Friday, February 15

One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. "Tell us by what authority you are doing these things," they said. "Who gave you this authority?" (Luke 20: 1-2)

When Jesus gave the people an authentic interpretation of law during his Sermon on the Mount he both codified and fortified God’s word. The people were amazed by his teaching because he had the authority of God unlike the scribes.

With this authority Jesus allowed the blind to see, the deaf to hear, raised the dead, and cast away demons in their midst, so that they might come to believe that the Kingdom of God was at hand. But it was a seemingly simple act of mercy which caused the crowds to glorify God; Jesus forgave the sins of the paralytic by just speak- ing the word. By this act he announced to the world that atonement for sins could be done outside of the sacrifice of the temple. Jesus had divine power, he had authority from God.

The amazing thing is that Jesus freely gave his authority to his disciples so that they could perform many of the same miracles, they could forgive sins and they could provide authentic teaching to the people. He gave the Church the authority to continue these things in his name.

The Pharisees and Scribes did not like this challenge to their authority and therefore they questioned from what authority does his teaching come? Jesus, being the teacher, asks them a simple ques- tion about the source of John the Baptist’s authority. When they dis- cuss this among themselves they conclude that they cannot tell the truth that John was from God, but they cannot deny it for fear of the crowds, so they attempt to be politically correct and in the process condemn themselves.

In our times we face several important issues regarding the right to life for the unborn and the sanctity of marriage and we have to ask ourselves from whose authority do our beliefs come. Is our reasoning from God or from man? Are we willing to seek the truth and take a stand or just discuss it and come up with a politically cor- rect conclusion which will potentially condemn us? We need to hon- estly reflect on how our beliefs are formed.

When the message of Christ is contrary to what society is trying to impose on us it is a natural reaction to rebel against author- ity, to preserve our reason, our independent judgment. The real dan- ger is that we can fear the crowd and deny him or possibly join the crowd by yelling “crucify him.” We need to face the truth and take up his cross. 

So during this Lenten season, a time of reflection and sacri- fice, I ask that we reflect on the scriptures and the traditions of the Church and then pray that the Holy Spirit provide us guidance so that when we teach we are assured it is God’s will and not ours.

Ken White