The Lutheran Hour
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"The Authority to Do These Things"
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As the youngest of three in my family growing up, I was often placed beneath the supervision of my brother on occasions when our parents would go out. There are few things worse in life than being required to take orders from an older sibling. Of course, a part of that frustration surely lies in the way the older brother or sister relishes their newly granted authority. I, for one, can certainly remember on more than one instance crying out, “You’re not the boss of me!”
Authority is an important part of our lives. Most all of us have understood from early on that our fathers and mothers are in authority over us, and that there are consequences when we misbehave. As we mature, we see and understand the benefits of God-given authority figures in teachers, police officers, supervisors at work, and government officials. “By what authority are you doing these things?” is not an unimportant question.
As we consider the words of Matthew’s text today, the real issue on the minds of the questioners is not authority. The chief priests and the elders of the people had been following Jesus’ ministry for some three years. They had heard Him teach; they had witnessed His miracles. They knew the source of Jesus’ authority. They knew that He spoke and acted with all the authority of God. They were simply failing to submit to it.
Their refusal to acknowledge the authority of Christ shouldn’t be so very difficult for us to understand. Today, if there is one trait missing in our own culture and in desperate need of being reclaimed, it is humility. We need to recover a proper sense of place for ourselves in the greater order of things. We need to relearn that there is a center of the universe – and that we’re not it. Like the chief priests and the elders of Jesus’ day, we, too, struggle with any posture that involves a bended knee.
In the spring of 1951, a dispute arose between General Douglas MacArthur, commander of the United Nations forces, and President Harry S. Truman. MacArthur wanted to use American air forces to attack the Peoples Republic of China. Truman refused to allow him, fearing such an attack would bring the Soviet Union into the war. When MacArthur went public with his displeasure with the president’s policy, Truman relieved him of his command. You see, even the most powerful general in the world must submit to the authority over him.
When the religious leaders refused to acknowledge the authority of Jesus, they were not merely rebelling against a political leader and his policies. They were rebelling against God Himself. Their problem – and ours – is that we want to be God. We want to set the boundaries; we want to call the shots; we want to make the plans. There are any number of forces at work in the world that are set to do us harm, and which would gladly enslave us. But there is no tyranny any greater than the tyranny of self.
Because He knows our greatest need, Jesus directs us today to John the Baptizer. He says, “John’s baptism – where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?” (Matthew 21:25). The ministry of John was a call to repentance. It was an awaking of God’s people from their sleepwalk. It was a cry for change, a call to acknowledge their sin before God. It was a voice of one crying in the wilderness to return to that wilderness and to submit to the One who led them through it to the Promised Land. Jesus’ question to the Pharisees was more than clever debating tactics; it was a call to repent.
But it was also a call to faith. “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) John cried. The One who comes into the world bearing all the authority of heaven itself is also God’s lamb, destined to bear all the sin of the world as well. In Jesus we see the sweetest and most precious demonstration of God’s love for you and for me. Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (Matthew 28:18). And He chooses to use that authority to lay down His life for our sins.
It is precisely at this point that the Christian faith is different from every other faith ever devised by the mind of man. In world religions of every time and every place, mankind seeks to placate an angry God, hoping to earn his way somehow into heaven. The problem is, one can never be quite sure if enough has been done, if one’s place in heaven is secure.
But in Christ, everything is turned upside down. The Creator of all things humbles Himself before His creatures. The Master washes the disciples’ feet. The giver of life dies upon a cross so that those who are born spiritually dead may live. Jesus once reminded His disciples, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). He was there in Jerusalem that week to do just that.
In challenging the chief priests and elders who had questioned Him, Jesus was not merely exposing their unbelief and rebellion. He was also opening the door yet again to saving faith – faith in the sure and certain word of promise. For such a faith is grounded in a Word which was spoken with authority.
And we need to know that. When Jesus identifies sin in our lives and calls us to repent, He does so with all the authority of God. But so, too, when He speaks His healing Word of grace and forgiveness, He does so with all the authority of God. And it is that authoritative Word of life that changes everything for us: baptism into His death and resurrection; absolution from all our sins; a Holy Communion at His table. Question: “By what authority are you doing these things?” (Matthew 21:23). Answer: God’s. And because these things are done with God’s authority, we can be absolutely certain that what He has done for us is sure and true.
At this time of year, there are many who are following major league baseball as the season winds down and the league champions soon begin the playoffs. Suppose one team has a runner on first base and he takes off for second while a pitch is thrown. The catcher fires a bullet down to second and the ball is handled cleanly by the second baseman who applies the tag to the would-be base stealer nearly two feet in front of the bag. Is he out or safe? It would seem he is out. The crowd could see he was out. The rules say he should be out. But it all depends upon what the umpire says. Regardless of appearances or the judgment of the crowd, if the umpire signals safe – the runner is safe. And that’s because the umpire speaks with all the authority of major league baseball. The runner who deserves to be back on the bench remains instead in the game.
