Matthew 21:23-32;
Philippians 2:18; Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
“The LORD
lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked to the ground.” Notice how the
Psalmist says that almost as if it were self-evident: For God to exalt the
humble, He must necessarily destroy the wicked. And, indeed that is the case.
You see, only those who are low can be lifted up. Likewise, those who are high
can only come down. The point here, however, is that, in truth, we are all of
low estate. The LORD expects us to realize that, to confess that, and,
therefore, to be humble, and not proud.
You’ve heard
that pride goeth before a fall, even that the root of all sin is pride, and
that the sin of Lucifer, the devil himself, was immense pride. Truly, even
though there is no specific commandment against it, pride is a great, perhaps the
greatest, sin. Indeed, pride is a transgression against the First Commandment,
“You shall have no other gods before Me,” for the one who is prideful has made
himself to be his god. The fulfillment of all the Commandments, and of the New
Commandment our Lord Jesus has given us, is love: Love God with all your heart,
soul, and mind; and love your neighbor as God has loved you in Jesus Christ.
Pride is the exact opposite of love, for love is selfless and sacrificial, and
pride is self-centered and self-serving. The prideful cannot love anyone except
themselves – least of all God.
And, so it
was that the chief priests and elders of the people demanded of Jesus to know
by what authority He taught the things He taught, did the things He did,
healed, forgave sins, and permitted the people to call Him by Messianic titles.
They demanded to know by what authority He did those things because, well, they
were the authority, or so they believed, and they knew that it didn’t come from
them. However, though they questioned Jesus about authority, they weren’t
really concerned about authority, but what they were concerned about was power.
I thank the Rev. Dr. John Kleinig for teaching me the difference between
authority and power. You see, we often make the mistake of using these two
terms interchangeably and synonymously. Yet, there is a very significant
difference between authority and power. Authority is always given by
others, whereas power is always taken from others. Moreover, authority
is given to one that it may be used on behalf of, and for the good of, those
who give it, whereas power is taken from the people and is used to subdue them
and is lorded over them. The chief priests and the elders were indeed given
authority by God through the people to be used for the sake of, and for the good
of, the people, but they had abused their authority and had instead taken power
from the people and subdued them and lorded their power over them.
Jesus knew
this, and he saw through their demand to know by what authority He acted. He
knew that they were concerned, not with authority, but with losing their power
over the people. After all, Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised
the dead, even on the Sabbath. And, Jesus ate and drank and enjoyed fellowship
with tax collectors, prostitutes, and all manner of known and public sinners.
Most recently, the things that angered the chief priests and the elders and
wounded their pride was that Jesus accepted the Messianic titles the people
proclaimed of Him when He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and that He cast
out the money changers and the vendors of sacrificial animals from the temple.
“How dare you!” they protested. “We are the ones who have authority to proclaim
who’s the Messiah and who’s not! And, we are the ones who set the rules for
what happens in the temple!” No, it was not authority that they were concerned
about, but it was that they felt their power being challenged, even as they were
losing influence over the people they were attempting to subdue by taking from
them power and wielding it over and against them.
Unsurprisingly,
Jesus did not take their bait. He would not play their petty and wrong-minded, wrong-spirited,
and wrong-hearted game. Instead, Jesus asked them a question: “The baptism of
John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And, He had them – just
like He always had them – caught between the rockiness of their hearts and the
hard place of their pride. For, if they answered that John’s authority came
from God, then they stood condemned, because they rejected John and the fact
that the people listened to His teaching and believed in Him. However, if they
answered that John’s authority came from men, or was no authority at all, then
they feared the people who considered John a prophet of the LORD. And, there
you have it; they were filled with fear. Why would those who had true authority
from God through the people fear the very people they were given authority to serve?
Were they not given authority to love the people and to serve the people with
the gifts of God? Yes, indeed they were! But, they had long ago given up
authority and, instead of loving and serving, they began to take and to
accumulate for themselves power, and now they feared losing their power. The
priests and the elders knew that Jesus had them, and so they lied to Him
saying, “We do not know.” Therefore, Jesus answered them, “Neither will I tell
you by what authority I do these things.”
However, the
truth is, they did know. They knew precisely where John’s authority came from,
and they hated him for it. Likewise, they knew precisely where Jesus’ authority
came from, and they hated Him for it as well. Moreover, they hated the people
through whom, and for whom, they were given authority by God to serve. They
hated the people and they despised them, and they took power from the people in
order to subdue them and to bolster their own power, position, and pride. And,
because they were prideful, they did not fear, love, and trust in God above all
things, but they feared the people, they feared losing their power, and they
feared being humbled before God and men.
Sadly, the
same thing happens in our world today. Political leaders and magistrates
receive authority from the people to be used for the good of the people, but
they end up forsaking the authority given and instead taking power from the
people to use against them. Yet, even more sadly still, this happens within
Christ’s body, the Church, as well. How frequently are persons and committees
in the Church, even pastors, given authority to use for the good of the Church,
only to forsake that authority and take for themselves power which they now use
to control and bolster their own power and pride? This, my dear brothers and
sisters, is the work and the influence of our proud enemy the devil, and Satan
tempts all of us to this selfish and self-serving abuse of authority that we
would despise and hate each other, drive some away, and divide the rest, thus
wounding and destroying the body of Christ, the Church.
The way to
combat this is humility borne of repentance. Pride is the opposite of humility,
and the prideful cannot be repentant, for there is, in their mind and heart,
nothing to repent of. That is why pride goeth before a fall, because, from the
heights of pride, there is nowhere to go but down. Jesus taught that you must
not take the highest place at a banquet, lest someone higher than you be
invited and you be demoted and humiliated in front of all as you take the lower
place, but, rather, you must take the lowest place, that, by chance, you might
be invited to move up higher. That is to say, in the Church, in the family of
faith, we are each our brother’s servant. For, Jesus also teaches that, when
you serve the least of these His brothers, you serve Him. “The LORD lifts up
the humble; He casts the wicked to the ground.” Humble yourselves, therefore,
that the LORD may exalt you in His way and in His time. For those who make
themselves to be first will be last, and those who are last will be considered
first.
This is what
St. Paul teaches you saying, “Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having
the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or
conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let
each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of
others.” Moreover, St. Paul says that you should do this “that you may be
blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a
crooked generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast
to the Word of Life.” You see, you too have been given authority by God to
serve each other in this family of faith, the Church, and even more, those
outside these walls, walking in the darkness of sin and death, that they may
walk in the Light of Jesus’ Word and Truth to the glory of God.
And, that you
may be forgiven, fed and nourished, strengthened, and equipped for this your
calling, Jesus humbles Himself to serve you in His Holy Supper, and He invites
you to humble yourselves by kneeling at this festal board and receive this
mysterious and holy Sacrament. Do not succumb to Satan’s temptation to pride,
saying “It’s never been done this way before,” or “By what authority?” You know
by what authority, and if you don’t, you have the authority of the Word of God.
Humble yourself, search His Word, then come eat, come drink, and live. For, as
your Lord Jesus came not to be served, but to serve, so must you His disciples
receive His gifts and serve others in love, with His love, to the glory of His
most Holy Name.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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