THE WORD
Jdg 17,20-25 / Mk 11,27-33
Jesus and his disciples returned once more to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?”
Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.” They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘(Then) why did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin?’” – they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet.So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” Then Jesus said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
IN OTHER WORDS
In L. Frank Baum’s The Master Key, a boy character quips, “Oh, if Shakespeare says it, that’s all right.”–implying that one can safely and cofidently believe anything Shakespeare wrote because he’s an authority. Authority is such a curious thing, strangely manifested in proper names. Just quote Socrates, Nietzsche, or St. Teresa of Calcutta and people will not disagree with you even if you don’t understand their words.
For the Israelites in the OT, the notion of authority was of capital importance. Only the Word of Yahweh mattered to them—or so they said.
During Jesus’ time, the Pharisees and chief priests would piously invoke Moses’ or David’s name to justify their attitudes, beliefs, and behavior.
Remember the occasion when Jesus severely rebuked the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees? “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees,” Jesus roars. “You hypocrites! You give to God one tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill and cumin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty (Mt. 23: 23).”
So when they asked Jesus, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus dodged their trap, retorting, “Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.” As usual, Jesus outwitted the Pharisees..
And so Jesus did not tell them by what authority He did what He was doing. After all, what more evidence was necessary than: the blind could see, the lame could walk, the deaf could hear, the lepers were cured, the dead raised, and the Good News was preached to the poor (Lk. 7: 22).
Besides, before the hopelessly stubborn and blind Scribes and Pharisees, it’s better to keep one’s mouth shut. Leonardo da Vinci once said: “Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.”
- Fr. Raymun J. Festin, SVD | CKMS, Quezon City
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