Dear friends, like the chief priests and the elders before Jesus, we, too, deserve to be called out. But there is One who lived a perfect life in our place; who died on the cross in our place; and who now lives again to speak forgiveness and new life. We are sure of what He has given; we are sure of what we have received , for He “does these things” with all the authority given Him in heaven and on earth. It is that certainty that fills our hearts with joy. It is that certainty that leads us to pray the words of an ancient collect of the Church: “Lord God, You have called Your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that Your hand is leading us, and Your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for September 28, 2008
Topic: Jesus AloneANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus responds to questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer. Today we have a question that’s sort of both philosophical and theological. The Bible teaches that God is all-knowing. Another of His attributes is goodness. Well, if God is all-knowing, that means He knows whether an individual is going to eventually end up either in heaven or in hell, right?
KLAUS: That would be correct.
ANNOUNCER: Well, for those who go to hell, wouldn’t it have been better for them not to have been born in the first place? You’d think that bringing somebody into the world knowing that they are going to die and go to hell would conflict with what most people consider to be goodness.
KLAUS: What an interesting and honest inquiry. It really is a good one; and I’m not entirely sure if I can unravel it to the listener’s satisfaction, but we can give it a try. First, the listener is correct about God being good and all-knowing. We do need to distinguish, however, between God being all-knowing and all-controlling. God knows what is going to happen, but that doesn’t mean He makes every one of those little things happen. We’re not robots, and He certainly doesn’t make people go to hell.
ANNOUNCER: Indeed, the Bible specifically says God wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. You’ll find that in 1 Timothy 2:4.
KLAUS: That’s it. So we could be saved, God, without any merit or worthiness in us, decided to send His Son to be our substitute. Jesus was punished so we wouldn’t be. Jesus died so we might live. Which shows us another of God’s attributes.
ANNOUNCER: We’re talking about God’s grace here – His unmerited and unexpected kindness towards sinners. That’s part of His goodness.
KLAUS: Yes, grace is most certainly involved, but so is His justice. Because God is just He couldn’t just wave His hand and say, Everybody is going to heaven because I want them to.” At the beginning He had said, “The soul which sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). His justice demanded the penalty be paid. God’s grace said the penalty would be paid for us by Jesus. Corinthians says “For our sake, He made Him (Jesus), who knew no sin to be sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
ANNOUNCER: But we haven’t really answered our listener’s question yet, have we?
KLAUS: No, we really haven’t. We’ve only, hopefully, set the stage for the answer. So, let’s sum things up. God doesn’t change. He is who He is. Among the things that He is, is just; gracious; all-knowing, but not all-controlling.
ANNOUNCER: Then why does God bring people into the world when He knows they’re going to eventually end up in hell?
KLAUS: Yes, that’s the question: here’s the answer. We’re asking the wrong question. The problem is that people don’t see things from God’s point of view.
ANNOUNCER: Well, what is that point of view?
KLAUS: Here’s God’s perspective. First, He creates the universe, creates man and woman in His image, sets them up in a perfect place, gives them perfect health, regularly visits with them and, in general, gives them all they could ask for. And how did Adam and Eve thank Him?
ANNOUNCER: They disobeyed Him and did the one thing God told them not to do. As a result, suffering and death came into the world and along with it, God’s condemnation of sin.
KLAUS: Now God’s torn. His justice said we had to be punished. His grace said that He wanted to help us avoid that punishment. To bring those two things into harmony, He sent His perfect Son take upon Himself the punishment we had coming.
Next, God said, “My Son has lived for you, conquered temptation for you, defeated death and devil for you. Believe in Him as your Savior. Anyone who does that will be saved.” It’s very simple. And what do people do with that gift from God?
ANNOUNCER: We say it’s unfair that somebody will refuse to believe and as a result wind up in hell.
KLAUS: Yes, we blame God for sending people to hell when He is the One who made it so nobody has to go there. And because some of them don’t prefer God’s gift of salvation, because some of them don’t believe in Jesus and end up in hell, people say, “It’s not right, it’s not fair.”
ANNOUNCER: In other words, we set ourselves up as judges over God.
KLAUS: Martin Luther said something like: One should not inquire into the predestination of the hidden God but should be satisfied with what is revealed through the calling and through the ministry of the Word. Then you can be sure about your faith and salvation and say: I believe in the Son of God, who said that “He who believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36). (From the American Edition of Luther’s Works 5:43-50; Luther’s Genesis Commentary, commenting on Genesis 29:9).
ANNOUNCER: This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“O Come, Let Us Sing Unto the Lord ” by K. Lee Scott. From The Wind of Heaven by K. Lee Scott (© 1991 K. Lee Scott – VQR Digital, Needham MA) Gentry Publications/ASCAP
“Holy God, We Praise Thy Name” by Ignaz Franz, setting by Noel Goemanne (© 1998 The Order of St. Benedict, Inc.) GIA Publications/SESAC
“Know That the Lord Is God” by Georg Frederic Handel. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Erhalt uns, Herr” From Bunt Gemixt by the Weigersdorfer Blechbläserquartett. (© EinLaden e.V. Weigersdorf, Germany)
“Oh, That I Had a Thousand Voices” arranged by Jeffrey Blersch. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC