort of Deep State in Israel. The other religious leaders also profited from the Temple cult. This was the time of Passover. A lot of money was to be made.
The priests understood that their authority was not recognized by many in Israel. The Essenes were outraged that during the previous short-lived independence when they were ruled by Jewish kings that the King had arrogated the right to be High Priest as well, something which was forbidden by the Torah. The Pharisees also were outraged by the corruption of Judaism by the Sadducees and priests in Jerusalem. They exercised their authority in the villages and the synagogues. There was also a challenge to the priest’s authority by the Roman government who ruled over the area. They had to be sure not to offend them. The authority of the Priests was in crisis. What Jesus had done in cleansing the Temple would have been wildly popular among various factions of the Jews. The Sadducees needed to confront the authority of Jesus.
So the priests and leaders of Israel came to Him and asked who had given Jesus the authority to cleanse the Temple and then to teach the people. Did Jesus have a PhD in theology. Had He been approved by and accrediting agency to cleanse the Temple and to teach. They considered Jesus to be no more than a country bumpkin. Perhaps they were trying to intimidate Jesus to shut Him up. If they could not do this, they needed to separate Jesus from the people who considered Jesus to be a prophet.
Jesus was far too smart than to be trapped. He answered the question with a question. “If you can tell me who gave the authority to John the Baptist to baptize, I will tell you who gave me the authority. Little did they know or appreciate that they were talking to the Son of God, the Lord of the Covenant, the same covenant which the Sadducees had claimed their authority from. This led to another crisis. They believed that John the Baptist was even more a country bumkin than Jesus. John the Baptist was wildly popular, and many of the people resented the establishment in Jerusalem which was in league with Herod who had had him executed. They could not answer that John’s authority came from men because they feared a revolt from the people. This shows how hollow the authority of the priestly caste was. Just a few days later, it would be boldly demonstrated when upon Jesus’ death, the curtain protecting the Holy of Holies was torn in two. When the Temple was rebuilt under Zerubbabel after the exile, there was no Ark of the Covenant to put in the Holy of Holies. It was an empty and dark room. The Ark which represented the presence of the LORD was not there. All the splendor of the renovations that Herod the Great had made to this temple could not conceal how hollow the reality was. The Sadducees really had no legitimate authority at all. They were subject to both Rome and the Jewish People.
They could not answer that John was a prophet either. They had publicly disavowed him. To say that God had given John the authority to baptize, someone who called them vipers, would only proven just how right Jesus was to cleanse the Temple. To affirm the baptism of John as coming from God would have made them have to confess that they had not believed him, which means that they did not believe the God who had sent them either. Rather than dealing with the crisis by repenting, they decided that it was better to give no answer at all.
Jesus answered them by saying that He would not tell them by what authority He had done these things. He would not cast pearls before swine. Matthew records a little more of the dialogue than Mark or Luke who go directly to the Parable of the Wicked Tennants. He tells another parable of two sons. He bid them both to go out and work in the vineyard. The father had absolute authority over his children and household. Obedience was expected, even demanded. Parables are illustrations that often have outrageous ideas in them. The hearers would have heard that a son refused to work. This was shocking. It was resolved to a point when this son repented and went out. The second son said he would go. This was expected. But he did not go. In many ways this is similar to the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The first son acted outrageously and repented. The second son thought he was obedient by staying home. But he showed his disobedience by refusing to come to the party. The sinner son should have been forced to grovel and accept harsh punishment from the father. The Father showed his absolute authority to be gracious to his previously lost son. So the second son’s conduct in light of this was even more outrageous than the disobedience of the son who had initially refused.
Jesus explains this parable by saying that the first son who flagrantly disobeyed and then repented was a representative of tax collectors and harlots who had disobeyed the teaching of Scripture. Their conduct was sinful and an outrage to God. They were in dire need of repentance. And God is gracious to grant them repentance because this is the nature of God Himself. But there is no cure for the second son who represented the Sadducees and the other religious authorities in Israel. They were also in desperate need of repentance but were either too proud or too self-righteous to repent. Therefore, the despised tax-collectors and harlots who repented would get into the Kingdom first. Unless the religious authorities repented they would not enter at all.
So, we too are confronted by the crisis of authority. I chose the word “crisis” because it comes from the Greek word for “judgment.” Jesus is not only Savior. He is also given the authority to judge all people and nations. There are many religious and other “authorities” who can not or will not tell where Jesus got the authority to do the things He did. They might grant some sense of authority. Some say that he had the authority of a teacher or religious philosopher. Some would give him the authority to act out of a sense of moral outrage. There are people who grant Jesus some limited authority as a means to buttress their own authority. They pick and choose Scriptures to make their care. Someone has Jesus the great pacifist who advocated non-violent means of overcoming evil. Another makes Jesus to be a revolutionary to advocate for violent overthrow. Others give Jesus a hearing on theology and philosophy because it is mentally stimulating. We now even have a transgender Jesus. We have churches who use the authority of Jesus to rule roughshod over congregations. There are som many who abuse the authority of Jesus.
So the real crisis of authority is centered in the person of Jesus Himself. Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 28 that “all authority in heaven and earth” had been given to Him. Whether the “authorities” know it or not, they have no authority which does not derive from Him. This means He is to be obeyed. This is especially true within the church who claims to be His disciples. He calls all to repentance and acceptance of His authority. Thankfully, the One who has authority over all is merciful and will receive all who will come to Him in faith. This is the only way out of the final crisis. We must believe that He is who He says He is and will do as He says He will do.
In the work of fulfilling the Great Commission, we must present this true and absolute authority of Jesus Christ over time, space, matter and eternity. We are more motivated to evangelize those tax collectors and harlots out there in society. We are right to see them as having rejected the authority of Jesus. Some of these have not accepted because of ignorance. They have not heard or heard correctly of the authority of Jesus. There is more hope for them than those who know who Jesus is and still reject Him. One thinks that there were many who saw Jesus’s work and listened to His words that knew in their hearts that Jesus is the Son of God. The Holy Spirit tugs at these hearts and confirms the truth of Jesus. Yet they sill reject. What horrendous danger they are in. some of these attend church regularly. We need to demand the repentance of such anyway, even though we know that there is little hope on the surface. So let us prayerfully approach the task of pulling such people from the fire if we can.
