Hungry for God: The Highest Authority

“And they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him, and they said to Him, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?’”—Mark 11:27-28.

Whenever we come to Jesus, we come upon someone who is entirely greater than anyone who has ever lived, or whom we could ever understand. He challenges us where we are—what we value, what we do, and even who we are. Confronted with this reality, we can try and question its legitimacy and reject it, or we can submit to it and organize our lives accordingly. One thing is for sure, however: He will not be, nor can be, ignored.

The religious leaders of Israel didn’t like Jesus, because Jesus threatened their way of life. They had set up quite an operation in the temple. With all Jews having to make their way to the temple different times of the year from foreign lands, they capitalized by having money changers on the premises who charged an exorbitant amount of interest in order to exchange foreign currency for that of the Temple’s currency, while giving kickbacks to the religious leaders. It was a profitable business, but Jesus would have nothing of it. He ran out the moneychangers, much to the frustration of the Temple’s leaders.

The chief priests, scribes, and elders came to Him, demanding to know what authority He had to drive out the moneychangers, or who gave Him this authority. Knowing their hypocrisy He agreed to answer their question, if they would answer a question of his—John’s baptism, was it from heaven or from men? The leaders conferred together and realized it was a lose-lose question. If they said, “From heaven” then they would be giving legitimacy to Jesus’ ministry, for John testified about Jesus being the Messiah. If they said, “From men,” then they knew that the people might revolt, for they believed that John was a prophet. So they responded, “We don’t know” to which Jesus declared, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” 

Jesus was letting the religious leaders know that John the Baptist's authority was greater than theirs, and Jesus’ authority surpassed John’s. Jesus’ authority is heavenly in origin and far transcends any earthly authority. He is the author of life, the one who gave His life for us, and the one to whom all of the world must give an account.

Our responsibility is to submit to His authority—to order our life to His lordship, so that we might experience the joy of knowing and following Him. He is the Lord of life, and time is slowly winding down when He will judge the living and the dead—rewarding the righteous and judging the wicked.

May we seek His face, looking forward to the day when He will come again and reign, a time when:

“…the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,

and He will guide them to springs of living water,

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

—Revelation 7:17.

Amen.