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Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?" But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John -- where was it from? From heaven or from men?" And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet." So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
"But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.' He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to Him, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him."
- Matthew 21:23-32
Yesterday, we read that after His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'" Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?" Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there. Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Immediately the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?" So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?" But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John -- where was it from? From heaven or from men?" And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet." So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things." We can immediately see the confrontational attitude of the religious authorities. Who does Christ think He is? He has come to Jerusalem and cast out the money changers, and the animal sellers, disrupting what was going on in the temple. He must prove He has authority to do such things. His ministry and His healings and teachings count as nothing toward this: their authority is challenged, they did not sanction what He did. He's not a Levitical priest, explains my study bible. He doesn't reveal Himself to scoffers (we are reminded of His words teaching the disciples not to cast their pearls before swine), and so comes up with a different question challenging them instead. What about John's baptism, so popular among the people that even those among the parties of authority in the temple came to him? Both the question of the leadership to Jesus, and Jesus' question about John the Baptist, require the same answer, says my study bible. Thus, the answer would lead a person to confess that Jesus has come from heaven. By not answering directly, Christ teaches not to answer people who come asking about holy things with a malicious intent.
"But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.' He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to Him, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him." My study bible tells us that using their own principles, the elders convict themselves in their answer to Christ's parable. He speaks directly to their hardness of heart. They "do all the right things" for show, but their heart is not close to God. It is the repentant sinners who are in fact closer to God than the leadership is. Where is their faith? The obvious is clear: their real faith is in their own authority and position.
So Jesus takes us further into the question of what is faith -- how can it be that these religious authorities are of lesser faith than tax collectors and harlots? The answer is to be found in repentance, in change of mind. The tax collectors and harlots heeded the voice of the prophet, John the Baptist. But the religious leadership did not. We should note that this doesn't assume that "tax collectors and harlots" got their baptism from John and went right back to their old lives. No, what Jesus is teaching us here is the power of the heart that finds its faith, that takes in truth, and changes lifestyle to reflect that truth. Nominally "great sinners" were able to do that, but Jesus chastises these religious leaders because the faith of the sinners was more pure than theirs. And there is a greater truth here: that it is more important what we do right now than at any other time. It's not only about repentance and our capacity to receive truth into our hearts, but it's also about time and how time gives us opportunity for change. We don't rest on the past, we don't rest on our ancestors who may have done this or that. Everything is about what we are doing right now, what we're capable of hearing and doing at this moment. Are we in the place where we heed the voice of the Father, as in the example of Jesus' parable? Or have we said yes at one time and then not bothered to obey? Of course, the parable also teaches us about faith as outward form, things done for show that don't really touch the internal life of the heart. But really, Jesus teaches us that every moment is precious -- the "right now" is precious when it comes to living our call. I don't believe that His words teach us that we must do this or that, some specific thing of outward show to others. But they do teach us of the immediacy of the heart, the heart that is either open or closed -- or, in the words of Scripture, softened or hard. For this, we need a heart that is open to God for change, for direction, for seeing where we step wrong and putting it right. There will always be new ways in which "perfection" calls us toward something new, and to cast off something old. Compassion will call us in a particular way, and discernment will also call for a greater adherence to a particular teaching we might not have taken so seriously in the past. But it's the heart that always gets the call, that closes the door or opens it. In today's example, the leadership fails to surrender authority to the one place from which all authority comes. The truth that lies in the mystical call of God eludes them, because Jesus just doesn't appear in the right "form" for them. This is what the tax collectors and harlots had no trouble seeing, and so would enter the kingdom of God before the religious authorities. How do you need to "hear" today? Where is righteousness?
