"Authority" - Matthew 21: 23 - 32
A Sermon by Alex Evans, Pastor
Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA
Sunday, September 27, 2020
Text: Matthew 21:23-32
“AUTHORITY”
Whose AUTHORITY do your respect the most? Maybe someone who has been influential in your life. A mentor or teacher? A close colleague or friend?
AUTHORITY has to do with influence on your heart and life. AUTHORITY has to do with credibility and persuasiveness, someone shaping and forming us, guiding us and encouraging us in a certain way.
Who do you listen to? Who do you follow?
AUTHORITY has also become a troubling subject in recent months. The world continues to face a nasty pandemic and we keep getting confusing messages, even as we count 200,000 deaths in our nation. Who do we listen to with confidence and commitment? Is the virus going away . . . or will it get worse? Is it more important to wear a mask, . . . or more important to maintain your right not to wear one? Should we listen to the politicians, . . . or the scientists?
We have seen wildfires ravaging the west coast, and hurricanes battering the south and east. Is this caused by devastating effects from climate change, . . . or is this just nature doing what nature does.
If we could trust some AUTHORITY on these matters, our responses might be different.
AUTHORITY is a subject that confronted and confounded Jesus on a number of occasions. Listen to this story from Matthew 21 (F. Dale Bruner’s translation):
And when Jesus entered the temple, the senior pastors and the lay leaders came up to him while he was preaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” And Jesus responded and said to them, “I am going to ask you just one question myself, and if you answer me, I’ll tell you by what authority I am doing these things. Here is the question: The Baptism of John – where did it come from? From heaven or from humans?”
Well, they had quite a discussion among themselves, saying “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he’ll be sure to ask us, ‘then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘from humans,’ we will have to fear the crowd, since they all consider John a prophet.” So they answered Jesus by saying, “We don’t know.” So he said to them, “Neither am I going to tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
First, the context for this passage is important. This tense scenario in the temple comes a few verses following the Palm Sunday parade. At the beginning of Matthew 21, Jesus is making his way into Jerusalem, and he comes to the Mount of Olives, on the hillside looking toward the old city. He instructs his disciples – you recall - to go into the village, and find a donkey, and the parade follows: “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus goes into the city and . . . cleanses the temple.
And what follows is this passage, . . . the truth squad comes around and asks him twice – by what AUTHORITY are you doing these things?
Jesus is not an ordained rabbi, for sure, so the religious leaders are nervous. By what AUTHORITY? Is it from heaven . . . or from humans?
Even though Jesus does not say it here, this passage is another story that confirms clearly that Jesus’ AUTHORITY was from God.
Back in chapter 7, at the end of the long Sermon on the Mount, it says “when Jesus had finished all these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had AUTHORITY, and not as the scribes” (7:28-29). Jesus had also been healing, claiming the AUTHORITY of the Son of Man to forgive sins on earth (9:6). And then at the end of Matthew, these words: “all AUTHORITY on heaven and on earth has been given to me, . . .go therefore and make disciples, . . .and I will be with you to the close of the age” (28:18).
According to Bible scholar Dale Bruner, AUTHORITY may be the single best word to describe the Jesus we meet in Matthew. Jesus comes with AUTHORITY – God’s AUTHORITY. He speaks with passion and intelligence; he embodies care and compassion for all people; he has a message that intends to bring life, and eternal life. Jesus has God’s AUTHORITY.
Thus, the right response to a heaven-sent gift is to “believe” him – which means to follow him. The right response to AUTHORITY – like Jesus – information and inspiration, compassion and care, purpose and peace – is to listen and commit to him. This is what Jesus wants from us. This is why Jesus appears – with AUTHORITY - to meet us in life and call us to life with and for God.
So, . . is Jesus from heaven or from humans? That is the lingering question in the scenario – and it is also the lingering, the regular, daily question for our lives. Do we trust and follow Jesus as one with AUTHORITY for us? Do we?
We have so much going on in life right now – and we are asked a basic question – about Jesus’ AUTHORITY? We are juggling life’s challenges – maybe it is work and school and children, which is super hard when so much is virtual. Maybe it is an illness, an uncertainty with a loved one. Maybe it is grief and loss, anxiety in your family – or maybe it’s the 200,000 deaths in the US from coronavirus. Maybe it is exhaustion from this never-ending isolation and frustration. Maybe it is major concerns about our nation, the racial turmoil, and the questions about justice, that keep haunting and hampering us. Maybe it is the climate crisis, . . . or the growing disparities between rich and poor, . . . or the upcoming election. There are so many things that perplex us, discourage us, and all of which raise questions about . . . AUTHORITY.
This passage confronts us with a dilemma. Are we paying attention to Jesus? Are we listening and giving our hearts and lives to the ways of Jesus?
