“Again they entered Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking through the Temple area, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right to do them?” Mark 11:27-28 NLT
Confused and frustrated with uncertainty and the uncontrollable behaviors of Jesus, the religious leaders ask him straight out, “who is your boss?”
Jesus had been consistently doing good and handing out miracles all over the region. This bothered the Jewish legal department and upset the spiritual senate, called the Sanhedrin. “We’ve got to get to the bottom of this!” they thought. The small miracles like turning water into wine could be explained as just a fluke, but the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the paralyzed walking, and the dead rising – this is a big problem for the god-guys in charge of these kinds of things. They even tried claiming that Jesus’ boss was Beelzebub, but it didn’t make sense.
At this point, their curiosity had already turned to pure, anger and bitterness. They had to find out who Jesus was really working for. Who gave him the authority, or really the ability to do these miracles? When they finally asked him, Jesus gave them one of his favorite responses, a truly rabbinical response! Jesus retorted with a question! Referring to his cousin, he asked, “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?” The ol’ reversal trick! They could not answer because either way, it would make them look foolish! They chose the safest option, “We don’t know.” Jesus’ situation was identical to John’s. They knew the answer, it was as obvious as their phylacteries on their forehead!
The horror of truth must have boiled their blood – they were all working for the same boss! Their stoney hearts prevented them from seeing Jesus as being on team God, so the only solution was to get rid of him. They would have to break – not bend – dozens of God laws to kill the Son of God. God did not make them choose this. They were willing traitors. It was all within the plan of salvation that Jesus must suffer and die, then rise from the dead to set all humanity free. And, it had to be an inside job.
Prayer
Dad,
Oh, how often I can see my own religious sins, my selfish controlling attitudes gripping my heart attempting to harden my soul to get my own way. I have often been critical when seeing miracles through unorthodox means or people and ask, “who are they working for?” Help my heart stay tender, open to your will and not mine! Give me grace that I would not use your laws, your Word as a weapon to force compliance in others, or to my own ways. You alone are God and I am grateful that all things go according to Your plans. Amen.