The Divided Priests Before The Crowd

When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?"

Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.
"The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?" And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, "If we say, `From heaven,' He will say to us, `Then why did you not believe him?'

"But if we say, `From men,' we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet."

And answering Jesus, they said, "We do not know." He also said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Matthew 21:23-27

Jesus often spoke to his listeners indirectly, and he rebuked them indirectly.

As readers of this passage we may be tempted to set the passage aside and say, "Ah! What a clever way to respond ..." Or to dwell on the comic aspect of the passage -the way the priests were exposed as buffoons.

The true followers of Christ on the other hand must be watchful so they are not mislead by the shallow interests of the crowd. Jesus showed himself to be wise, but in the very wisdom the wise overlook.

His questions compelled the teachers of Israel to admit they did not know, but not because Jesus made a drawn out display of how many things he knew.

The standing of the priests were brought into question, yes, but it was not Jesus tearing them down -he merely exposed the way the priests had defeated themselves.

As Kierkegaard noted, many people claim to "admire" the lives of great men, but Christ has called his followers to imitate him. In what regard does the serious follower of Christ learn how to imitate Christ from reading this passage?

Jesus asked one question from his audience. He was not trying to make a historical assertion about John the Baptist ... he was bringing into question why the priests did not have the seriousness to believe the message of John the Baptist.

This was a question the priests were not able to answer precisely because of their disobedience.

The man or woman who follows Christ must always be able to bring into question how serious people are in their claims ... even if they appear to be very pious people. A truly committed person will be able to answer such questions simply and in earnest.

The unrighteous are divided by such questions.

I sometimes hear people make assertions about how loose living and dark deeds will give them something in life. Every believer will also struggle with their own thoughts and feelings saying exactly the same thing.

Such a person should be called into question about how closely they will hold these views in the hour of hardship when these pursuits have brought them suffering and bitterness. How deeply can they hold such views in one moment if they wish to discard them the next moment?

The pharisees were ready to discard their own views before they had even given them to Jesus.

And their attention to the eyes of the crowd prevented them from giving a solid answer to Jesus.

Jesus would have fully presented the will of the Father with his question regardless of how many people were watching him. His question about the authority of John would have had exactly the same intent if he was alone with the chief priests.

The priests would never have asked the question if they were alone with Jesus. In fact, Jesus tells us that everything they did was to be seen by men.

Their attention to the crowd (and how to please the crowd) prevented them from speaking their mind. Their refusal to answer Christ's question reflected the division in their hearts. Christ's intent was of one thing, even when it meant dying on the cross.

In the same way we must ask ourselves if our devotion to Christ is one thing in the church building and another thing in the moment weakness and temptation.

The believers who would seek to imitate Christ must learn how to ask others (and more importantly, themselves) how seriously they hold to their views, and they must be able to overlook the eyes and ears of the crowd.

As surely as God clothes the lilies of the field to be more beautiful than the robes of Solomon, God displays the legitimacy of His children to the world as they become more like His Son.

May we seek first to become like God's Son and the other things will be given to us as well.