Jesus Brings the Truth to Light—Part 1
Matthew 21:23-27
Every had your position, your authority, your intelligence, or your worth challenged? How did you handle it? Did you see it as a “teachable moment”? Or was your reaction a bit more carnal than that?
Let me be the first to confess that sometimes there is something in me that rises up in anger and, at first flush, wants to just let the challenger have it! Many times, my first instinct is not to look beyond their words and try to discover what is really going on in their hearts so that I can minister to them with the Word of God.
Oh, no! Oftentimes my pride is the first thing that is triggered by a challenge to my knowledge or my position. I get myself all twisted up like the chief priests and the scribes, and I demand to know, “By what authority…?” In other words, “Who do you think you are?”
Anybody else? Anybody else here get like that, or am I the only one? Now, we all know that that is wrong. We all know that when we are too full of ourselves, people can’t see Jesus in us. God and I are working on that. How about you?
The beginning of this interchange between the religious rulers and Jesus takes place within the temple precincts while Jesus is teaching.
Yesterday, He drove out the moneychangers and upset the whole process of graft that the priests were engaged in. But here He is, right back there as if nothing had happened. Pretty bold, wouldn’t you say?
Within Judaism, Jesus had no rabbinical standing, no priestly lineage, no formal education, and actually no real right to be teaching or doing anything else of that nature in the temple. For the chief priests and the scribes to demand to know, “By what authority,” was a perfectly normal question to come from them, really.
What was Jesus even doing there, anyway? Did Jesus know that the religious leaders—who had the power to have Him stoned to death at the very least—would do nothing to Him at this point? Probably, but I don’t think that was what motivated Jesus to return and to teach.
No, you see, this really is the heart of Jesus on full display for us. For as long as He has breath in Him, He is going to be about doing the will of His Father. He is going to be about the business of teaching people about the true nature and character of God, about God’s true kingdom and what it takes to be a part of that kingdom. And He is going to minister to the needs of those He encounters, even when the circumstances are not “ideal”.
That includes these religious leaders, these self-righteous monitors of ritual and ceremony. Each of them needed to know the truth about the kingdom of God just as much as the next person—perhaps even more. Jesus uses every encounter with them as a “teachable moment”, if you will, all the way to the cross. More on that another time.
For now, let’s look at this interchange a bit more closely and see what treasures Matthew has preserved for us.
This whole interchange between the rulers and Jesus is critical at this juncture. It not only draws very clear lines about where everyone stands in this very important drama, it also makes very clear what does and does not qualify a person to truly be part of the kingdom of God. And there is no more important truth than that to know.
The “chief priests and scribes” made up a large portion of the Sanhedrin, the Counsel of Seventy, the final authority on all things Jewish. No longer is Jesus being challenged on the finer points of the Law, now things are getting down into the nitty-gritty of who Jesus really is and what kind of authority He really has. They knew what authority they had—and He wasn’t one of them.
When they ask, “By what authority do you do these things and who gave it to you,” they already have an answer in their minds—none and no one. From their point of view, Jesus has no authority. He had not attended any of the recognized rabbinical schools, nor had He received any official license or ordaining from the priests of the temple. He was not of the tribe of Levi, so He definitely wasn’t part of the priestly lineage.
The only other possible alternative in their minds—that He was a true prophet—had already been tested and He had failed the test as far as they were concerned. His refusal to obey the minutiae of their additions to the Law had disqualified Him from that possibility in their minds and hearts long before.
So, them asking Him, “By what authority,” seems like a reasonable question, does it not? To a point, yes it does. Whenever we encounter something that does not fit into what we know to be the norm, we need to question it. There are many today that claim to be apostles, prophets, and teachers who are liars and deceivers, and they need to be purged from the church. Their teaching needs to be measured against the whole counsel of God and shown to be the falsehood that it is.
That is what the chief priests and scribes believed they were trying to do. The problem was, they had misinterpreted the Word of God by injecting their own expectations into it. They were filled with pride instead of humility, and consequently, they were blinded to the truth.
That is part of the warning to us in this lesson today—we must be wary lest we fall into the trap of pridefully measuring others.
Jesus uses the opportunity to attempt to teach them truth and to shine the light of truth on their hearts. He uses a favorite device of the rabbis by answering their question with a question of His own. They may well have known that Jesus had no formal training or licensing, but they could easily recognize His wisdom and His methods.
There was now a very open conflict between Jesus and the temple rulers. They thought they could trap Him into making a claim that would be easily disproved and they could get rid of Him once and for all. Maybe He would claim He was a prophet. They could disavow that by pointing out all of His “sins”.
Or, maybe He would claim He was a king. Rome would deal with that straight away and He would be out of their hair. Or, maybe He would even claim to be the Messiah—that would be juicy. They could denounce Him for committing blasphemy and be rid of Him for good.
