And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do 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 and 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

On Saturday, 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 did 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 is 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 these things refers to Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem as Messiah (see Friday's reading), the cleansing of the temple (Saturday's reading, above), and His preaching, as we were told that He was teaching daily in the temple (above).   All of these thing would be prerogatives of the Messiah.  The elders confront Jesus as it was the duty of the priestly descendants of Levi to manage the temple.  My study bible adds that while Christ as descended from Judah (see 3:33), He is the High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:4), a priestly line which is far greater than that of Levi, as Christ's authority is from the Father.

But He answered and 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 Jesus' exchanges with the leaders of the temple, we see a kind of alacrity and dexterity in debate that characterizes Jesus' retorts.  He at once is willing to fence with them in argument, to the delight of the crowds.  Here, He refuses to answer directly, but keenly turns the tables on the ones who question Him as to His authority.  What do they know about authority, Jesus seems to ask.  And of course, they are unable to answer, so He refuses also.

Jesus is Logos, the Word, John's Gospel tells us (John 1:1; Logos means Word in Greek).   As Son and Word, we know Him as Creator or the Lord of the Old Testament, through whom all things were spoken into being (for example, see Genesis 1:3).  As Son Incarnate, the human Jesus, Jesus' interactions with those around Him surely live up to that divine name.  His use of language is brilliant.  It is concise, to the point, ever-ready to defend the truth He brings with His gospel, and always sharp, dexterous, and witty.  His debate with the authorities delights the crowds in the temple who listen to Him gladly.  With words, Jesus is light on His feet, so to speak.  With words, He embodies a motto the boxer Muhammad Ali used to describe himself in the ring:  with words, Jesus "floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee."  Nobody gets the better of Him.  Jesus is not a physical warrior and not an earthly king.  He doesn't make His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem riding on a horse or in a chariot, and neither does He have an army with Him.  But His real weapon is truth.  It is His gospel message, which is given to us in His words.  It is conveyed through His brilliant use of parables, His witty replies, His phrases which still remain in all languages examples of use of language that, 2,000 years ongoing, capture our ears and imaginations in vivid poetry and images.  It is the word of the Word that captures us, grabs our hearts, and gives us a proliferation of meanings that apply in varied moments of our lives to our own circumstances.  Jesus is master of language, and this is His weapon, the sword with which He fences so brilliantly with His opponents.  Lest we forget what we are about, it is the Word of God we study here on this blog each day, and that lives with us and speaks to us, interacting within our earthly lives.  St. Paul writes that "the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  This is the power of the truth.  It is that which is necessary for the ultimate judgment at Christ's return.  It is that which brings us division, and that for which we seek discernment.  The word of God is that within which we steep ourselves in our own lives to "keep us in the right place," so to speak.  So let us consider, when we read Jesus' replies in defense of His truth, His disciples, and all those who come to Him, what it means to be the Word, to live the word of God, and that this word remains active with us and within us.  The life of the kingdom is here, ever-present -- and we need to know just what this good fight into which we, too, are invited, is all about.

My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it

 "No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.  Therefore take heed how you hear.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."

Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd.  And it was told Him by some, who said, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You."  But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."

Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples.  And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake."  And they launched out.  But as they sailed He fell asleep.  And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.  And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"    Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.  And they ceased, and there was a calm.  But He said to them, "Where is your faith?"  And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be?  For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!"

- Luke 8:16-25

Yesterday we read that Jesus went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God.  And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities -- Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.  And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable:  "A sower went out to sow his seed.  And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled on, and the birds of the air devoured it.  Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.  But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold."  When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?"  And He said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that 'Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.' Now the parable is this:  The seed is the word of God.  Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.  But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.  Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.  But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience."

