AUTHORITY

By pilgrim 1 July, 2019 PILGRIMAGE 1 Comment

“Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”(Luke 20:2)

Questioning Jesus, the chief priests and teachers of the law asked a very relevant question. Authority is the sanction given (by someone who can give sanction) to somebody to do certain things. The policeman has the authority to stop a vehicle on the road by the authority vested in him by the state.

Authority can be either one given by God or one given by men. The subsequent discussion among the teachers in response to Jesus’ counter question reveals the distinction between the two. As was in the case of Jesus or John, authority can be given to man by God to accomplish certain things. Recognition of that fact leads to a necessity to submit because regardless of how we view the person carrying out the injunction by God, we need to honor God who is above all things. However, authority can also be given to man by men. This is the most common form of authority that we see around us. Whether it be a sequel of the democratic process or groups of people selecting a leader above them or authority being granted in view of being an heir, men may be granted authority by other men.

In the ideal world, all authority that man has would be a result of the will of God. When people grant authority to other men, if the will of God can be sought and agreed to, harmony results and productivity is raised to the highest. While authority granted by men ensures that physical resources are put at the disposal for an event, spiritual authority ensures the spiritual forces are as aligned to an event that plays out, as are the physical forces that form a reality around us. If the Jewish leaders of that era had listened to John and Jesus, that would have been the case.

In Romans 13:1, Paul says, ‘Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established’.The authorities that exist have been established by God. In the parable that Jesus uses to illustrate the contrasting authorities in Luke 20 highlights a situation where a human authority rebels against the will of God. The owner of the vineyard represents God and it is God who gives some men authority or allows them to get into positions where they have power even though they will eventually rebel against God and do evil. Such is the complexity of the fallen world we live in. As the story unfolds, the tenants get more vicious and brazen in their attempts to reject the authority of God. But the story ends with the owner putting the tenants to death. Eventually God will have the last laugh and he will triumph over evil. But fact is people have to suffer for a while, sometimes a lifetime when authorities rebel against God’s will as was the fact with the servants of the owner who were shamefully treated and beaten or the son who was killed.

But believers can take heart in the fact the all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus and as they carefully tread the path of obedience and submission to God, they will light up a path for God’s nature to be seen. They can take hold of God’s authority over all things as they sit at the right hand of God along with Jesus and dare to pray and work to change things around them, so that God’s glory might shine through the parched land desperately waiting to see the comfort and light that Jesus can bring.