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Matthew 21: 23-27 | King James Audio Bible KJV | Daily Bible Verses Advent | Love Revealed By Jesus Christ
23 ¶ And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?
26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.
27 And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
Today’s verses hold a message for those early Christians of the time when the Gospel was being written. Those Christians faced persecution at the hands of the Roman authority. It would have been reassuring for them to hear of how Jesus challenged authority, helping them to find the courage to keep their faith.
Christ has cleansed the Temple, driving out the money changers and the salesmen, and he has healed and taught in the Temple. The chief priests and the elders do not seek to try to understand what is happening. They do not ask what is the meaning of Jesus’ actions; rather their concern in for authority.
The chief priests and the elders are presented once again as false shepherds, who feed themselves and neglect their sheep, only being concerned for their own interests and not for the spiritual wellbeing of their flock. Their authority is threatened by Jesus, and this is their motivation as they ask: ‘By what authority doest thou these things?’
Jesus turns the question around to become a challenge to his accusers. He knows that John the Baptist’s authority came from God – Jesus himself went to be baptized by John. The Jewish authorities have previously shunned John, seeing him too as a threat.
They cannot answer Jesus’ question, again because of their concern for maintaining their position. They cannot say from God, because this will excuse their error in their attitude to John. They cannot say ‘of men’ because this would turn the people against them.
The chief priests and the elders are trapped in a false position they have set up for themselves, and which Jesus has now exposed. They cannot respond with honesty to Jesus. Their worldly concerns preclude a way to the truth.
See also: Mark 11: 27-33 – Week 8 Ordinary Time, Saturday.
Almighty God, give your people grace to enter on the way of salvation. As they hearken to the voice of John, the Lord’s herald, bring them safely to Jesus, whom John foretold.
King James Audio Bible | Endnotes
We may be always inspired by the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, as here in Jesus’ interactions in the Temple. This moment of the Gospel of Matthew depicts Jesus teaching in the temple and facing opposition from the religious leaders of his time.
Jesus was known for his powerful sermons and also the use of parables to convey important messages to his followers. Jesus taught the importance of faith and obedience to God, and emphasized the need for a life of love and service to others. We may recall in these verses of the Bible the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus taught a new path of salvation – far and away removed from religious orthodoxy.
In this instance in the Temple, religious leaders of the Temple ask Jesus for proof of his authority to teach. Jesus responds in a sense with a parable – from the Greek parabole, an analogy or comparison, to throw beside – asking them about the baptism of John the Baptist. This parable was a powerful reminder that faith and obedience to God must be at the forefront of our lives, and that we must be willing to recognize and follow the guidance of those who have been called by God to lead us.
As Christians, we reflect on the teachings of Jesus and strive to embody Jesus’ message in our daily lives. We find comfort and guidance in the words Jesus spoke, and in the examples Jesus set through his life and ministry. Just as Jesus faced opposition in the Temple, we too may face challenges and obstacles as we seek to live out our faith. Just as Jesus persevered, even unto his final hours in the Garden of Gethsemane, so too we remain steadfast in our commitment to serving God and following in his footsteps.
