Good Morning Friends,
The word “authority” has many applications. A person who is an expert in a particular subject area is called an authority. Another word for government at various levels is authorities. Some are authorities in religion. Others are moral authorities who act out a sense of violations of their moral views. One could see Jesus acting in such a matter when he drives the merchants and money changers out of the Temple. He acted out of a sense of moral outrage. But there is more to the authority of Jesus than being a religious leader, a moral philosopher or being a social justice warrior. The Father gave Jesus all authority which he shares with his disciples through the Holy Spirit, even in the writing of the New Testament, which has authority as well in the Word. Still Jesus is the judge of all things in heaven, including the quality of our salt and light. I doubt very seriously that we understand what God considers reasonable and just in this regard, for Jesus died for our sins so that we might be a bright light and good salt. It is hard to grasp the will of God, but I am pretty sure God wants us to be good salt and light but moreover to encourage the people of Israel that they are salt and light too. So, it is worth the humble effort to explore what this means. And I understand from a good friend that studying the parables in Matthew is a good place to seek God is with the parable of the two sons. So, as we transition from the Advent focus on the second coming to Christ’s first coming as a child, we consider the Holy history of these two symbols and wonder, Will Being Salt And Light Be Enough To Show Those In Ultimate Authority Our Intentions Are True?
Scripture: Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.
Matthew 21:12 (NRSV)
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?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.
Matthew 21:23-32 (NRSV)
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:1-11 (NRSV)
Ah, soiled, defiled, oppressing city! It has listened to no voice; it has accepted no correction. It has not trusted in the Lord; it has not drawn near to its God. At that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, my scattered ones, shall bring my offering. On that day you shall not be put to shame because of all the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain. For I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord— the remnant of Israel; they shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths. Then they will pasture and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.
Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13 (NRSV)
Message: Today’s gospel passage reminds me of the story of the Prodigal Son. Both have an inside story that could be interpreted as a direct challenge to the Pharisees in their formalism and to the Sadducees in their pretended devotion to the Temple. Jesus had after all overturned the tables in the Temple. He was confronting them with their shortcomings. The priests understood that their authority was not recognized by many in Israel. The Essenes were outraged that during the previous short-lived independence when they were ruled by Jewish kings that the King had misappropriated the right to be High Priest as well, something which was forbidden by the Torah. The Pharisees also were outraged by the corruption of Judaism by the Sadducees and priests in Jerusalem. They exercised their authority in the villages and the synagogues. There was also a challenge to the priest’s authority by the Roman government who ruled over the area. They had to be sure not to offend them. The authority of the Priests was in crisis. What Jesus had done in cleansing the Temple would have been wildly popular among various factions of the Jews. The Sadducees needed to confront the authority of Jesus. But they could not say who had given John the Baptist authority to baptize without revealing their hypocrisy. It all points to righteous conduct in the form of repentance and love that God the Father is seeking in us. And that relates to our passage from Zephaniah, for it is about repentance too and moreover the promise of God to a people. And if we consider ourselves heirs of the promise and not a replacement of it, I suppose it even sounds relevant to our times. Regardless, the answer is Jesus as Paul makes clear in his letter to the Philippians. Perspective matters here and we are to have the mind of Christ if we hope to get it right. And we reflect with the prophet Zephaniah, one of the minor prophets connected with Advent, we read what can only be described as an apocalypse. Zephaniah practically screams at the leaders of Israel of his day. But remember that the Book of Zephaniah begins with God’s promise, “I will completely sweep away all things from the earth.” People were unfaithful as in the parable from Matthew. So, what God would do is gather them all together, Israel and all the nations together, and pour out his wrath so that everyone is purified by what today we know as the fire of His love. Then He will reverse the results of the Tower of Babel and make peoples’ speech pure and focused on loving and serving the Lord. Then pride will be turned into humility and arrogance into meekness, by the saving action of the Lord. Then their lives would be like God’s, doing no wrong, telling no lies, and worshiping in truth. So, the bad news is, by God’s power, turned into good news, salvation. In time, Jesus came to enable that conversion to happen in the lives of billions of humans, and, in the end, He will return in glory to finish the task, separate sheep from goats, and celebrate with all the faithful in His new heavens and new earth.
And So, we are to realize that Christianity appeals to our reason and to our emotions and the fires in our dormant souls but that it is not enough to repent unless we do something about the love we have been given. Typically, we vow obedience but find it too hard to do today and though we have pledged our response to Christ we wait to respond. The analytics of survival has taken some of the excitement and engagement out of life. The Hebrew nation fell prey to that. They put a lot of effort into the preservation and understanding of their traditions. They still are the salt and light of the core of our practices of religion. But more was and is needed. The promise of Christianity is that we need not be slaves to an insolent past but that in Christ might not only repent but then do something about the forgiveness we have been given. This is all about something new, beyond salt and light. Paul is giving us the path to becoming like Our Lord Jesus Christ so we will more likely do the will of God. We have to put on the mind of Jesus, each of us having the same love for God and for each other that Christ did. The worldly person is always scrambling for himself or herself, not caring a flip about what happens to others on our way to money or glory or power. Yes, we can look to our own interests, but we need to always be keeping in mind what others need. Our comforts, our pleasures cannot infringe on the rights of others, especially the helpless, to life, freedom, and adequate shelter and food. You see, the real crisis of authority is centered in the person of Jesus Himself. There are so many who abuse the authority of Jesus. Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 28 that all authority in heaven and earth had been given to Him. Whether the authorities know it or not, they have no authority which does not derive from Him. This means He is to be obeyed. This is especially true within the institutions who claim to be His disciples. He calls all to repentance and acceptance of His authority. Thankfully, the One who has authority over all is merciful and will receive all who will come to Him in faith. This is the only way out of the final crisis. We must believe that He is who He says He is and will do as He says He will do.
Pray we realize that Jesus is the judge of all things but especially the functionality of our salt and light. Pray therefore we repent and are transformed into something even better, not only hearing the word but acting on it and telling others of the Good News. Pray we are thankful for what Jesus has made possible for us. Pray that in appreciation we become heralds of a New Kingdom. Pray we realize that what we consider fair and what God considers fair in this new reality may not be the same. Pray we realize that we do not always understand what is really reasonable in God’s eyes. Pray therefore, we have the mind of Christ when it comes to glorifying God. Pray we realize that God reigns now with power. Pray we love others. Pray we honor Christ’s authority to rule in our hearts. Pray we honor the authority of the Father as faithful children of God this Advent and beyond.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 