Jesus’ Defiance Against Earthly Sinful Authorities: A Lesson in Divine Authority
Mark 11:33b …Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Oh no! Here come the “chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders” again. And what do they want? They want to know “by what authority” Christ did the things that He did. Understanding that these men who came to ask the question were the religious authorities of that day, we realize that their question wasn’t as much of a question as it was a demand. They were there to protect their turf, to challenge Christ, thinking they could usurp His authority with their own forms of intimidation and manipulation.
They were there, in essence, to send a message to Christ and His followers, that they were the ones in authority. They thought that they would put Christ in his place, so to speak. The only problem with that was, they did not know nor understand His place, and as a result, neither did they understand their own place. When they should have been listening and learning from the greatest teacher of the ages, instead, they were criticizing, scrutinizing, questioning, and even planning His destruction, or so they thought.
Regardless, Christ’s response to their question was absolutely AWESOME! He tripped them up. He asked them a question that He knew they would not readily answer because He knew how they thought, how they were politically motivated, and how they were not as interested in truth as they were in their monopoly on traditions. And when they would not answer his question for fear of jeopardizing their own credentials with the people? Christ then did to them what they were trying to do to him; Christ put THEM in THEIR place!
Christ very simply and very strategically sent them all one very strong and loud message; namely, that since He was not under their authority, He neither had to answer them, nor even wanted to answer them!
APPLICATION? The next time the devil (intentionally not capitalized) comes asking you questions of intimidation and manipulation, JUST DON’T ANSWER! He doesn’t even deserve a glance, much less a response. We who are purchased by the blood of Christ are under the rule of Christ, and answer only to Him. That said, we need not forget who we are serving!
Do not be intimidated by the devil or his minions when you are operating according to the principles of God’s word. You do not have to explain yourself to the doubtful, spiteful, hateful, unbelieving enemies the devil has sent into your life to keep you busy with questions that you have no business even answering. Here’s my final word for you. IGNORE!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
Oh no! Here come the “chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders” again. And what do they want? They want to know “by what authority” Christ did the things that He did. Understanding that these men who came to ask the question were the religious authorities of that day, we realize that their question wasn’t as much of a question as it was a demand. They were there to protect their turf, to challenge Christ, thinking they could usurp His authority with their own forms of intimidation and manipulation.
They were there, in essence, to send a message to Christ and His followers, that they were the ones in authority. They thought that they would put Christ in his place, so to speak. The only problem with that was, they did not know nor understand His place, and as a result, neither did they understand their own place. When they should have been listening and learning from the greatest teacher of the ages, instead, they were criticizing, scrutinizing, questioning, and even planning His destruction, or so they thought.
Regardless, Christ’s response to their question was absolutely AWESOME! He tripped them up. He asked them a question that He knew they would not readily answer because He knew how they thought, how they were politically motivated, and how they were not as interested in truth as they were in their monopoly on traditions. And when they would not answer his question for fear of jeopardizing their own credentials with the people? Christ then did to them what they were trying to do to him; Christ put THEM in THEIR place!
Christ very simply and very strategically sent them all one very strong and loud message; namely, that since He was not under their authority, He neither had to answer them, nor even wanted to answer them!
APPLICATION? The next time the devil (intentionally not capitalized) comes asking you questions of intimidation and manipulation, JUST DON’T ANSWER! He doesn’t even deserve a glance, much less a response. We who are purchased by the blood of Christ are under the rule of Christ, and answer only to Him. That said, we need not forget who we are serving!
Do not be intimidated by the devil or his minions when you are operating according to the principles of God’s word. You do not have to explain yourself to the doubtful, spiteful, hateful, unbelieving enemies the devil has sent into your life to keep you busy with questions that you have no business even answering. Here’s my final word for you. IGNORE!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill