By what authority are You doing these things?

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?"  But He answered an said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  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,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

- Luke 20:1-8

In Saturday's reading, we read that as Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.  For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you dd not know the time of your visitation."  Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house in a house of prayer, but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And He was teaching daily in the temple.  But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

 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?"  My study bible tells us that the chief priests, scribes and elders are confronting Jesus about these things He's done:  coming into Jerusalem in His Triumphal Entry as Messiah, cleansing the temple, and also preaching in the temple (see Saturday's reading above).    It's their duty they think they are doing:  the priestly descendants of Levi manage the temple.  My study bible says, "While Christ was descended from Judah (3:33), yet He is the High Priest 'according to the order of Melchizedek' (Psalm 110:4), a priestly line far greater than that of Levi, for His authority is from the Father."

But He answered an said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  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,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."    In Saturday's reading, we were told that the leaders of the people sought to destroy Jesus, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.  Their fear of the crowds is very much known and stated here; it's an important factor in all that happens.  But the gospels don't view this as a positive thing; for Christ it is the opinion of God that counts.  Crowds are fickle and can be stirred even to encourage the reprehensible via manipulation. 

For us moderns, it may seem strange that the opinion of the crowd doesn't count for much in the point of view of the books of the Gospel.  We live in a time in which not only is democracy valued very highly, but we click onto the internet and we find instant polls of every kind:  "Click this button to vote no, and this button to vote yes."  It's almost as if we are constantly being asked and monitored to give our opinions on some issue of the day, or even more telling, our own judgment about some person and what we think they did.   Instant celebrity means instant opinion polls, and instant publicity, wanted or unwanted.  Most of the time, the things we "click" instantly to give an opinion have a reason beyond just gauging public opinion or allowing us to voice what we think.  They're meant to give information that helps in terms of advertising; data is collected in order to find what appeals to people and what does not.  It doesn't really matter what our opinions are or whether or not they are correct.  These polls are not scientifically based using statistical methods anyway.  Anybody who can make a "click" or even thousands of clicks in an instant via some sort of manipulation can get their opinion counted.  It all depends on who shows up.  And in the Gospels, it's a similar story.  There are followers of Christ welcoming Him as Messiah into Jerusalem, there are those who are against Him, and there are also many who simply don't know.  The opinions of the people throughout the four gospels run through them like a Greek chorus.  And they also change.  And it is this fickle, impulsive, easily-manipulated crowd (especially those who will shout to crucify Him) that the leadership in the temple fear.  Christ is the opposite model.  He is here on a mission, led by the Father to give His great good news, the Gospel itself.  He will face the leadership, the crowds, the world -- and to this day His Gospel continues to do the same.  He has stated for us, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body."   John's gospel disparagingly treats those who love the praise of men more than the praise of God.  Christ remains the hero who comes to save -- and His mission is offering salvation even to those who will reject Him.  It is a mission of fearlessness:  or rather a mission dedicated to God, and there is nothing that gets in His way, no other opinion is as powerful or as true.  He gives us the truth, not the whims of crowds.  This is what He values.  There are plenty of images from recent history to draw His same lesson from, whether it is the huge crowds who were swayed by Hitler's speeches, or a lynch mob that tortures and hangs an innocent human being.  And we mustn't forget that it is also John who gives us the story of the woman taken in adultery, and that it is Jesus who steps up with the truth to keep her from being stoned by the crowd.  The first martyr, St. Stephen, was also stoned by a crowd, among whom was Saul of Tarsus, who then became a vicious persecutor of the Church, and later would be called St. Paul, its great apostle.  Let us not rely on the crowds.  Let us follow Christ in His heroic mission, which we are invited always to become a part of.  We can be His disciples, and fix our faith on spiritual truth, rooted in the love of God and the faith that God loves us.