Therefore

A Series on Lent
The stories of Passion Week - the religious leaders
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 20:1-26 

[Lent is a 40-day season of personal reflection with the purpose to prepare your heart to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter. In this series on Lent, we will be looking into the stories of Passion Week. How the people who were directly involved were impacted and how that applies to us today.]

  

During my junior year of high school, I was the campaign manager for a friend of mine who was running for Student Council President. Since we didn’t have much of a budget for advertising, we used pictures from my parent’s old Life magazines and mounted them on poster board.

 

In the wisdom that only sixteen-year-old boys could manage, one such picture was of a girl in a two-piece bathing suit. The caption that we decided would make perfect sense was: “My belly button is voting for Pete”.

 

The next day as we were taping the picture to the wall at school, the principal came up and said, “That would only appeal to stupid people”. My friend who was helping me immediately quipped, “Even stupid people vote”. Without saying another word, the principal turned around and walked away. The poster stayed on the wall.

 

Like my school principal, Jesus’ authority was also challenged. It was during Passover week. The streets were crowded with pilgrims from across Judea. Jesus had entered Jerusalem like a king. Recently, he had raised Lazarus from the dead and everybody was talking about it, much to the dismay of the religious leaders.

 

The day after entering Jerusalem, Jesus went into the crowded Temple and drove out the merchants, knocking over tables and scattering coins and animals that were being sold for Temple sacrifice. The religious leaders couldn’t find a way to stop him, so Jesus continued to teach and heal in the Temple defying their authority.

 

One day while Jesus was in the Temple courts, a group of religious leaders, who were members of the Sanhedrin, approached him. The Sanhedrin was the prevailing authority for all things related to the Jews. They viewed Jesus as a threat. Therefore, they challenged him.

 ² “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”               NIV

 

Instead of answering their question, Jesus told them a parable about a vineyard owner and his tenants. It was aimed directly at the religious leaders to condemn them. When he was done they tried to find a way to have Jesus arrested right then. But because of his popularity, they were too afraid.

 

Challenging authority is an age old past time. Students challenge principals. Children challenge parents. Employees challenge employers. Fans and players challenge referees. All of us challenges authority at some time. It all started with Adam and Eve challenging God.

 

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  NIV           Matthew 28

 

In his final words to his disciples, Jesus claimed his ultimate authority. He followed this by saying, “Therefore”. This means that because of his authority, he gave his disciples a mission that would turn the world upside down. Therefore, that mission still applies to us.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

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