Jesus and his disciples returned once more to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.” They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”– they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet. So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” Then Jesus said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
REFLECTION
“By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?
Three times Jesus told the disciples that He would be handed over in Jerusalem, suffer, die, and rise again. Each time the disciples failed to grasp the full meaning of His words. One day Jesus enters Jerusalem triumphantly, the next day He drives the money changers, merchants and others out of the temple.
Now the high priests, scribes and elders are palpably hostile toward Him. They held significant civil and religious authority in the Jewish community. The chief priests oversaw the Temple worship. The scribes were Jewish Law experts and the elders were respected members of the community. So why would they be so upset at the cleansing of the Temple? Did they think that the desecration of the Temple was okay?
Evil is irrational, hostile and dishonest. Good is calm, firm, fearless, and not intimidated. When we are faced with bad, evil, angry people, never let angry or hostile people cause you to not follow the example of Jesus. He is the supreme authority.
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