Who made you the Boss?

Luke 20: 1 One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” 3 He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, 4 was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” 5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

It is amazing to watch my kids assume authority. This morning it was Eli trying to direct us in what he was going to eat for breakfast. Apparently he not only thought he knew what was best for him to eat, but he also thought had the power and authority to eat what he wanted. He is 0 for 2. I've got a feeling that this day will not pass without some hard-love from dad as the rebel in him is quite strong today.

We are all born with a rebellious heart and a desire to be our own authority. The Pharisees looked at Jesus, and all of His love and miracles dead in the face and and asked Him "Who made you the Authority?". Jesus is long and love, and patience, in His response to the power hungry rebels. He in turn says " From where was the power of the baptism of John?" Jesus knew that John's ministry was revealed through the Prophets long ago and it pointed to Christ's coming. The pharisees find them selves trapped because the people knew that John was a prophet so they could not say from man, but if they said from God then Jesus would say, 'Why didn't you believe him -and in turn God and in turn -ME! they would of had to answer their own question His way! So here we find the pharisees trapped in their own power grab. They decide the best route is to back out and turn away from Christ and His authority over them, their lives and death.

We sometimes can't sense it, but this encounter really defines us individually, and collectively as a Church, and in turn our society. The question is what do we do with Jesus and His authority over our lives? Do we ignore His hard words like "deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me", "If you love me you will obey my commandments" (John 14), "Go and make disciples of all nations" (Matt 28), and "these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me (Luke 19:27 -a parable about His reign). Do we ignore His authority over our lives and question the Bible as His word and just replace it with a bunch of well schooled fine sounding arguments? The bible warns against all of these activities. It also warns that wolves in sheep clothing will introduce all of these lies in to the Church, so beware.

We must all be aware that our nature is to reject authority over us just as Eve did in Genesis 3. If we believe that we have the right to question God, as He has chosen to reveal Himself in Christ and His word let's all be aware that we are simply in the same trap as the pharisees. Ignorant of the God in front of us, slithering away from Love so that we can remain "in charge".

So where do you find yourself? Aware of Christ's desires for yoru life or aware of your own?