WHAT AUTHORITY DO YOU DO THESE THINGS?: SAME QUESTION, DIFFERENT ANSWERS
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. What Authority Do You Do These Things?
a) Jesus drove the merchants out of the temple. The temple leaders questioned his authority. (Matthew 21:12-15, 23-27).
Matthew 21:12-15
12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”
14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant.
Matthew 21:21-27
21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
23 When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” 24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.” 27 And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
2. Same Question, Different Answers
a) On both occasions the same question was asked: "What sign do you show us to prove your right to do these things? ... By what authority are you doing these things?" (John 2:18, Matthew 21:23).
b) The answers Jesus gave were different. In the first case he gave a cryptic answer that meant be would give them a sign when they killed him. He would rise from the dead. In the second event, he gave a cunning answer in the form of a question about John the Baptizer which threw them into a dilemma.
c) On the second occasion the religious leaders should have understood Jesus better. They'd been exposed to Jesus’s teaching and miracles. But they hadn't listened and observed in a reasonable manner.
The End ...
1. What Authority Do You Do These Things?a) Jesus drove the merchants out of the temple. The temple leaders questioned his authority. (Matthew 21:12-15, 23-27).
Matthew 21:12-15
12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”
14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant.
Matthew 21:21-27
21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
23 When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” 24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.” 27 And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
2. Same Question, Different Answers
a) On both occasions the same question was asked: "What sign do you show us to prove your right to do these things? ... By what authority are you doing these things?" (John 2:18, Matthew 21:23).
b) The answers Jesus gave were different. In the first case he gave a cryptic answer that meant be would give them a sign when they killed him. He would rise from the dead. In the second event, he gave a cunning answer in the form of a question about John the Baptizer which threw them into a dilemma.
c) On the second occasion the religious leaders should have understood Jesus better. They'd been exposed to Jesus’s teaching and miracles. But they hadn't listened and observed in a reasonable manner.
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