Today's Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 11 verses 27 through 33:
27 Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him 28and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?’ 29Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.’ 31They argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say, “Why then did you not believe him?” 32But shall we say, “Of human origin”?’—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. 33So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’
We are walking through the last week of Jesus' life, and read today about the confrontation he had in Jerusalem with the religious leaders over the issue of authority.
"What gave him the right?" they asked.
Jesus asked, "What gave John the right."
The point is, what gives anyone the right to say or do something that:
1. Goes against tradition.
2. Disrupts the status quo.
3. Subverts what has been commonly taught.
4. Doesn't square completely with the party line's interpretation of the Bible.
And so, we could ask, "What gave Lincoln the right to free the slaves? Was that word of heaven or of human origin?"
I used to think we all knew the answer to that; but I know that once we admit it, then it should raise lots of questions in our minds about other things also.
And that's in part why they killed Him, because His radical ideas had far and wide implications and could not be controlled.
Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
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