Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, March 2, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I do love when Jesus is sassy. So often when I write skits with/for kids, Jesus gets the best punchlines. I don’t think we appreciate how quick-witted the guy was. Charismatic? Yes. Powerful? Yes. Brilliant? Yes. But also right there with the comeback (the way I never am when I’m standing in my bathroom four hours later thinking, “I should have said that in response!”).
The usual suspects come pestering Jesus, trying to suss him out, get him to slip up, make him a spectacle. The demand to know “Just who do you think you are to be doing all this?” or “Who died and made you the boss?” And Jesus is just done with it. Done with their endless traps and schemes and attempts to undermine him. So he turns the tables on them and pulls their own tricks against them. “I’ll tell you by whose authority I do these things if you answer me one simple question.” And then he asks them a question which, no matter how they answer, will blow up in their faces. And they, clearly, are not as quick-witted as he (witness his response to the same tactic in the question about taxes (Mark 12:13-17)). They realize they can’t answer and say so. And Jesus says, “Well then I’m not going to answer your question either.” Insert raspberry sound here.
Had Jesus answered their question truthfully, that it was God’s authority he was acting on, it would have opened a whole kettle of worms (though, interestingly, in other places he does just that. It’s not consistent). And Jesus was probably a little tired of their kettles of worms at this point. Maybe he just needed a nap and a snack. Who knows. All I know is that this very human man was also wicked snappy, and I love that about him.
How do I envision Jesus’ personality? Have I ever considered it?