Friends,
in today’s Gospel, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders
approach Jesus and ask him, "By what authority are you doing these
things?"
The
first witnesses of Jesus were astonished by the authority of his speech
and his actions. This wasn’t simply because he spoke and acted with
conviction and enthusiasm; it was because he refused to play the game
that every other rabbi played, tracing his authority finally back to
Moses. He went, as it were, over the head of Moses, as he did at the
beginning of the Sermon on the Mount: "You’ve heard it said...but I
say..."
His
listeners knew they were dealing with something qualitatively different
than anything else in their religious tradition or experience. They
were dealing with the prophet greater than Moses.
And Jesus had
to be more than a mere prophet. Why? Because we all have been wounded,
indeed our entire world compromised, by a battle that took place at a
more fundamental level of existence. The result is the devastation of
sin, which we all know too well. Who alone could possibly take it on? A
merely human figure? Hardly. What is required is the power and authority
of the Creator himself, intent on remaking and saving his world,
binding up its wounds, and setting it right.
Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 352
Beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand
by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit.
Keep yourselves in the love of God
and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
that leads to eternal life.
On those who waver, have mercy;
save others by snatching them out of the fire;
on others have mercy with fear,
abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh.
To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling
and to present you unblemished and exultant,
in the presence of his glory,
to the only God, our savior,
through Jesus Christ our Lord
be glory, majesty, power, and authority
from ages past, now, and for ages to come. Amen.
Jesus and his disciples returned once more to Jerusalem.
As he was walking in the temple area,
the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders
approached him and said to him,
"By what authority are you doing these things?
Or who gave you this authority to do them?"
Jesus said to them, "I shall ask you one question.
Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Was John's baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me."
They discussed this among themselves and said,
"If we say, 'Of heavenly origin,' he will say,
'Then why did you not believe him?'
But shall we say, 'Of human origin'?"–
they feared the crowd,
for they all thought John really was a prophet.
So they said to Jesus in reply, "We do not know."
Then Jesus said to them,
"Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things."
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