Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things

 

 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, following 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."  Because Christ is not a Levitical priest, the chief priests and the elders now challenge His authority to cleanse the temple (in yesterday's reading, above).  My study Bible explains that, as Christ is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers, He confounds His questioners with another question about John (that is, John the Baptist).  Both the elders' question and Christ's question ask for the same answer, and therefore would lead a person to confess that Jesus has come from heaven.  In not answering them directly, my study Bible tells us, Christ teaches us 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 comments that by using their own principles, the elders convict themselves in their answer to Christ's parable.  

 

It's an intriguing comment on Jesus' response to the chief priests and elders that is made by my study Bible on today's reading.  My study Bible remarks that Jesus replies to their question with another different question of His own, as Christ "is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers."  In a time when seemingly all things are available on the internet (including an increasing number of claims and stories which are not true at all, and often are concocted through Artificial Intelligence), it seems a rather quaint notion that there are things that are preferable to remain hidden from scoffers and others who make inquiries with a malicious intent.  But it gives us an important taste of what it means that things are holy.  To be holy or sacred first of all means that such things are "set apart."  This is the story of God's formation of the people of Israel, that they were called out of the world to be set apart as a holy people, dedicated to Yahweh, to the God we know.  Jesus' story mirrors the same, as when He says to the disciples at the Last Supper, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:18-19).  This expression by Jesus, "I chose you out of the world," echoes the powerful call to Israel that we could say started with Abraham, a people chosen out of the world to be set apart, to be holy; that is, dedicated to God.  When we think of the holy things of our churches and our faith, perhaps we should more often consider the same.  Our church services (at least those which are based on the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom) still make a provision for catechumens to leave before the Holy Eucharist.  We forget that there are powerful mysteries to our churches, and that some indeed remain only for those who are prepared for it and prepared to receive, for those who have chosen to dedicate themselves in faith.  Again, a modern age seeks all kinds of information, even information which people are not necessarily prepared to use wisely, for this is the nature that the internet and social media magnifies and spreads like wildfire.  But perhaps even at such a time we should consider more wisely what it means not to reveal holy things to scoffers, to those who don't ask sincerely.  To use the modern parlance of popular psychology, it's an important boundary to consider.  In fact, there are boundaries of all kinds that we'd be better off respecting, such as those of personal privacy, even integrity.  Not every opinion needs to be known -- and certainly every opinion does not need to be judged by the public, nor by mobs of people with no concern for the boundary of respect for other people.  But the sacred needs to be prized by us, set apart, put in its proper place in our hearts and in our lives so that we cherish what needs to be cherished, and that is what Jesus is so cleverly doing here with His reply of a question about the baptism of John the Baptist.  To this day, in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, we hear in the Communion Prayer, "O Son of God, receive me today as a partaker of Your mystical supper. For I will not speak of the mystery to Your enemies, nor will I give You a kiss, as did Judas. But like the thief, I confess to You: Remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom."   If we look carefully at all of Scripture, we find that everything begins with the creation of the world we know through meaningful boundaries.  The Spirit hovers over the waters of chaos, and creates all of the cosmos by separating and distinguishing, creating boundaries, and filling them with good things (see Genesis 1).  Even the garden of Eden is distinguished as a special garden planted by God in a particular place, and in that sense, separated and taken out of the world.  For humankind, God places a particular tree of knowledge of good and evil off-limits, as yet another boundary to respect, for human beings were not yet wise enough for that.  Well, we know the rest of the story.   Jesus, as Lord, teaches us the same particular respect for the sacred boundaries of life, the separation that keeps things holy.  Again, in the Divine Liturgy, the priest declares of Communion, "the holy gifts for the holy people of God."  In a modern age in which there seems to be a great drive to overturn all boundaries wherever possible, let us consider instead the importance of the sacred and what it means to respect the holy as such.  For we all need the proper boundaries of respect for the soul, the tender things of the heart, and the gifts of the sacred that teach us that all life, at its heart, is holy.  For when we lose this relationship to Creator, we lose the meanings of life God gives us.