Authority
“And they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” (Mark 11:28)
If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say, “Well, those young people just don’t respect authority.” Problems with authority appear to be at the root of all our modern ills – from the mayhem we see in the modern family to the relationship between society and state. However, our fractious relationship with authority did not begin in the modern era; it has been with us since the beginning. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil centered around nothing less than the question of submission to authority. If this is the case, we must ask some serious questions about our passage.
Why does God have the authority? The very typing of this question is baffling, isn’t it? To even ask the question feels wrong. Of course, God has the authority. He made us! He is both our Creator and our Preserver. We often say, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds.” How much more so does this apply to God? Every fiber of our being is held together by His Almighty power, and every breath we take is a byproduct of His abundant mercy. He showers us with goodness, though we are full of spit and vinegar. Yet, beyond being our Creator and Preserver, He is our Redeemer. That doubles our obligation to submit to His authority, yet we fail to honor Him. In the best-case scenario, we add all sorts of conditions to our obedience. In the worst, we accept Him as our Savior, but not our Lord, treating Him as our Savior and slave. We know of God’s authority, but we fail to submit.
Why are the Pharisees’ making the loudest fuss? Those who make the loudest fuss tend to be the most disobedient. In John 18:28, the Pharisees could not enter Pilate’s courtyard, lest they be prevented from taking the Passover. A loud fuss was made over the ceremonial law, but no fuss was made over the physical abuse, the false witnesses, and the weighty matters of the law. The lawless will use the law as a shield to spin the narrative, to distract and divert from their own disobedience. What God calls for is not obfuscation, but obedience. Obedience doesn’t mean cherry-picking the laws we prefer (for that would make us Lord over Christ), but obedience to all the law.
Do you have a problem with God’s authority? Search your heart and see where obedience is lacking, then ask yourself the question: what am I doing with it? Am I making excuses? Am I covering it over with more preferred obedience? Or am I repenting and submitting myself to Christ afresh?
