Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, March 16, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Who do you think you are? It’s a common phrase spoken be someone in authority who perceives that their authority is being undermined. It’s 100% based in fear of a loss of power or value. It is meant to shame and undercut whoever it is whose actions are calling into question the authority figure’s power. I remember hearing it in the halls of my high school, usually coming out of the mouths of everyone’s least favorite teachers and directed at the kids who couldn’t be bothered to play the appropriate behavior game for one reason or another.
These elders descended upon the young whippersnapper, Jesus, meaning to put him right back in his place—beneath them.
Jesus wasn’t having it, of course. Not just because he was well aware he wasn’t beneath them, but because he knew that what he had to do and to teach needed to be done and taught. He needed to overturn the status quo. Which means it was the elders who needed to be put in their place—under God. So Jesus answers their demand with a question of his own, one which they absolutely cannot answer without willingly letting go of their authority, so they don’t answer, and therefore let go of their authority.
It's funny, but when I write Jesus in skits or in kids’ materials, I often portray him as super sassy. Stories like this are the reason. He’s the ultimate anti-bully. And that’s way cool.
Have I ever tried to hang onto my authority by shaming others? Have I been shamed by someone in authority?