In any case, they were going to show everyone how illegitimate Jesus and His teachings were, get rid of Him, and then things could get back to normal.
The problem with this little plan was that they already knew by what authority He did all of this. The power of His miracles—including raising the dead—had been obvious and public. His teachings were clear, He held no secret meetings, and He did not call for the destruction of the temple or the overthrow of the authorities. He pointed people to God!
And, He really had not kept from anyone that He was the Messiah. It was as plain as the nose on one’s face.
Jesus answers them like a true teacher, a true rabbi of the people. “First, I will ask you a question. If you answer it correctly, then I will answer yours.” His question puts them on the spot with no wiggle room: “John’s baptism was from what source, from heaven or from men?”
Bam! Boxed in; cornered; no way to escape. No matter what they do with this little gem, they’re sunk. However they answer, they will be exposed and convicted—and they knew it as soon as they heard the question.
And the Holy Spirit, through Matthew, even lets us see into their scheming little minds for a crystal clear moment.
’And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, "If we say, ’From heaven,’ He will say to us, ’Then why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ’From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet." (Matthew 21:25b-26)’
They knew as well as Jesus did that He wasn’t talking just about the act of baptizing that John did, but about his whole ministry. John not only baptized, but he also preached and filled the role of a prophet, calling people to repentance and back to God. These men knew well that John had prophesied, “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11)”
If they admitted that John’s ministry had been ordained of God, then they would have to admit that Jesus was the one “come after him,” and that He was the Messiah. There was no way they were going to do that. They didn’t even see how foolish that was. I mean, if Jesus is the Messiah, what effect does their accepting or rejecting that fact really have?
Yet, we see this all around us every day. Millions of people believe that if they deny that there is a God, deny that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be, that that makes it so. Whenever we willfully go against what we know God has said in His Word, we do likewise, acting as though God hasn’t said what He said, thinking that our denial of the fact will make it not be so.
Perhaps you can think of something in your life even now that you have been doing that with. Today is your opportunity to repent of that and allow Jesus to purge that moneychanger from your temple, eh?
The temple rulers were wise enough to see that if they claimed John’s “authority” was man-made or self-imposed, they would be claiming that John was an impostor. The people loved John, revered him as a prophet, and would have come unglued at such an accusation.
They were stuck. These wise and learned men had been boxed into a corner and had no viable way out. Their response? “And answering Jesus, they said, ‘We do not know.’” Cowards!
And Jesus leaves it for the moment. He and they knew full well where everything stood. He was the Messiah, they knew it, and they weren’t going to stand still for it. How foolish! If He is the Messiah, what did they really think they could do about it?
We clearly see their foolishness, their heard-heartedness, their pig-headedness, and their cowardice. But, are we really all that different sometimes?
How often do we read or hear the claims of God’s Word for our lives and act as though we don’t know those things? How often do we read or hear about God’s love for us, the mercy He has shown to us, the grace that He extends to us, or the promises that He has made to us, and then live our lives as if those things aren’t true?
How often do we live lives of defeat instead of lives of victory because we have our own view of things that we refuse to let go of? How often do we feel like victims of our own lives and live our lives based upon what we feel instead of what God’s Word says is true?
And how often do we wallow in doubt instead of living by faith? How often do we doubt that the love of God for others is the love of God for us? How often do we believe His goodness is for others but not for us? How often do we refuse to humbly admit that we have been wrong, that we have been self-righteous, that we have been faithless or unfaithful, and allow Him to purge that guilt from our lives and bring us into perfect union with Him?
You see, I am convinced by what I have learned about Jesus over the years that He would have relished it if those chief priests and scribes had bowed their heads, admitted their error, and received His forgiveness. I know He would have given it. Jesus Christ’s whole life and ministry were about love, truth, mercy, grace, and forgiveness.
Let me ask something else.
Knowing that as hard as they had fought and resisted Him that He would have immediately extended that loving forgiveness to them, who are we to withhold that immediate forgiveness from others when they admit they are wrong? Do we think we can judge their hearts and their motives, do we think we can see past their words and judge their innermost being and thereby withhold what is so graciously given to us in the immediate?
So what if, for a time, their hearts were wicked toward us, their motives were selfish, or their purposes were evil. If they give a heartfelt apology, who are we to withhold the forgiveness that Jesus Christ gives to us immediately we ask for it?
We are not so different from the villains in this story then, are we? We are in just as much need of the forgiving grace of the Savior as they were—and that those who have wronged us are.
It all boils down to this one question: Who is Jesus and what are we going to do about it?
You see, even when Jesus knew what was in their hearts, still He stood before them, giving them one more chance to see the truth and respond to it. Sure, the question He posed to them made them grossly uncomfortable. Whenever our sin is brought into the light and we are exposed for what we are, we have the same natural tendency to ache and to resist.
