Day 34 of Lent, Saturday, March 23, 2013

Today's Reading: Luke 20:1-19

Where does Jesus get his authority?  What the chief priests want to know is, "which rabbis did you study under to be granted the authority of a rabbi?"

When we are baptized, we submit to the
authority of Jesus in our lives.

Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River.  John the Baptist was seen as a rabbi by many in that we know even into the book of Acts (long after his death), he still had disciples.

The witnesses to Jesus becoming a rabbi were John the Baptist and God!  As you remember his baptism, God states, "You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." (Luke 3:22).

So when Jesus questions them on whether or not they considered John the Baptist a rabbi, they couldn't answer him. Obviously the crowds considered John an authority and so the religious figures were prudent and kept their mouths shut.

Jesus moves on knowing that if they wouldn't make a commitment one way or the other on John, they couldn't decide on him either.

At this point, Jesus does not need their blessing to proceed.

How Jesus was perceived is not as important to us after 2000 years of Christian tradition.  Our perception is that he had all the authority he needed.  Our question during Lent may be, "How much authority do I give Jesus over my life?"