Neither will I tell you

Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” (Luke 20:8)

 

The technical power and the knowledge of the world these days are excellent and are more rapidly developing as time goes by. Jesus asked his disciples to do the mission in the world with the wisdom and purity. This text of Bible is a record of quarrel with those who try to give question on whether given from Heaven or from man about Jesus’ authority that teaches the public. Jesus is the Lord of love not only pure who gave life for sinners, but also a teacher who gave people lessons strict as well as accurate and clear. In story, Jesus suggested us a good model of how to win in the world filled with tricks and lies. We need to live with care of close attention even a word, as well as living firmly with wisdom to overcome the wrong of the world.

 

As the number of people increased and their lives became more complex, people’s characters changed a lot differently to the past. What will be there to worry about if it would had changed for the better? It has to be sad because the changed side are bad things mainly. At times like this, Christ’s church and the believers should come forward and try more to practice good deeds for others. And it is not easy also to keep up with the speed of technology and knowledge as well as changes in human character. As we know well, for instance, kids these days differently to adults have been accustomed by playing with smart-phones since they were babies.

A smart-phone is a kind of small computers in our hands. Adults also, of course, use smart-phones, but they lack much more in the ability to utilize them compared to the teenagers’. How inefficient is it to go to the bank for managing the money affairs in person, living busy daily life like these days? Besides, how many we have a lot of bills to pay, unlike before? It may be an inefficient way it is to spend our time with off-line like that.

Let’s look well at the situation showed in the text of Bible. Jesus had been teaching the people, and preaching the gospel to them. Then the chief priest and the scribes and the elders had come up Jesus and asked, “Have you received the authority of teaching from whom?” But Jesus did not give an immediate answer to the question of them. He asked one question to them rather. Jesus questioned whether John’s baptism had been from Heaven or from man. Then they looked at each other and looked for words to reply a while, but they could not make any answer. Those who were the smartest and with well-known positions among the Jews, but nobody of them did also able to say a definite answer to Jesus. That, to be actual, would had been an answer intended because their thinking were a quite smart.

If they answered John’s baptism was given from Heaven, it conflicts with their own unbelief to John. Reversely, if they said that John’s baptism was given from man, they couldn’t say it like that because they would might be stoned by the people. So they answered Jesus did not know it. Jesus had expected already that they would fall into a dilemma of answer. Therefore, Jesus had not answered to their question in the first place, and He had rather asked back in order to drive a wedge in their wrong thoughts. Jesus responded after all by saying, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” It’s too deserved fact, but with excellent wisdom, He showed disciples a wonderful way to solve a problem. Let’s try to learn through Biblical teaching such kinds of wisdom in our living.

John’s baptism is from Heaven and is for the people’s repentance. So John’s baptism is called the baptism of repentance in theology. Unlike the baptism carried out by coming of Jesus’ Holy Spirit later from then, the John’s is a kind of Old Testament style baptism that prepares Jesus’ coming. Whether it is John’s baptism of repentance or the Holy Spirit’s baptism in New Testament, the two baptisms’ goal and the result are same each other at last. But only, John’s baptism of repentance is just a kind of several baptisms distinguished in the time, space, and theoretical sense. The essence we have to trust, rely on, and practice is to have the truth of repentance and grace in the Lord. Of course, the Lord Jesus received the authority from God. As we believe, Jesus Himself is the eternal Logos, and He was sacrificed to achieve it for people.

 

Christians who believe in Jesus the Lord are the wisest in spirituality among all men. The foundation of wisdom is to know and serve Jehovah God correctly. But that’s not the only wisdom of broad meaning. We should have a wisdom to discern and confront Satan’s temptation. And we should have the universal wisdom to grasp and deal the world, with understanding the flow of history. Instead of being engulfed in the atmosphere of the secular world, let us practice stately an authority of faith able to conquer injustice while keeping our mouths heavy.

 

(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on Feb 7th 2021)