January 24, 2016 Authority & Faith Matthew 21:23-32 What does authority have to do with faith? Authority is permission, right, power to do something. We are all under authority. Even though many rebel against authority, most people recognize at least the concept of authority. Furthermore, all human authority is delegated. No one has intrinsic authority, it is given from someone else. Faith is conviction, belief, trust. For many, faith is rather flexible. A to each his own kind of thing. Every rational person acknowledges authority until it comes to faith. When authority & faith are placed together, that s another story because then faith is no longer a personal preference; it is true or false, right or wrong. And that means it is no longer something defined by us, but by the one in authority. Here s the rub by whose authority? Who determines the object, substance, & power of faith? In other words, who says what true faith is? If authority & faith go together as the Bible teaches they do, shouldn t our faith be defined by the one who has supreme authority? Shouldn t our faith be in the one who has supreme authority? To be clear, the basic presupposition from Scripture is that faith is defined by & given from God, not man. We do not get to define the criteria & parameters of true & saving faith. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the founder & perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). For many this is an uneasy declaration. Today it s hard to for many to make the claim that Jesus is the only way to God; that there is salvation in no one else. It can be difficult and uncomfortable to winsomely share an open, but exclusive gospel; making the claim that the Christian faith is the only true faith. For many others that is an opinionated assertion. People may say, Who do you think you are to tell me what to believe and where to put my faith? This is where authority comes in. In Matthew 28:18 before returning to heaven, Jesus told His disciples: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. So, as Christians we are not the authority who defines our faith & what we believe. We are under the authority of God s Word that gives us the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). 1
In this morning s passage we see an interesting, yet heartbreaking, interaction between Jesus & some religious leaders, the temple authorities to be exact. These were men who were responsible for the teaching ministry in the temple. They should have known who it was who was speaking to them, but their pride & self-centered hearts blinded them from the truth right in front of them. The Problem 1. The demand of authority (v.23). These things mentioned in verse 23 are specifically referring to are found earlier in chapter 21: Jesus cleared the temple (vv.12-13), Jesus heals the blind & lame (vv.14-16), and now Jesus is teaching in the temple complex (v.23). 2. The dilemma of authority (vv.24-26). The baptism of John (John the Baptist) refers to not only his baptism but to his entire ministry. In other words, Jesus was asking them, By whose authority did John preach & baptize God s or man s? The priests & elders have a holy huddle, or should I say, holy than thou huddle to discuss Jesus question. Here s their dilemma: If they acknowledge that John s authority was from God, it means they are rejecting God since they deny John s message of repentance & his proclamation that Jesus is the Messiah & Savior of the world. On the other hand, if they reject that John s authority was from God, the people would rise up against them because at that time most Jews recognized John as a prophet of God. Notice the basis of their discussion, If we say. They weren t interested in the truth. They didn t care about the truth. If they did, their questions would have been What does God say? What does Scripture say? But they based their reasoning on two things: saving face (seeking to maintain their own credibility) and saving skin (preventing uprising against them). Here we should remember that unbelief is not the only reason people question Jesus authority. Instead of fearing God, which Proverbs 1:7 says is the beginning of knowledge, people fear man and speak or act based on what others will think about them or do to them. 3. The denial of authority (v.27). We don t know. They had no intention of recognizing the ministry John or the authority of Jesus. In response to the religious leaders non-answer, Jesus tells three consecutive parables relating to His authority and warnings to those who reject Him. 2
The Parable One purpose of Jesus telling the parable is to show the religious leaders their hypocrisy & pride. Of all people they should have known the Scriptures and therefore received the ministry of John which pointed people to Jesus, God s promised Messiah sent to the nation of Israel. Another purpose, related to hypocrisy, is that walk is more important than talk, and that talk must be followed by walk. Let s understand three things when it comes to authority & faith. 1. Faith requires confession of Christ s authority. For faith to be legitimate (valid, real) it must be based on authority. Faith without authority is faith powerless. Faith without authority is useless. Just the act of having faith has no power. It s like a lamp that is not plugged in. Sure, it may look pretty sitting on a table, but it s useless when it gets dark. To confess the Lord Jesus means to be in agreement with all that Scripture says about Him. So what does Scripture say about Jesus? There are many places in the Bible than we can go, but considering the context of our passage, let s look at the testimony of John the Baptist. The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me. 31 I myself did not know him [that is he had not previously met him], but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel (John 1:29-31). Also, before returning to heaven, when Jesus gives His disciples their commission, He says: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-19). So we see that confessing Christ s authority is connected to our salvation in Christ. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). Confessing Jesus as Lord is to confess His supreme authority, His Lordship over all. In our confession we acknowledge that the Jesus is Lord & has authority over every aspect of His creation and that would be everything, from the smallest & seemingly insignificant aspects of our lives to the biggest & major things. We confess that He is the Sovereign King & He is our King. But it s not just a mere confession If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). The heart is the center of human life your desires, feelings, passions, impulses, etc. Saving faith is 3
not mere intellectual agreement but deep inward trust in Christ with the core of your being. So mere confession is not submission. Confession without submission not enough. 2. Faith requires submission to God s will. In other words, faith requires obedience. Verse 31: Which of the two did the will of his father? This is pretty straight-forward. Submitting to God s will means obeying His Word. In Luke 6:46 Jesus says, Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? In John 14:15 He says, If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And the Apostle James writes that we are to be doers of the word, and not hearers only deceiving ourselves (James 1:22). Faith without works (action/obedience) is dead. It is useless and meaningless. What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (James 2:14-17). Martin Luther wrote, We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone. It is not true faith if it fails to produce God-glorifying obedience & good works. Submission to God s will involves everything aspect of your life. Jesus is Lord of all, or He s not Lord at all. Regularly ask yourself these questions. Am I submitting to & honoring God with my thoughts? My words? My eyes? My desires? My attitude? My actions? My money? My family? My relationships? As we consider these questions we must not forget to third aspect of faith. This is big & glorious because it brings the unending grace & forgiveness of God. 3. Faith requires repentance in your life. This point is critical because we do not always submit to God s will. We are rebellious sinners to our core. We need God's gift of grace that brings forgiveness & restoration. In verse 29 with the first son we see that he first changed his mind and then he changed his direction & went, thereby doing the will of the father. That s repentance. a. The Christian life starts with repentance. Jesus said, I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). Change of the mind & heart leads to a change in action. b. The Christian life continues with repentance. John the Baptist said, Bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8). 4
Again, Martin Luther: When the Lord and Master Jesus Christ said Repent, he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance. The Christian life is a life of course corrections because as the old hymn says, we "are prone to wander, prone to leave the God [we] love." Sin is always crouching at the door, ready to spring in when given the opportunity. The greatness testimony of a Christian's life is not sinless perfection. In this life that is not possible, but, and this is the glorious truth, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:9-10). The great testimony of a Christian s life is our confession, submission, and repentance before the Lord. In this we show that we are not the king, but the redeemed people of His kingdom. We are under his authority. The Christian life is a life of repentance because we continue to sin and need the forgiving & renewing grace of God each & every day. 5