By What Authority? A Meditation on Matthew 21

In the Gospel reading for this Sunday, Jesus finds Himself nose to nose with the Pharisees.  He has already had his triumphal entry, and cast out the moneychangers from the Temple.  He has come back the next day to teach and to heal, and the poor of the city have thronged Him.  Prostitutes, crooked tax collectors, and all the rough and unlovely people have come to Jesus, and He has received them willingly.  The Pharisees, however, have come to Him with their condescending questions, “By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?”

Remembering who the Pharisees are, this question makes a lot of sense.  These were the teachers of Israel, and together with the Sadducees and lawyers, they formed the ruling religious body called the Sanhedrin.  As far as the people were concerned, they were the religious authority in Israel—they were the ones who controlled who received education, and who could teach.  They set the rules, and changed them at their own discretion.  They set themselves up as the authority over the people, and then perpetuated their power by keeping anyone they didn’t approve of out of the schools, and out of the club.  Jesus had not applied to study in the Pharisees’ school, nor had He received an endorsement from the Sanhedrin.  Jesus was preaching and teaching with authority, but it was not the recognized authority of the religious leaders.

No matter how many centuries pass on this globe, mankind really doesn’t change much.  Throughout the history of the Church, particular people have tried to establish ruling classes who have “authority,” and then govern closely who will be let into the club (usually by ensuring that new aspirants agree with the currently ruling class.)  And of course, there has been resistance to such human establishments when they run amok.  In the early centuries of the Church, when the Arian heresy had taken root in a majority of Christian churches, and even among a majority of pastors and bishops, a faithful remnant fought their blasphemy against the Son of God.  It was said that St. Athanasius stood against the world, when he resisted emperors and royalty, as well as other bishops, by standing on the Word of God against their convoluted human philosophy.  St. Chrysostom resisted the same heresy, standing against rulers and fellow pastors, and died in exile.  St. Augustine stood against the Pelagian heresy, again on the authority of the Word of God.   Several centuries later, when Rome had run amok and tried to rule the world, Luther stood alone on the Word of God to refute error, and draw the people back to Christ.

Every age has seen this drama.  When wicked men ascend to positions of power, they tend to glorify themselves, and fight to retain it.  They guard the paths to power closely, and only allow passage to those who support them.  They govern the schools and the graduation requirements, so that all may be formed to yield to the Magisterium of men, and then grant the funny hats and mantles of recognition only to those they approve.  It is a wickedness of men, perpetuating itself, and traveling across land and sea to make proselytes who are as much children of hell as they themselves are.  When men rule the roost according to their own word and authority, it becomes a foul roost, indeed.

But the question posed to Jesus is a legitimate one.  Where is your funny hat and mantle?  Where is your diploma, earned from our school?  Where is your imprimatur from the ruling authority?  Where is the authority we have granted you to teach?  The answer, they already knew, is that Jesus didn’t possess their approval.  To their minds, Jesus was out of order, disrupting the established fellowship of God, by disregarding their human authority.

But Jesus strikes to the root of their problem.  The authority of men is meaningless, when it contends against the authority of God.  Jesus reveals that He, like John the Baptist, speaks under the authority of The King of the Universe.  In fact, Jesus does not need endorsement from the humanly established authority in the Synagogue, because He is the very Word of God Made Flesh.  Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth, because everything in heaven and earth were made through Him, and for Him.  What meaning is there in a funny hat and mantle, in degrees and associations, when one stands before the Living God?  All marks of human authority and prestige melt away in the presence of God’s unchanging and eternal Authority.

What Jesus teaches the Pharisees of His time, and the religious leaders of our own time, is that nothing man concocts can trump the Word of God.  There is no authority in our human associations, in our schools, our synods, our conventions, our Magisteriums, that can survive rebellion against the Word of the Living God.  Though we may like our peacockery and plumage, to strut about in our symbols of power, to adorn our names with endless certifications and honors, it is all a dream of man’s selfish pride.  Who are you, theologian, who will hold up your diploma before God, and hope to be excused of your heresy?  Who are you, bishop or cardinal, who will hold up your funny hat to defend your abuse of the people?  Who are you, pastor or preacher, who will hold up the glossy cover of your published works, to excuse your fleecing of the children of God?  Indeed, you rulers of synods and teachers of seminaries, you wearers of fine linens and ridiculous funny hats, you elders and deacons, priests and bishops, pastors and laity, who rest in the approvals and accolades of men:  behold, the prostitutes and con artists, the derelicts and the defrauders, the alcoholics and the drug addicts enter the Kingdom of Heaven ahead of you.

And why is this?  Because they have heard the Word of the Lord, and believed unto life.  They have heard the Law of God, and repented of their sins.  They have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for their salvation, and have trusted in Him.  They have set aside the heretical, prideful, self serving authority of men, and yielded rather to the divine authority of the Son of God.

And so it can be, even for you.  Repent of your love of man’s pride and his baubles, and turn to the love of God in Christ Jesus revealed in His Holy Word.  For in His Authority alone come the words of eternal life:  You are forgiven, for Christ’s sake.  Repent, and believe the Gospel.  Amen.