Lent Day 36: Tuesday of Holy Week

One day as he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?” He answered them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” They discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” So they answered that they did not know where it came from. Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

~Luke 20:1-8

Chief Priests Ask Jesus by What Right Does He Act in This Way
James Tissot, 1836-1902, Courtesy of Art in the Christian Tradition

On Sunday we celebrated the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The week of the Passover is here, as is the week of the crucifixion. Chapters 20 and 21 describe Jesus' activities that week. At the end of chapter 19, we read that Jesus was teaching in the temple every day. Here we find some of our most memorable teaching moments of Jesus. Shall we pay taxes to Caesar? What about this poor old woman, dropping two coins in the treasury. Is that right? A number of these fall under the category of "attempts to trip Jesus up," which have ramped up ever since Jesus' wild welcome by the people. They welcomed him as a king.

This exchange, which I am imagining to take place on Tuesday (the gospel doesn't break down the days for us until Wednesday), seems rather tame by comparison. It sounds like a sincere question. By whose authority do you teach, and heal, and work wonders? 

If these folks had taken the time to hear Jesus' teaching at any time before this, they would have had their answer. 

Jesus, as ever the wise teacher, uses it as a teaching moment. Tell me, he says--where did John the Baptist get his authority--from God or from humans? They all know the answer to this--just as they know the answer to the question they have posed Jesus. 

There is a famous painting of John the Baptist--a closeup in which he is looking directly at the artist, and pointing his index finger heavenward. He is indicating that his teaching is not about himself, but about God. This could easily have been a portrait of Jesus. Jesus, too, is pointing to God, in all his teaching, in all his healing, in all his feeding multitudes. It is never about his own self-aggrandizement; it's simply sold teaching about how we love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves.

The questioners back down. They refuse to answer, because they don't like the answer. If this teaching comes from God and is pointing to God, it condemns them for not listening to it, not trusting it.

Immediately after this Jesus tells the parable tradition has named "The Wicked Tenants" (Luke 20:9-19). It tells of a man who leases vineyard, and then sends servants to take his portion of the proceeds. The tenants famously beat up all the servants he sends. Finally he sends his son. The tenants kill him.

This is a story about those of us to whom God has entrusted God's Word, God's love, and God's grace. In first century Judea, Jesus had some complaints about his own faith tradition, but that is now how I read this. This is to us. 

Are we good stewards of God's church? Do we care for it, not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of those who exist outside it? Do we love one another well, and let that love spill out into the community? Do we feed the hungry, quench the thirsty, care for the sick, visit the chained, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger? 

Do we ignore the prophets in our midst? Do we act out of safety rather than out of what is right? Do we excuse our passivity? Do we neglect the Spirit?

Is everything we do of God? 

These are the highest possible standards, but we are out in the world claiming to do things in Jesus' name. Would Jesus be pleased or scandalized?