By what authority are you doing these things?

Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him. And they said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority to do these things?" But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question; then answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men? Answer me." And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men' " -- they feared the people for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. So they answered and said to Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus answered and said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

- Mark 11:27-33

This is now Tuesday of Holy Week, and Jesus proceeds along his path, so to speak, in Jerusalem, among the temple leadership. In yesterday's reading, we read of the cleansing of the temple, in which Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. This is a bold act that has set the scene for confrontation.

My study bible notes that, after the cleansing of the temple, the official leaders of Israel believe that Jesus has trespassed on their territory. It notes, "If he is allowed to remain, they are totally discredited. The stage is set after the cleansing of the temple: they must destroy him." Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him. And they said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority to do these things?" My study bible notes that this is a logical question, because Jesus' acts are messianic. And, it goes on to say as well, there is an answer. The answer is that of Jesus' own authority, and his Father's. But the chief priests, the scribes and the elders of the temple are not asking in order to find an answer, really. They're trying to entrap him. Jesus' answers speak not only to the question that is at the surface of the scene here, but to the reality that is in the hearts of the questioners.

But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question; then answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men? Answer me." And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men' " -- they feared the people for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. So they answered and said to Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus answered and said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things." My study bible notes: "Answering the angry opposition's questions is often not wise ... knowing they seek to entrap him, he will not say so. He leaves them with their question unanswered, and in confusion over his question. Those who claim to have the answers are left admitting their ignorance." In the conflicts we observe with the authorities, Jesus always manages to turn the tables on them. He doesn't play along according to their script. He's far more clever than they are -- he sees through them, and he has the ability to turn their arguments back against them. So, we have a Jesus, in these pictures of conflict, who is a bold defender, if you will. Since he himself engaged in the cleansing of the temple, we know that he is not afraid of this confrontation that was inevitable, and that he has accepted what will come in Jerusalem, this clash with the temple authority. The fig tree in yesterday's reading was our warning of the understanding that is here: these people, his accusers in the leadership, are fruitless, no good will come of engagement and teaching, for they are set against him and their minds closed.

In the figure of John the Baptist, always closely associated with Jesus throughout Mark's gospel whenever he has been mentioned, we have the Forerunner -- the one who has gone before. John came proclaiming the kingdom - and the One who was to come - and preaching and baptizing. He was a popular figure and had many disciples; many of Jesus' disciples have come from the ranks of John the Baptist's followers. John was also forerunner in his death as a martyr. So invoking his memory here is an important point for Jesus. John stands as a kind of warning to the elders, although they don't know it. John's memory is powerful and still important to the people, who consider him to be a prophet. Whose blood will be on their hands? They don't stop to consider what happened to John, and what they are about to engage in as their own confrontation with a powerful charismatic spiritual figure begins.

I think it's important to understand that all the leadership of the temple cares about, in this scene, is their own authority. Jesus has trespassed in the cleansing of the temple. This is indeed an act of bold, even violent, confrontation. And Jesus does not shrink from expressing the authority within Himself, and that comes from the Father. This bold act of cleansing the temple is also a declaration of that authority; but in actions and not in words. So, our figure of Christ must be understood as one that does not shrink from confrontation when it is time. All through the gospels (especially in the gospel of John), we read this phrase, "it was not yet his time" or "his hour had not yet come." Jesus has a progressive ministry to fulfill; there is time for certain things, and not time for others. But each facet of his ministry, his teaching, his character and his truth, is revealed at the appropriate time. His purpose is to follow the Father's will, and the appointed time, the acceptable time, is that timetable. Now is the hour of confrontation, and he doesn't shrink from it at all. He leaves those in authority to make their choices, but not to choose for Jesus. He chooses not to answer their questions; like the withered fig tree, their authority is hollow because it bears no fruit. Jesus retains his own authority, even to the time of confrontation and the laying down of his own life at the hands of others.

What must we take from this confrontation? There is very little respect here for the elders who demand that Jesus account for himself. On the contrary, they have lost their authority - and in questioning Jesus, they lose face even more. They are afraid of the crowds, afraid of the spectre of the marytred John the Baptist, the Forerunner. They cannot successfully confront Jesus, who retains his own authority and expresses it in the temple before everybody. Jesus has chosen his time, and will play out all things in his life, even the laying down of his life, to the appropriate, appointed, acceptable time. He is master of all of that, and in choosing his "time" we also understand his authority, and his fearlessness in expressing and doing that will of the Father. Holy Tuesday gives us this message of these facets of Jesus' life and his expression of character: fearlessness, confrontation, unwilling to give his accusers what they want but instead turning the tables on them, accepting and expressing his own authority even as he knows where it will lead. But it is his choice, and his Father's will he fulfills in time, at the acceptable time, his appointed hour. Let us think about time, then. What is your time? What is your hour? How do we know what it is time for us to do, and when? Do you get a sense in prayer of the evolution of your life through time, and do you seek the Father's will for how you are to fulfill those moments yourself? I have heard time referred to as that gift that is given to us for transformation, repentance, choices. These are what the moments of time are for in our world. In eternity, time is a different experience. But in our lives, time, the moments that go by for choices and decisions, is always an opportunity. It is an opportunity for thinking, for changing our minds (which is what the Greek word metanoia, translated as repentance, really means). Today, consider your time, this moment. And ask in prayer what it is the right time for you to do, to choose in your heart, right now. Unlike the leadership, to be spiritually fruitful, we must hold our hearts open to hear new things, to change, to follow a spiritually fruitful path in whatever way this particular time asks of us right now.