When you’ve been in a deep sleep and someone suddenly flips the light on and wakes you up, doesn’t the light hurt your eyes? Don’t you squint and turn your head, trying to relieve the discomfort of the brightness of the light? You might even get agitated or even a little angry. And aren’t you a bit distressed that your peaceful slumber has been so rudely disturbed?
The light of truth often hurts our eyes the same way. Think about the people God has brought into your life. Do you realize that those people are very much just like you? They don’t lay awake at night, scheming and plotting ways to hurt you or embarrass you, any more than you lay awake at night plotting and scheming against them. That stuff just happens as a matter of course in our lives.
God often uses the people who make us the most uncomfortable as points of light to help us see what He sees. We are rarely if ever uncomfortable over something that we know we are right with God about. When we have a solid peace with God about something, unless our priorities are all messed up, we have a calm confidence when faced with these sandpaper people.
We need to learn to allow the Holy Spirit to do the work in our hearts that Jesus was trying to do in the hearts of the chief priests and the scribes that day. We are going to see over the next couple of weeks that this was only the beginning of His attempt to get them to see the truth and respond to it properly.
He does the same with us. The more He brings something up and the more people and other means that He uses to bring it to our attention, the more serious He is about getting that thing straightened out in our hearts.
Let me make this a little more personal so that you can see what I mean and perhaps see what the practical application is for you from today’s study.
As I was going through this passage over and over this week, I kept asking the question: Lord, what is the stiff-necked thing in my life that I won’t let go of? Where is it that I am rigid and unrelenting about in my own heart?
Funny, isn’t it, that when you ask a question like that with a sincere heart that you don’t have long to wait for an answer? Tell me—you’re my friends and fellow heirs with Christ. What do you think the answer was? I’ll bet that you know. I’ll even bet that you’ve tried delicately to bring it to my attention in the past without hurting my feelings.
Don’t’ want to say? It’s right here in front of us, isn’t it? It’s right here in this lesson from God’s Word this morning, right? Oh, how timely can be our study of His Word if we will do it diligently!
Remember the query I posed at the beginning of our lesson today? “Every had your position, your authority, your intelligence, or your worth challenged?”
There it is, isn’t it? When people question what I say, especially about God and His Word, I far too often take it as them questioning me instead of them questioning God or them trying to learn and to understand. Pitifully prideful, isn’t it?
Now, I could make all kinds of excuses and try to rationalize it, justify it, and reason it away. But it is, as I said earlier, just as plain as the nose on one’s face, isn’t it?
So what do I do about it? I have to not only allow but also embrace the light that Jesus is shedding on that wart on my soul and allow Him to perform the necessary surgery and get it removed. I have to listen when it comes up—no matter how it comes up, or from whose lips I hear it, or in what manner it is said—and I have to admit that I have been as prideful and as in error as those learned men Jesus spoke to on that afternoon so long ago.
Am I comfortable with all of this? Not in the least. It is much easier to ignore the truth than it is to face it—at least for a time. But I do not want and cannot afford to live in denial of the truth any longer. As uncomfortable and as embarrassing as it is for me to be so exposed and vulnerable in front of you like this today, it is absolutely necessary if I am to be a worthy servant of Jesus Christ and the work that He has done and wants to do.
When I think back to how often this subject has come up and in how many contexts with how many different people, it amazes me how hard-headed and how hard-hearted I have been about it.
Time to get it straightened out, don’t you think? Time to be humble before God and humble before you and ask you and God for forgiveness. Time to confess that the sinfulness of my pride has been hurtful and damaging to all of you, to myself, to my witness, and, most importantly, to the honor of my Savior.
And it is time to receive the blessed mercy of God through Christ, forsake the way of sin, and to live on the other side of it all.
Now, here is the hardest part: Can you—will you—actually extend forgiveness to me and allow me to begin afresh without presupposing that I am going to falter and to fail? Can you—will you—allow the slate to be wiped clean and not fall into the sin of prejudging in your own heart and mind?
There’s the rub, you know. Whenever the light of God’s truth shines on the sin in someone’s life it also shines on the sin in our own. We need to be ready to say, “This is the truth and I am convicted by it.” If we react against the truth because we have been put to shame by it, then there is something wrong with our hearts. But, if we humbly accept the conviction we receive from the truth as being from the Holy Spirit, our standing with Him and with those in our lives can be reconciled and restored.
We need to be honest—with ourselves and with each other. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to stand with each other in loving encouragement, helping each other to see the truth and then helping carry that burden of conviction to the Lord.
As we go to prayer, let me pose these questions:
What is the light of God shining on in your life?
What do you need to be forgiven of and allowed out from under?
What have you been holding on so fiercely to that you have become blind to how devastating it is to you and those around you?
Are you ready to “come clean” by allowing the purifying light of God’s Word and the power of the Blood of the Lamb to wash you pure and make you new?
Let’s pray and receive what the Lord has for us today.
