St. John’s Lutheran Church, Toluca, IL – 18th Sunday after Pentecost
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; Psalm 25:1-9; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32
Gospel Matthew 21:23-32
23When [Jesus] entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to 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, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” 27So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
28“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.”
NRSV
. . .
The Enabler of Wonderful Things
Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I want to take us back a few months to Palm Sunday. I know. It’s been a while. Bear with me, please.
We began our holy week back then, talking about the forces about to collide in Jerusalem circa 33 A.D. On the one hand, the procession of sinners, among them tax collectors and prostitutes, made saints by faith in the rabbi from Nazareth as the Messiah, singing, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest heavens. On the other, a city in turmoil in anticipation of the Passover festival and the authorities anxious to keep the status quo of the pax Romana and the business in the Temple running smoothly. At least some noticed the bearers of palms and their king sitting in the back of a colt and asked, who is this?
Next, in the 21st chapter of Matthew, Jesus does not like what he sees about the kind of business going on in the Temple. What follows is the only moment he seems to go unhinged in the gospels, and I am sure you remember what happens. So, yeah, he got the attention of the authorities, and not in a good way.
No, the authorities want to challenge Jesus’ authority and ask him, by what authority are you doing this, Jesus? If the God among us was already more than a little annoyed by what was happening in his house, now it is definitely on.
After asking his challengers a simple question that made their lack of spine and understanding of scripture evident, Jesus goes, oy, the baptizer came, announcing the invisible domain of heaven about to manifest here for us and the necessary repentance, the change of hearts and minds that allows the word of God to work within us, here and now. The sinners longing for life and forgiveness heard it and understood, and you did not. What is the point then? Your hearts are too hard to accept my authority, Jesus kind of said.
The problem with the authorities confronting Jesus in this scene is that they don’t have the authority to understand and accept Jesus’ authority.
The authority of those challenging him was artificial, obtained by violence or the brokerage of influence. Jesus was there alongside God the Father and God the Holy Spirit when all things were spoken into existence. Jesus is a co-creator and author of the divine masterpiece given to us as a gift to be well taken care of. His authority is natural and real. The respect obtained by those authorities was based on fear of consequences. Jesus’s authority comes from the cross, where he gave up all his power so we all would listen to what he has to say, allowing it to be transformed, to receive a new heart and a new mind, turn to God, and live.
His absolute authority established, Jesus tells us this little parable to illustrate hearers who are really doing the will of God. Those who eventually had their hearts and minds sufficiently transformed to follow him, even to the cross. Now, to have the exact mind of Christ as Paul suggests, to look at the interest of others rather than ourselves, I don’t know. Who is going to pay the bills?
I don’t think we can do that ourselves. But this is what we can do. We can keep listening to the voice of the Spirit, gathering us together under the loving and forgiving authority of our Lord and Savior, allowing some time in our busy schedules to work not for ourselves but for him. To do not what and how we would like but what he hopes for us to do. To be present for one another. Jesus enables us that much, yes? Thanks be to God. Amen.
Bridging Faith 