Authority

[July 13, 2010]   --"When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"-Matthew 21:23

When it comes to following Jesus, we have a problem.  We love to hear about how much Jesus loves us and how much he wants to do for us.  We love stories about forgiveness, healing and companionship, and these stories are abundant in the Gospels.  So what's the problem?  Well, we love to hear about what Jesus does for us, but we aren't nearly as interested in hearing about what Jesus wants from us.  When Jesus talks about dying to ourselves, or disabusing ourselves of wealth and possessions, or sharing our faith, we tend to have selective hearing.  "He doesn't mean me," we think to ourselves.  That is the work of someone else.  But it is not.  And today's passage is another example of our selective hearing of Scripture.

Jesus is in Jerusalem and nearing the time of his betrayal.  He is teaching when the leaders come to him and want to know who gave him the authority to do his work?  He never answers, although we know the answer.  But this is thing, in order for us to have a real, meaningful, relationship with Jesus Christ during our lives, he has to have authority over our lives.  Let me say that again, we have to give Jesus Christ authority in our lives.  We have to ask ourselves, "what would Jesus want me to do in this situation?"  We have to study his Word so we can have an idea of the answer, and then we have to do it.  To be a Christian means we understand who has the ultimate authority over our lives.  Jesus is not just a servant, he is also a Lord, and he is our Lord.  He loves us, forgives us, and is with us, no doubt, but we should also love him, follow him and serve him. 

 

Prayer:  Holy God, help me to be a servant of Jesus.  Help me to give him authority over my life and show me how I might live and serve better.  I thank you for the gift of faith, and I ask that it might be strengthened this week.  I pray in Jesus' name.  Amen.
 

[text from file received by Phil Blackburn,

First Presbyterian Church]