Imagine two young children playing. One starts getting overbearing and the other says, “Who made you the boss of me?” Sound familiar? We question authority from a very young age and that doesn’t change much as we get older, especially during our teen years.
It is interesting to see how the Jewish leaders with all of their pomp and ceremonial authority were childishly insecure. They questioned John the Baptist’s authority to baptize, as his fame and following grew. (John 1:26-28) They also questioned Jesus’ authority to heal (especially on the Sabbath) and to drive the merchants out of the temple (which really encroached into their area of authority). This encounter found in Matthew was so important that Mark and Luke also recorded it. “When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and elders came up to him. They demanded, ‘By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?’ ‘I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,’ Jesus replied. ‘Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?’ They talked it over among themselves ‘If we say it was from heaven, he will ask us why we didn’t believe John, but if we say it was merely human, we’ll be mobbed because the people believe John was a prophet.’ So they finally replied, ‘We don’t know.’ And Jesus responded, ‘Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.’” (Matthew 21:23-27)
When we question heavenly authority, we better be ready to accept it. Those religious leaders were not; either in the case of John the Baptist or of Jesus. Jesus saw through their self-righteous motives and left them twisting in the wind. As Christians, we recognize and accept God’s authority in our lives the second we believe in Jesus Christ as our savior. God’s authority comes to us through His word and His Holy Spirit planted in us as His sons and daughters.
Paul tells us we are also to respect and obey government authority. (Romans 13:7) But when that authority conflicts with God’s authority, as it did for Daniel and his three young Hebrew friends, we must follow their example and bow to God’s authority no matter how dangerous it seems at the time. I want to leave you with the words of another Gospel song.
“So many years I cried because my soul denied that He would save a wretch like me, so full of gloom and dread that I hung my head. I wouldn’t claim the victory. Then one day His love like a winged dove settled down upon my life and I realized he had authorized my ticket to paradise. On the authority of the Holy Word I rise up and take my stand. I’m a blood bought child of the living God who is the great I AM. I’m an heir to all that heaven holds and no principality can ever take away my royal crown given on His authority.”