They came to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders came to him, and they began saying to him, “By what authority do you do these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?”
Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John - was it from heaven, or from men? Answer me.”
They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven;’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ If we should say, ‘From men’” - they feared the people, for all held John to really be a prophet. They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.” (11:27-33)
This was a painful experience for me, to come to the temple, a place where my Father was supposed to rule, and to find that people who did not know my Father were ruling over this place. They challenged my authority to cast out the money changers and to disrupt their business. They did not consider for a moment that what they allowed was in direct opposition to the desire of my Father for the temple. They did not let the Father challenge their wrongfully used authority. Yet, they came to challenge my authority.
I did not have an answer to give them, but I had a question. Since their authority was not grounded in the Father, it was grounded on another foundation, and I wanted this ground to be revealed so that others could see. It is always good to discern what is the foundation of what you do. In their case, their foundation was on men’s approval, and therefore they needed to please people in order to maintain their status. The Pharisees grounded their authority on their human interpretation of biblical texts and on the people. The Sadducees grounded their authority on the Romans who gave them to rule in the temple. None was really seeking to hear from the living Father, none obeyed the God they spoke about.
Therefore, I asked them about John. John did not receive his authority to baptize from men but from God, he did not seek the approval of men. In the same way, I received my authority from the Father, and I was not seeking their approval. My question was a problem for them, because they were used to please people, and they knew that John was respected by the people. Yet, John challenged them. John was killed by Herod, and I was going to be killed. John preached a baptism of repentance, and he called all to repent. Many of these leaders did not heed to this call, and stayed away from John. Since their authority was based on men, they did not dare to displease the people, they did not dare to answer my question. Thus, they hid behind hypocrisy, they lied by saying “we don’t know.”
They tried to confront me and the authority I was grounded on, and I confronted them and their lack of authority. It is always dangerous to enter in open conflict with powerful people. It was dangerous for me and I knew that they would kill me. It was dangerous for them because the Father was in me, and He would soon destroy the temple and the foundation of their impure authority. I did not seek my own authority, I just sought to say what the Father wanted me to say, to do what the Father wanted me to do. They wanted to challenge my authority, and I revealed their lack of real authority.
It is very important for you to know what is the foundation of what you say, the one you are obeying. Is it grounded on a biblical foundation? Have you learned to listen and to obey to me and to the Father when you pray, in order to find our direction? All true authority comes from the Father. Learn to obey our directions, to follow me in all you say and all you do, and you will discover how you can represent our authority on earth. It is not a matter of pride, but of humility. This is the path I followed on earth, following the Father’s guidance in everything. If you seek to affirm your selfish will, you will not receive the authority of the Father, and ultimately you will lose all authority among men. If you learn from me, if you take my yoke upon you, through the Holy Spirit we will guide you and express our love and authority in you and through you.
Learn from the centurion, who asked me to heal his servant. He was submitted to a master, and had soldiers under his orders who obeyed him. Because he clearly knew who he was obeying, he had a clear authority. Because of this, he recognized that I also had a real authority, that I was obeying God. He asked me with faith to heal his servant and he knew that I just needed to say a word, which I did. (See Mt 8:5-13).
In your days, what is the Lord of your actions? Is it your belly, a human person, your desire to be seen positively, your own ideas about theology, your desire to play or to flee problems? Learn to meditate on our teachings found in the Bible, learn to listen to us in prayer so that you can apply our teachings every day of your life and in every situation. Learn to walk with me, to do what I tell you to do, to say what I tell you to say. You will then really be my disciple, because you will imitate the path that I followed with the Father. It is not an easy way, but it is a beautiful way, a fruitful and blessed way. Then our love and authority will manifest itself through you as I manifested the love and authority of the Father on earth.
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