Morning Devotionals

by Don Emmitte

 

March 11th, 2008

 

"Tuesday of Passion Week, 2008"

One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. "Tell us by what authority you are doing these things," they said. "Who gave you this authority?" He replied, "I will also ask you a question. Tell me, John's baptism—was it from heaven, or from men?" They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Why didn't you believe him?' But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet." So they answered, "We don't know where it was from." Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things." (Luke 20:1-8 NIV).

Tuesday of Passion Week was the last day of Jesus' public ministry and his last day in the Temple. He arrived early in the city and didn't leave for Bethany until late that night. Some scholars refer to this as the day of controversy and others as the day of rejection. It was both. There were several activities during that day. Our reading today focuses our attention on just one of them. It was the challenge issued by the chief priests, scribes, and elders. They wanted to find out by what authority he could whip the money changers out of the Temple. This was a trick question. If Jesus responded by saying that he had the authority to do it, they would just arrest him for megalomania. If he responded that his orders were from God, they would arrest him for blasphemy. Jesus read their motive as if it were posted on a billboard. He agreed to answer their question if they would answer his first. He asked them whether John the Baptist's work, in their opinion, was human or divine. If they replied divine, then they would have to accept Jesus as the Messiah, because that was the basis of John's preaching. If they said human, then the people who followed John would undoubtedly riot. They had to admit they didn't know. It was the responsibility of the Sanhedrin to know the difference between true and false prophets and they had to shamefully admit they didn't know. Thus, Jesus didn't need to answer their question.

It is so revealing of the character of Jesus to read this account. In some ways it is incorrect to say that Jesus meets others “on their ground.” Of course, it is true that He will always reach out to us in our need, but the key difference is that he will always raise the level of the discussion to the spiritual. The religious leaders tried to engage Jesus at a political level. Jesus was not interested in a debate. He was interested in their salvation. There is a clear word for us in this lesson. When we find ourselves faced with this choice, we would be wise to hear the words of Stalken:

“To attack men remorsely in controversy, often drives into permanent opposition those who might be won by milder treatment. Men may appear as opponents of Christianity, who are in their hearts very near it; and, it is Christ-like to detect this sympathy and bring it to expression. To prove to men that they are outside the kingdom is an easy thing in comparison; but it may be far better to let them see that they are only a few steps from the threshold.” 

How do you treat those who differ with your religious view? Positive evangelism always works better than negative!