Authority of Christ
Matthew 21: 23-27
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21)
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost is the Gospel reading Matthew 21. I read a story about a governor who was running hard for a second term in office. After a busy day of chasing votes he did not have time to eat so when he arrived at a church picnic in the late afternoon he was famished. As the governor moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman serving chicken. She put a piece on his plate and turned to the next person in line. “Excuse me”, the governor said, “do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?” “Sorry, the woman told him, I am supposed to give one piece of chicken to each person.” “But I am starved”, the governor said. “Sorry only one piece of chicken to each person”, the woman said. The governor was a modest and unassuming man, but he decided that this time he would throw a little weight around. “Do you know who I am?”, he said. “I am the governor of this state.” “Do you know who I am?” the woman said. “I am the lady in charge of the chicken, move along mister.”
Who is the one who has authority? Who is in charge. It is a question that we often ask. It is a question that the chief priests and elders asked Jesus. The Jewish leaders asked this question because when Jesus entered the temple, He ran the money changers out. The religious leaders wanted to know what authority Jesus had to do this. They wanted to know who gave Jesus this authority. The chief priests and elders thought they were the ultimate authority. They viewed themselves as the keeper of the traditions of the elders. These religious leaders were considered the best of Jewish society. They were outwardly upright. But in reality, their hearts were far from God. They had rejected Jesus as the Christ. Not only did they refuse to believe in Him, but they wanted to kill Him. These Jewish leaders thought that they had ultimate authority. They were wrong and they were wrong to question Jesus.
Yet, we can find ourselves asking the same question. “By what authority are you doing these things?” This question put to Jesus is also a frequent question in the church. Who is “in charge” in the church? These kinds of questions can reveal the pride that lurks in sinful hearts. Questions of authority in the church can turn one into a critic instead of a student. There is a popular book by C.S. Lewis called The Screwtape Letters. In the book, an apprentice devil, named Wormwood, has the task of luring a new churchgoer to hell. His devil supervisor named Screwtape offers him advice in this task. The premise of the book is to show the point of view of the devil so that the reader can better identify when they are being tempted. Screwtape reassures Wormwood that his victim going to church does not necessarily put an end to his hellish cause. In fact, Wormwood might turn his victim’s church attendance to the devil’s advantage. The trick will be to get him involved in church politics, zealously attached to some party within the congregation. Not on issues of real importance, doctrinal matters, mind you, but on indifferent things. When that happens, the worshipper begins to make himself judge, rather than student. He assumes for himself the authority to criticize rather than learn. Now you have him thinking and speaking like the chief priests.
Sinful human beings always want to take authority for themselves. We see the chief priests and scribes doing it and we will be tempted to do it. The Jewish leaders asked the question. “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” The Lord responded with a question of His own. “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” Jesus of course was referring to John the Baptist. The chief priests and scribes would not answer the question because they refused to believe in Jesus, and they feared the people.
Jesus’ question is no simple debating tactic. It goes to the heart of the proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah. John is the one who had proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God. So, if John’s baptism was from heaven, his words would be authoritative too, and Jesus must be the Christ. He know that John’s baptism was from heaven because it was God who sent him to prepare the way for Jesus. Who has authority? Who is in charge of the church? The answer is Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus is the Son of the living God. He is the Christ who was foretold in the Old Testament. He is the Savior of the world. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus. Our Lord is the head of the church. It is Jesus who has ultimate authority.
Jesus did indeed have the authority to confront the religious leaders in their false doctrine. He had the authority to rebuke His disciples. He had the authority to calm the waters, and to walk on water. He had the authority to heal the sick and forgive the sins of people. He had the authority to raise Lazarus from the dead. He had the authority to enter Jerusalem on a donkey thus fulfilling another Old Testament prophecy. He had the authority to run the money changers out of the temple and the authority to curse the fig tree. He had the authority to sit with sinners and bring them to repentance and faith. Yes, everything that Jesus has done has the stamp of approval from the Father in heaven.
Jesus answers the question of authority without answering the question. In refusing to answer, Jesus is actually asserting His authority by refusing to submit to His interrogators. He is above them because He is the Son of God. He is the Christ, the Savior of the world. Ultimately, He would demonstrate His authority over death and Satan by dying on the cross and rising again. At the cross the Lord crushed the head of Satan and wiped away our sins. At His resurrection He defeated death for us and gave us everlasting life. The Lord Jesus has the ultimate authority.
Therefore the means of grace He instituted have His authority. His Word, every word of Holy Scripture is reliable, true, and certain. The forgiveness He spoke was authoritative; sins He forgave were forgiven. The Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper truly deliver forgiveness, life, and salvation. Jesus’ authority is still at work in the Office of Pastor. When Jesus’ ministers preach His Word, the hearers hear Him. In Absolution, the Lord’s ministers forgive sins by His authority.
Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father. That means all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. His hand rules over this world. He is the head of the church. He reigns in heaven. He is the One who is with us right now. It is by His authority that the church goes out into the world to proclaim the Gospel. Today is LWML Sunday. The Lord works through the work of the LWML to support missionaries, and the work of the church. Jesus is the Lord of the harvest who sends us all out into the mission field to reach the lost with the Gospel. It is the Lord who will visibly return on the Last Day to bring us to be with Him in His full presence for all eternity. The church rejoices in the authority of Jesus, for in it we hear His word and are absolved. In that Word we live, in that Word we die, and His Word will be forever. Amen