Jesus has told the rich young man that, to be perfect, he must do more than obey the commandments; additionally, he must give everything away and follow Jesus; he must sell it all, give the money to the poor, and pursue a life of total gratuity with Jesus [ … ]
In this reading from his letter to the Ephesians, Saint Ignatius of Antioch continues his instruction on the Christian life, concentrating on faith, love, and the power of common worship. Writing to a community he knows well, Ignatius encourages regular gathering for prayer and thanksgiving, seeing this as a central defence against spiritual danger [ … ]
Sometimes, when I read my Bible, I pause in the reading and say to myself: ‘This bit’s real.’ It would be fair to say, I have issues with Mary, because, contrary to what we are taught to say, Mary isn’t my mother. Rather: Mum is. One bit of the Bible-text says this: And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for people were saying, “He is beside himself.” … And his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting about him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Mark 3: 21; 31-35.) Here she comes. She is in considerable distress. I can imagine that. I can relate to that. To save her boy from whatever he’s got himself into this time. And you’re not telling me there isn’t something inside that. Her boy is beside himself. Radical. Radicalized. Radicalizing. A misunderstood word. /ˈradɪk(ə)l/ adjective & noun. 1 Forming the root, basis, or foundation; original, primary. 2a Inherent in the nature of a thing or person; fundamental. b Of action, change, an idea: going to the root or origin; far-reaching, thorough. c Advocating thorough or far-reaching change. d Characterized by departure from tradition; progressive; unorthodox. ‘He has a demon! And he is mad!’ – thus ‘the Jews’. (e.g. John 10: 20.) Come home! It’s all she wants. His family want him back now. But it is an exclusive cult: there is an inside and there is an outside; and on the outside, they are not meant to understand, lest they be converted. He has defined himself as different from anything she was. Only at the end does Jesus say to his Mum – and with savage, bitter irony: ‘Woman, behold your son.’ And then he dies. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. We ask that we might find Mary in our hearts as a Yes! place for Jesus. It is also recommended that we pray to Jesus that we may be further in oneness with Mary. It is self-emptying, such that we only exist insofar as we are responsive to God’s Word. * Last term, and put-out to pasture, the old Archbishop Emeritus came over to stay for a few days and did the odd class with us. He spoke of Yes! as the meaning of Mary’s virginity. And we were not very nice about him. One or two took umbrage. One or two got the hump. In a sense, his Grace, the Arch, basically wanted to move anyone he’d ever known from a high-place – a mountain – received theological ‘truth’ – to an imminent, human plane. Earthing the spiritual. Recalibrating metrics of life’s believability toward a spiritual sense of things. He might have asked the impermissible question: what happened? His Grace described it. God’s love as a cloud. This descended upon Mary – and subsumed her. Within the cloud, Mary capitulated utterly. She became only and purely a response to God’s love. As he spoke, the Arch cradled her. He carried her in his lap – in his hands. His Grace was a consecrated bishop. He was faith. He sat squat, a rounded man, hands cupped and ankles crossed, fingers interlocked, with parted thighs. Rumpled, washed, speckled. A lifetime’s skin… There could be no doubt His Grace spoke through long-term personal relationship with Mary. It was Julian went for him: ‘So are you saying Mary was a Virgin? Or are you not saying Mary was a Virgin?’ Nasty. No, it wasn’t pretty. Julian twisting his silver ring. For a moment, what Julian had said to the Arch simply failed to communicate. No, for a moment, that dumped on the air meant nothing. Then His Grace said: ‘There is a range of possible meanings we may understand in the question of Mary’s virginity. For example, there are understandings of the word virginity entailed in the action of giving birth.’ Julian said: ‘Duh! So had she had sex or hadn’t she?’ Trigger words. No, it wasn’t pretty. On that went for a little while. At length, Julian’s point seemed reluctantly conceded. Then the Arch told us a new story, an additionally human event, the more to baffle us. Controversially, he told us that Mary could not have been Joseph’s first wife, for this would not have been the way of things in the society of that time. His belief was that Joseph must have taken Mary into his household through pity. That would be normal, he said, for Joseph to bring a young, vulnerable girl, who is about to have a baby, within his protection, not meaning to enjoy with her marital relations, but through kindness. ‘And this story of the inn and stable,’ the Archbishop said, ‘it can’t have been like that really. Joseph has travelled with Mary to stay with his family, at home in Bethlehem, and they don’t want Mary in their house, for reasons which I am sure we can understand. It must have been there was considerable resistance to Mary. But Mary gives birth, and who can resist a baby? That’s what happened. It must have been. ‘I’m convinced that must have been how it happened really.’ Later that term, toward the beginning of Advent, we met boys who had been here before, in Valladolid, and now were in regular seminary. They had heard and recited verbatim all the Archbishop had said to them. Their spot-on impressions of each of the fathers were scathing. […]
