Authority of Jesus Questioned

Prayer Practice

Breath Prayer – Take 2-3 minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and relaxing. Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in, ask God to fill you with His presence, grace, love, peace, etc. Consider using the list of spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. As you breathe out, offer to God the things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear, etc. Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work, and then begin reading today’s Scripture.

DAILY READING

Luke 20:1-19

REFLECTION

Listen, Lean In, Ask

 by Kelsey Bacon

Imagine being in this crowd, listening to the sparring matching between Jesus and the chief priests and the teachers of the law. These men are admired, revered, seen as the wisest and most powerful among the Jewish people, and here Jesus is making them shake in their boots as they struggle to answer him. 

I think there is more going on than just the embarrassment of the pharisees. As Jesus points out their lack of faith in his question about John the Baptist and as he spins the tale of the vineyard owner, I can just picture the faces of the pharisees growing grim, their eyes narrowing, their lips tightening, the cogs beginning to turn in their minds as they place themselves in Jesus' narrative. They are the tenants who have thrown out prophets and priests, ignored messages from God from people like John the Baptist--so caught up in their own self-righteousness that they couldn't see the truth. And now Jesus is calling them out, and telling them their fate: to be crushed by the cornerstone.

Even though Jesus doesn't speak plainly in this passage--by not answering the pharisees' question and by sharing a parable rather than speaking directly--his meaning is made very clear. We see Jesus speak to people so often this way in the Bible, and so often I think to myself, "Come on you guys, how can you not see the truth?! He's CLEARLY the Son of God!!" But if I were there 2000 years ago, I'm sure I would not see so clearly. My opinions of Jesus would be clouded by what others said, what the church leaders thought, and what the crowd around me was doing. It's hard to go against the grain when you're the only one, or one of few.

But that's exactly what Jesus calls us to do, go against the grain. He calls us to listen to him, and not the world around us. He calls us to live by his Word, and not the patterns of our society. He calls us to be careful even of spiritual teachings and leaders in our world who might seem right, but could lead us astray if we're not fixed on him. Jesus calls us to listen for when he is speaking, even if he isn't speaking plainly. It can be so much easier to listen to the world because it's right there in front of us, speaking aloud in sound waves that our ears can register. But that is why God gave us his Holy Spirit, so we can learn to be attune to his voice. Listen, lean in, ask for his voice to come through the noise of the world and speak however he desires. It's not always as loud as the other voices in our lives, but it is much stronger, much more loving, and much more reliable.

Reflect further: Pray to the Holy Spirit today and ask him to help you better learn his voice. Listen for the voice of the Spirit throughout this week--whether it be a nudge, a conversation, a scripture passage, or whatever way Jesus might choose to speak to you.

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

Prayer Practice

Lectio – Read today’s passage through once. Then spend some time praying and asking God to show you what you need to pay attention to in the text. Read it again. Now ask God to help you see what this text, and the part that has stood out, may mean for you. Don’t expect to get a clear word every time but always be ready to really hear from God through His Word.

Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.

DAILY READING

Luke20:1-19

DEVOTION / REFLECTION

By What Authority?

by Tom Richards

In today’s reading we find Jesus in yet another confrontation with the Jewish leaders. It is Tuesday of Holy Week (see Mark 11) and Jesus has just entered Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) and created a scene by cleansing the Temple (Monday). Now these leaders ask Jesus, “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?” These questions were likely (at least in part) in reference to his cleansing of the Temple. 

Jesus answers them with a question of his own and goes on to tell a story that we know as “The Parable of the Tenants”. In this parable it is pretty clear that Jesus is talking about himself.  In verse 17 he quotes Psalm 118:22 “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.”  He goes on to say “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” These words really got my attention. What can they mean?

My Study Bible notes state the following: “As a pot dashed against a stone is broken, and as one lying beneath a falling stone is crushed, so those who reject Jesus the Messiah will be doomed.” How do Jesus’ words fit in a culture where so many people believe there are multiple paths to eternal life? How do Jesus’ words fit in a culture where so many people relegate Jesus to being a great teacher, but nothing more?

 C.S. Lewis shares some thoughts on this in his book “Mere Christianity” when he states his disdain for folks who say Jesus is a really great moral teacher but they deny that he is God. Lewis asserts that a  simple man who voiced the words Jesus did would either be crazy or a devil. He is challenging the reader to decide, either He is the Son of God, a mad man, or something even worse (to read the actual words of C.S. Lewis go to page 55-56).  In Matthew 16:15 Jesus poses an all important question to Peter, and us:  “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?"

Prayer:  Dear Father, help me to gain a deeper understanding of who Jesus really is. Help me to grasp the sacrifice that he made for me and for all mankind. And help me to answer Jesus' question in Matthew like Peter did, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Amen