Because I Said So!
Mark 11:27-33
It always blows my mind how quickly things can change in Scripture. At the beginning of Mark, chapter 11, Jesus is the talk of the town, lauded as the Messiah, the One who would rescue Israel. That’s Sunday. By Tuesday, the end of chapter 11, the church leaders are questioning His authority. Man, does that sound like it was taken from today’s newspaper.
We live in a time when almost all authority is suspect. We often blame the millennial generation for rejecting structure and rules but it’s pretty much a cross-generational phenomenon that we don’t put much stock in rulers of any kind. From the laws of the land to the laws of nature, we have decided that no one or no thing is “the boss of us.” Judges 21:25 says of the Children of Israel, “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” That could be the motto of our nation and our world today.
Jesus is feeling some of that in Mark 11:27 when the chief priest and the teachers of the law come to Him and ask, “By what authority are you doing these things?” It’s an interesting story that ends with Jesus saying, “I’m not telling you.” The reason for that, He already knows that they aren’t interested in the answer. He could tell that because they asked the wrong question. It’s not by “what” authority are you doing what you are doing but by “whose’ authority. Jesus then, and us now, is not responsible to a what, to a legalistic, stale, static set of rules. We bow down to something far greater, someone far greater. We bow down to the giver of the rules, the maker of the law, the creator of all structure, government, and organization.
In some sense, our young millennial friends might be right. The rules and laws are outdated and out of touch. But where they miss it, and we miss it, is that we follow those laws, not for the sake of the laws, but because we are under the authority of the God of the Ages. Until we enter a relationship with Him, the laws don’t make sense. After we do, the laws become unnecessary.
Once we know and love The Father of Heaven and Earth, and His Son, King Jesus, then “because I said so,” is all the authority we need.
Reading for the rest of the week:
Today Mark 11
Wednesday Matthew 26
Thursday John 13
Friday John 18
Saturday Matthew 27
Sunday Luke 24
Okay, the audio daily blog was a terrible idea. I’m not doing it again. 😊 Next time I’ll stick to writing.