The Authority of Jesus Questioned

Today's Reflections  

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

Mt 21:23-27 [or Zec 2:14-17, Jdt 13, Lk 1:26-38]
 

23When [Jesus] had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” ²⁴Jesus said to them in reply, “I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things.

25Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?” They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet.” ²⁷So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” He himself said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Reflection:

By what authority are you doing these things? Jesus often comes in conflict with the religious leaders of his time. The disputes lead the religious authorities to plot his death.

We are often faced with controversies. We are unique individuals, but our differences, even with friends, give us no reason to kill others or have them killed. The gun and the sword are not our only weapons for killing. 

We kill our adversaries by our looks, by our cold attitude, by spreading rumors and lies about them, by making life difficult for them, by speaking against them, forgetting that in the process we also kill our own souls. It may be good to ask ourselves the same question: By what authority are we doing what we are doing?

The best way to win our enemies is to make them our friends and convince them to our side.

Pray the rosary for an adversary today.