Authority                                                 Matthew 21:23-32

Today’s verses have two parts. The first is about authority, specifically where Jesus gets his from. The second part is a parable about two son and how they interact with their father. This is where I want to start.

In this parable Jesus talks about a man with two sons, something I know a little bit about. And like most brothers they are as different as night and day. The first son when told to go to work for his father refused but later he thought better of it and he went to work. His brother when told to go to work said yes but then didn’t go.

One of the little nuggets of information in this has to do with the religious elite; those priests and Pharisees Jesus is speaking to. To fully see the picture we have to go back to the beginning of chapter 21. Jesus has just entered Jerusalem and one of the first things he did was to go to the temple. It was there that he found moneychangers and sellers of goods. The money changers were there to exchange the people’s Roman currency to Israel’s currency so they could pay the Temple tax. They also changed money the other way around so the people could pay the Roman tax. And all this was done earning the exchangers a hefty profit. And those that sold sacrificial doves also made huge profits from those people that needed them for their sacrifices in the Temple.

We know that Jesus overturned the tables and chased these profiteers away saying in Matthew 21:13, “It is written, my house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it into a den of robbers.” Afterward he healed those who came to him.

Now we know it’s not going to be a simple story of Jesus getting angry in the Temple courtyard and then calming down again. Those in charge question Jesus about where he got his authority. They were asking him from which leader of the Temple did he get the authority to cast out the moneychangers. Jesus responses with this parable about the two brothers to explain about his authority. He uses this opportunity to explain where he gets the authority to do God’s work on earth.

Now it most definitely would be better for everyone if Jesus gave straight answers instead of parables but the parables are meant to cause you to think. They’re meant to instill an understanding that comes from reflection, thought and prayer.

This parable has three characters, a father and his two sons. And just like in the parable of the prodigal son, the father here represents God. The two brothers represent the two groups of people Jesus is dealing with; the Pharisees, and what we’ll call the “ordinary people.”

So which brother represents which group? The second son, the one who said he would go and work for his father but then did not represents the religious leaders. Back in the Old Testament’s Book of Numbers God tells Moses, Numbers 8:14, “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.” God called the tribe of Levites to be his priests and he told them what their job was to be, Numbers 8:19, “(they are) to make atonement for the people of Israel.”

The Levites were to work among God’s people, they were to work for God’s people, they were to lead God’s people to his grace and mercy, and they accepted this task. Over time they decided they would not do what their father asked them to do. They stopped educating the people about the grace of God. They tied the people’s salvation to their own works, to their ability to keep over 500 rules and laws. Basically they told their father; told God, that they would work for him but then they didn’t.

The ancients not only stopped teaching Israel about God’s grace and mercy, they removed God from the equation. They made God approachable only if the laws and sacrifices were kept perfectly. And all this has culminated on the day Jesus enters the Temple.

The priests in the Temple are not only not working for God they are turning a blind eye to the sellers and the money changers. They’re allowing them to get rich in the name of God. This system of little to no talk of God’s grace, reliance on one’s ability to follow the rules; this system of profit in God’s name infuriated Jesus.

The parables first son told his father he would not go work for him but then as he thought about it he changed his mind and went to work. This son represents the “ordinary” people Jesus engages; the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the lame, the blind and the lepers; the sinners. The people who did not live their life as God tells them to. And now these same people coming to Jesus to learn of the Kingdom of God. Those who are being forgiven, being healed, changing their lives and being gifted salvation.

I imagine those in the crowd who have a heart for God probably saw these things in the parable. I’m equally sure those like the priests who were interested in keeping the status quo, their power and money, walked away puzzled and confused.

Now in light of this parable I have to ask us, which son represents us? Do we: and by “we” I mean anyone sitting in any church, do we come on Sunday, sing, listen to prayers, say we will do what God asks and then go home and put him on a shelf until next week? Or do we take care of our needs until we see another’s need and then put their need above our own?

We’re not perfect, God knows this, he certainly knows I’m not. Like the first son we can get distracted by our desires but also like him we can pull ourselves out of our distractions and help others, we can work for God.

Now let’s look at the first part of our scripture, the part on authority. The moneychangers and sellers had the permission of the religious leaders to be in the Temple so the priests were asking Jesus who gave him the authority to drive them out. They were asking the question as a strictly earthly one. They were asking Jesus if the High Priest or the Roman governor gave him their permission. But Jesus turns the question into a Godly one by asking them where John the Baptist’s authority came from. The Pharisees didn’t give John permission to preach repentance or to baptize. Yet they recognized the power John had.

See their dilemma; they had removed faith from their religion making it a system of rules. By doing this they removed any personal relationship they may have had with God. God had become a figurehead by which they employed power over the people. And because they thought of God this way they just couldn’t conceive that God could give John or Jesus authority to do anything. Jesus may not have had authority in the way the religious leaders thought; authority by man, but he who was in touch with the father had authority through that relationship.

Let’s look at this authority given by God. Who gives me the authority to be up here? I believe God led me to study his word. I believe God leads me every time I sit and contemplate his word. I believe it is my pen writing on the page, it’s my voice you hear; but it is God doing the talking.

Whose authority lets me stand here? Yours, and you are free to remove it any time but that will not stop my ministry. Authority to stand here comes from men, authority to do God’s work comes from God.

So who does God give this authority to? Me? Why, because I went to school? No, it’s because I have a relationship with him, because I want to live my life for him.

Who else does God give this authority to? All of you. Jesus says that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can do great things. Have faith that God will speak through you.

Our reading today asks us the question is God a concept or is he a personality? Do we think of God as some great ethereal concept that we cannot fully fathom, or is God a personality that you can approach, a real and palatable presence in your daily life? If he is the latter use the authority he gives you to do work for him. You have been given the authority to pray for someone. You have been given the authority to ask for God’s intervention. You have been given the authority and power to bind Satan through God.