Message: In Luke 20 Jesus was just minding his business teaching the people in the synagogue and “proclaiming the good news.” I thought that little detail was important because it showed he wasn’t in there starting stuff or correcting anyone. It was peaceful and positive. The chief priests and the scribes came in and said “by what authority are you doing these things?-who is it who gave you this authority?” This made me think of an epic scene of Undercover Boss where the Founder/Owner/CEO shows up to the company and starts talking business with the employees and sharing the company vision with them, but the upper management team that reports to him over email and company meetings doesn’t recognize him and starts questioning his authority in his own company building and in front of employees that he pays. The answer that Founder/Owner/CEO Jesus gives his management team AKA the chief priests and scribes (who were supposed to know who he was) seems like a diversion question but it gets right to the heart of the problem. When he asked them about the baptism of John he was exposing that they also rejected John and the authority John baptized under. They were afraid to respond for fear of the response of the people. Jesus put them right back in the hot seat.
Command: We can’t just follow rules, we have to KNOW the God we serve.
Promise: When we know God, we will recognize who he is because we know his nature and his vision
Warning: If we don’t know God deeper than just religious rules, we will miss it when we encounter him and we won’t recognize him when he shows up.
Application: This is a huge reminder of the importance not just to know ABOUT God but to actually know God. When I read his word and spend time with him I learn more and more of his nature so that when he shows up in areas of my life, I will not only recognize him but I will cooperate too. The scribes and the high priests had taken their positions of God-given authority, and used them to create their own purposes and plan. They had gone so far with this that they no longer recognized the God who gave them their authority. Lord Jesus, help me to lay aside my plans and follow after yours!
