Holy Week

Hello, and welcome to Grace for All, a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee! I’m Grace Jonas, the reader and writer of today’s devotional, which I’ve entitled “By What Authority?”. Thank you so much for joining me on this Holy Tuesday! Now, I’d like to invite you to take a moment and pause with me as we meditate on today’s scripture:

Luke 20:1-2

“One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. ‘Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,’ they said. ‘Who gave you this authority?’”

If we expand upon this story further, Jesus counters this questioning by asking those who would question him: “tell me, John’s baptism, was it from Heaven or from human origin?” A question which the elders discussed among themselves, concluding that if they said it was from heaven, they would be asked why they did not believe him.

On the other hand, however, if they answered that it was of human origin, that they would be stoned due to the belief that John was a prophet. So, they answered that they did not know where it was from, and in response, Jesus said “neither will I tell you by what authority that I am doing these things.”

In this day and age, it can feel easy when faced with questions of authority such as “who told you that you could do this?” to resort to the response of being told by a parental figure or otherwise authoritarian figure to do a task. The historian in me would even go as far as to put the assumption out there that some would say that the tasks they are carrying out are pleasing to God, citing him as the one who gave them such authority.

But notice how instead of resorting to responses such as these, Jesus simply questions the men in return, asking them to think about a different angle, almost as if he is posing a riddle of sorts. Instead of caving, he stands strong, and when he is given an answer that they did not know the origins of John’s baptism, he opts that he will not tell them where his authority comes from that is allowing him to teach the good news within the temple. It can be implied and widely believed that his authority comes from none other than the grace of God, or in other words, from heaven, much as John’s baptism is implied to be from heaven.

Throughout this Holy Week, as we meditate on the scripture and the teachings of Jesus during his last week, let us remember that while it may be the authority of God and the heavens that allows us to act, not all may believe us, but we don’t have to justify that, we should simply strive to keep acting in a manner pleasing to God no matter what.

Prayer:

God, when we are faced with authority being put to question, help us to remember that the authority of heaven and your will is what matters and should influence our words and actions when others may doubt and question us. And help us to always remain unwavering in these beliefs. Amen.

This episode was written and read by Grace Jonas.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.