The lion was king of the jungle. One day he decided to make sure all the other animals knew it. He went to the bear. “Who is the king of the jungle?” “Why, of course, you are,” the bear replied. The lion gave a mighty roar of approval. Next he asked the tiger, “Who is the king of the jungle?” The tiger responded, “Everyone knows that YOU are, oh mighty lion.” Next on the list was the elephant. “Who is the king of the jungle?” The elephant immediately grabbed the lion with his trunk, whirled him around in the air five or six times and slammed him into a tree. Then he pounded him onto the ground several times, dunked him under water in a nearby lake and finally dumped him out on the shore. The lion — beaten, bruised and battered — struggled to his feet, “Look, just because you don’t know the answer is no reason to get upset.”
Power struggles happen in business, family, and even in ministry. Early in His ministry (Mark 2), Jesus began to ruffle the feathers of the established religious authorities. He displayed His authority over against theirs. They probably had hopes that this up and coming leader would soon be forgotten. However, they discovered a few years later that His entry into Jerusalem, and the table-crashing, business-bashing, Temple emptying actions indicated that He was not going away (see Mark 11:15-19). As a matter of fact, with this exchange He clarifies His authority over the temple, the teachers, and the traditions. It appears Jesus has the authority to do anything He wants.
The Chief priests, scribes and elders couldn’t take it anymore. So they decided to have a showdown about authority. You can read the exchange in Mark 11:27-33).
What are some lessons we can learn about authority?
God is the ultimate authority.
There was a power struggle between Jesus and the religious leaders. Who was the authority. However, I suppose, both would agree that God is the ultimate authority. God is the ultimate authority by reason of the fact that He is both creator and sustainer of the entire universe.
God alone has the right to command. Yet, God has given people a choice and we can choose to disobey God. It is important for each of us to choose to accept God as our ultimate authority.
God is the source of all authority.
All authority is delegated authority from God and those in authority are accountable to God. The religious leaders received their authority from God. Even Jesus’ authority was given to Him by His Father.
In Scripture we discover four structures of authority. We are responsible to submit the authority God has placed over us.
- The Family – “Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord” (Col. 3:20
- Government – “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake…” (1 Peter 2:13-14).
- Church – “And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you…” (1 Thess. 5:12-13).
- Business – “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh…” (Col. 3:22).
Authority is often questioned.
These religious leaders were not wrong to question Jesus. They were the guardians of the truth and it was their responsibility to make sure that anybody who spoke from God was speaking from God. However, it is evident that their questions were not designed to discover truth but to trap Jesus. It was not the question that was wrong, it was the motive.
Should we question authority? According to Romans 12, as long as they do not ask us to do something specifically against some other commandment of God, we are to obey all authority. However, this does not mean that we cannot have meaningful, peaceful dialogue with authorities. In a democratic society, we have ‘due process of law’ and we are given rights to follow a peaceful solution to our grievances about authority. So, there are many legal and peaceful ways to ‘question authority’ as long as our questioning does not become violent rebellion.
Authority is often rejected.
It appears that the only time we are permitted to reject authority is when the authority commands us to disobey God, the ultimate authority (examples: Daniel 1:1-8; Acts 4:1-20).But these religious leaders rejected the authority of God represented in John the Baptist and Jesus. Throughout the Bible people have chosen to reject God and have suffered severe consequences. People continue to reject God’s authority over their life.
What are the consequences of rejecting God’s authority? King Saul rebelled against God on three specific occasions and God said there were three specific consequences.
- His children would lose the heritage they could have had.
- His own ministry would suffer.
- His physical life would be shortened.
I encourage you to submit to God’s authority in your life. You will eventually submit anyway (see Philippians 2:5-11). Better now than later.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks