Mark 11:27-33
‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?
We are reflecting on the last week of Jesus’ life before the crucifixion. He is going to and from Jerusalem teaching. We have just read that upon entering the Temple and seeing how it had become a “marketplace” taking advantage of people who had to exchange money to buy sacrifices and then the sellers who sold those sacrifices, Jesus becomes irate and created a scene, overturning tables. The religious leaders are furious and plot to kill him. But the next day when he returns, they do not accuse him of breaking the law. He was too popular. Instead they publicly confront him about his authority.
Authority is actually of various kinds. There is the authority of the author who is the creator of the narrative, the parent of the child, or perhaps the genius behind an invention. That is a kind of authority from being the creator. But there is also the authority vested in someone by popular vote. Our government has authority because our vote gives voice to our desire for them to hold power.
Jesus does not answer the question but flips it back on the chief priests and religious leaders by asking them a question. “Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” Did John the Baptist speak for the creator God or was he just a popular person?
We might ask ourselves today how we respond to the authority of God’s Word. Perhaps we follow the rules because we agree with them and they are norms ingrained in our culture. Other times we “shine God on” for things like forgiveness, sharing, gossiping or gluttony and jealousy. We treat God like a marketplace where we can pick and choose how to engage with our faith. Hmmmm. That’s not a pretty thought.
Let us spend a moment asking the Holy Spirit to raise to our consciousness any way that we are duplicitous in following God’s authority.
On the Way to Wonder 