Then, the passage continues in Matthew 21. Listen:
What is your opinion? A man had two sons. And he went up to the first one and said, “My child, go out today and work in the vineyard.” And his answer was, “I don’t want to,” but later on he changed his mind and went. And the father came up to the other son and said the same thing. And this son’s answer was, “Yes, sir, right away!” But he didn’t go. ‘Which of these two did the will of the father? ’They said, “the first.” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I tell you, the collaborating tax collectors and the whores are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. You see, John came to you with the Way of Righteousness, and you didn’t believe him. But the tax collectors and whores believed him. But you, when you saw all this happening, you didn’t change your minds later on and believe him.”
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Jesus comes with AUTHORITY and the continuing question for our lives is how we respond to Jesus. Do we respond like the two sons? Do we say, no – we will not work, but then we do it? Or do we say, yes – we will work, we will follow, but then we do not?
There is this interesting phrase in this passage – “the Way of Righteousness.” It is about believing and then following in the Way of Righteousness. This is what Jesus wants from all of us – believing in his AUTHORITY and then committing our lives to living in the way of Jesus – toward justice, righteousness, wholeness and hope.
And the real challenge is continuing to find our way toward Jesus’ Way. It is a daily, on-going venture that constantly moves toward the love and peace, the light and care, the justice and joy of Jesus. Are our lives about that?
This summer – we have learned lots – about lots of things. We have been delving – to new depths, about the systemic racial injustices that surround us in this land. Many of us are trying to come to grips with the white privilege that has shaped our lives. Many of us are discovering that while we strive to be open and welcoming of all people, racism is a huge part of our DNA in our society. We are seldom aware of our bias and privilege.
And despite the steps along the way toward equality and justice – like the Civil Rights movement, Voting Rights Act, the de-segregation of schools, affirmative action and more – we all know that we are a very long way from being free from racism. Racial prejudice and racial injustice continue so much!
We have also learned some things about the history of our church. We love our church, our long history. But our church and our history are also tied up with racism. Our church has been so tied to the culture of the times.
When we are honest, we have to realize that we may not have embodied the ways of Jesus and Righteousness so well. We – sometimes unknowingly - have been part of a culture inclined toward white supremacy. We have been caught up in a culture of commerce and greed and capitalism that has stomped on the necks of many people. We have been negligent in caring for creation, in being good stewards of this planet that God has made.
So, in response to Jesus and Jesus’ AUTHORITY, and the two sons, and the question about doing the will of God, we have to recognize that we can, and must, keep doing better. In some ways, we have not responded to the call to work in the vineyard – we have been better at working for ourselves, building wealth and status for ourselves, and not the Way of Righteousness. In some ways we have said we would go – like the second son – and we did not go – because we did not recognize the radical nature of Jesus’ call. Instead of working in the vineyard, we justified our greedy ways, justified the enslavement of others, participated in oppression of others, rationalized selfishness instead of godliness. Instead of working for a world of equality and hope for everyone, we drifted far from the Way of Righteousness.
The gospel of Matthew – with a great emphasis on the AUTHORITY of Jesus – keeps showing us what faithfulness to Jesus looks like: Jesus says “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom.” Jesus comes with AUTHORITY – wanting to shape our lives and how we live and love and serve. He does not just say love your neighbor; Jesus says love your enemies. Jesus says forgive – seven times seventy. Jesus says, you cannot serve God and mammon. Jesus comes with AUTHORITY and says, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.” And – as you know – because we are seeking to be a Matthew 25 church - Jesus says, “whatever you do to the least of these, you do it to me.” It is about walking the walk. It is about doing, acting, serving!
There are lots of things that demand our energy and devotion. There are lots of worries and challenges that confront us. But there is also this – Jesus comes with AUTHORITY. And Jesus asks us to strive for obedient faithfulness – with our daily endeavors, with a regular assessment of how we are living. It is far beyond our motivations or intentions. For Matthew’s Jesus – who comes with AUTHORITY – he keeps calling us – to commit and re-commit, to follow and to do.
Love your neighbor. Love the stranger. Hear the cry of the otherwise unheard. Liberate the poor from poverty. Care for the dignity of all. Let those who have more than they need share their blessings with those who have less. Feed the hungry, house the homeless, and heal the sick in body and mind. Fight injustice, whoever it is done by and whoever it is done against. And do these things because we follow Jesus – whatever our color, or culture, or class – toward the Way of Righteousness. (see J. Sacks, Morality, x)
Jesus comes with AUTHORITY. We seek to follow Jesus. May it be so. Amen
Prayer – O Lord, by your Spirit, touch our lives and more us to deeper ways of living, loving, serving. Jesus call forth obedient faithfulness – not words, actions; not a little bit but with all that we are. Show us the way toward Righteousness following Jesus.
Alex Evans, Pastor, Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA preached this sermon for morning worship, Sunday, September 27, 2020. This is a rough manuscript.