"No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.  Therefore take heed how you hear.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."  It's interesting that this passage appears here in Luke.  In Matthew's Gospel, the teaching about light and the lampstand is found in the Sermon on the Mount, right after the Beatitudes, when Jesus preaches to "let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (see Matthew 5:14-16).  We've recently read the Sermon on the Plain in Luke (6:17-49), in which Jesus preaches many things also found in the Sermon on the Mount.  But today's passage appears just after Jesus tells the parable of the Sower.  Its emphasis is on our capacity to hear:  that is, our capacity for spiritual sight and hearing.  We who listen to His words are in some sense responsible for what and how we hear, what we receive.  We must "take heed how [we] hear."  If we are capable of receiving, more will be given.  But if we don't make an effort to hear, even what we have will be lost.  Jesus says, "For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light."   The word "mystery" means in the Greek means "secret" or "hidden."  It is that which can only be known through revelation.  What Christ suggests here is about caring for, valuing, and nurturing our capacity to receive.

Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd.  And it was told Him by some, who said, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You."  But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."  My study bible comments that it was not Christ's will to deny His mother and brothers.  Instead, St. John Chrysostom tells us, Jesus is correcting both them and His hearers "to the right idea concerning Himself," that the family of His Kingdom "is not by nature but by virtue" (see also 11:27-28). 

Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples.  And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake."  And they launched out.  But as they sailed He fell asleep.  And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.  And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"    Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.  And they ceased, and there was a calm.  But He said to them, "Where is your faith?"  And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be?  For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!"  Jesus has just told His disciples, in a very vivid display before His natural mother and brothers from Nazareth, that "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."  Here, the disciples follow His command to cross over to the other side of the lake.   My study bible comments that Christ deliberately permits the windstorm to arise while He is sleeping in order to perfect the disciples' faith, and to rebuke their weaknesses.  What is the point?  So that they would eventually be unshaken by life's temptations.  In this incident, their faith is still mixed with unbelief.  They showed faith when they came to Him, but unbelief when they said, "We are perishing."

There is so much emphasis in today's reading on hearing and doing the word of God, on the unity of this family of the Kingdom that is fully dependent upon this process of hearing and doing, receiving the word that we are capable of hearing.  But how does God instruct us?  Tradition regards the story of the disciples on a stormy sea as an allegory to the Church.  Our faith does not keep us from challenges.  In fact, it may be that God leads us to particular challenges in order to strengthen God's relationship with us -- in order to strengthen our faith and to understand and grow within our dependency upon and trust in God.  In the Greek language of the original Gospels, the word for faith is rooted in the word for trust.  This is the deepest meaning of faith.  It's what connects us to love and how we understand love.  There is trust when you know someone has love for you.  To fully depend upon God may sound like a kind of fatalism, or an idea that takes away our independence.  But this is a failure to know God.  Our dependency upon God does not make us infantile.  Rather it is a true perspective on the reality of life.  The very fact that the Gospels teach that it is God who leads us into challenges so that we may grow in our determination, faith, and understanding of relationship to God shows us that in our dependency we are led to greater fulfillment as human beings.  God's challenges increase the strengths, the courage, and the wisdom of the disciples.  Our dependence upon God decreases our need for control, our insecurity, and our dependence upon others for fulfillment of our need for love.  The dependence upon God in its fullness gives us love as fulfillment which we may then share with other people.  It grants us a kind of security that is not so much about what we have, as it is about who we know we are and how we know we are loved and cherished and valued by Creator.  This is the reality of the family of God.  God as our Parent, is the One who leads us to true adulthood and maturity.  Jesus encourages our growth in this relationship, so that we may become more rooted in the capacities which God wishes to share with us.  Such rootedness takes us away from the pettiness that results from seeing life as mere competition with one another, but rather understanding a better and deeper purpose, more mature spiritual and personal values, and a way to recognize that our own worth comes within God's love for us.  These are sobering thoughts, but they are the place God will lead us to if we experience our own struggles with faith.   To grow in that trust is to learn to detach ourselves from worry in the confidence of God's faithfulness, to grow in patience, to meet challenges.  Let us consider where God's family will take us, where we may find our roots, and expand our own horizons when we come to understand even who we are through faith.