Right Question, Wrong Attitude

By Dean Kelly

Sometimes a person will ask a question just for the purpose of causing a problem or trying to trap another person. This happened very often with Jesus, as can be seen in many passages of scripture. Sometimes the question can be a legitimate question but can be asked insincerely and improperly. Such is the case of a question we find in Luke 20.

“Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him  and spoke to Him, saying, “Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?”

These leaders of the people did not sincerely want to know the answer to their question. They showed their lack of integrity when they would not answer Jesus’ return question. But their question is a legitimate one that we need to sincerely ask today: by what authority do we do what we do religiously? Are we getting our authority from man-made institutions and groups? Are we getting our authority for what we practice from Jesus?

Jesus said that all authority (power-KJV) has been given to Him (Matthew 28:18). He sent the Holy Spirit to guide the inspired writers of the New Testament into all truth (John 16:13). Jesus stated that we will be judged by the words He has spoken (John 12:48). That includes all that is spoken by the writers of the New Testament who were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write His words (1 Corinthians 2:13).

The question Jesus asked the Jewish leaders was if John’s baptism was from God or man. They would not honestly answer because they did not care about the truth, they just wanted to be viewed well by the people, and to trap Jesus. They did not care about God’s authority.

Our message is the message of the cross (1 Corinthians 2:2). Our authority should emanate from the cross and the words of the One Who died there. That is our only authority in matters of religion, if we want to please God.

Dean Kelly is minister at Highland Home Church of Christ.