"By what authority are you doing these things, and who
gave you this authority?" Jesus said to them. "Truly I tell you, the
tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of
you." The Pharisees are astounded at this. They are the authorities in
Jesus' world. They hold the power. Who is this Jesus who says that his
authority comes from someone or something other than them? Who is this Jesus
who eats with tax collectors and prostitutes and sinners? Who is this
Jesus?
Let’s remember that we have been hearing about forgiveness
and reconciliation in the gospel of Matthew, as well as in the Old Testament
Exodus stories for quite a few weeks now. What follows in Matthew’s story is
this series of parables. We know something about parables. They are about
describing the inbreaking kingdom of God; they are about showing us what the
kingdom of God looks like. We know that the kingdom looks nothing like what
anyone is used to or what anyone expects. God’s kingdom is something absolutely
new, something no one has any experience with, that’s why there are parables,
they make us and the original hearers think in ways not before imagined. This
new kingdom is nothing like what had come before.
So what we hear today follows from Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
Jesus enters Jerusalem for the last time, and he asks the disciples to get him
a donkey. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on that donkey, not a stallion as would be
expected of a Messiah. Jerusalem is in turmoil. The question among the people
in the crowd that day is who is this? They were saying this is the prophet
Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee. Then Jesus enters the temple, tosses out all
who were selling and buying and he overturned the tables of the moneychangers. Jesus
healed the lame and the blind, and the chief priests and scribes became angry,
they asked Jesus “Do you hear what these people are saying?” Jesus knew what
they were saying. Jesus went out to be by himself, he came back to the temple,
and there were the chief priests and elders again. Then comes the question,
this all-important question. By what authority are you doing these things, and
who gave you this authority? The chief priests and elders end up arguing with
each other, nobody can answer the question, and nothing really gets solved. By
what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority? The
tax collectors and the prostitutes know something about this authority, but not
the chief priests and the elders.
The chief priests and elders were concerned, understandably
so, because if they went along with Jesus, who is doing something – they’re not
quite sure what - with authority they can’t identify, the chief priests and
elders also may be brought up on the same charges Jesus is. They too may be
tried for misaligned loyalty. They could be held liable for the damage Jesus
has done in the temple throwing things around and turning the tables over.
By whose authority? By God’s authority, not the Roman
authority, not the Jewish authority, but God’s authority. Jesus heals,
forgives, includes, feeds, by God’s authority. Jesus changes the system. Truly
I tell you, we hear, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the
kingdom before you, because they get it. They understand that the arc of God’s
love in this kingdom is toward mercy, healing, and forgiveness.
So we finally get to this parable of the man who had two
sons. In Jesus' time, a father had ultimate authority. He could decide the fate
of his children in a moment. He can give and he can take away. This father has
asked his sons to go out into the vineyard to work. The first son says no, but
eventually changes his mind and goes, the other son says yes, but in the end
doesn't go to work. What is this about?
Maybe it’s about the surprising possibility of hope that
someone who has refused to listen to God may yet change their mind. Hope that
it’s never too late to respond to the grace of the Gospel. Hope that our past
actions or current status do not determine our future. Hope that we are never
beyond the reach of God. What does the kingdom look like? I think it looks like
the possibility that God is willing to meet us right here and now, no matter
what we think about how worthy or unworthy we may be. I think it looks like
forgiveness and healing. I think the kingdom looks like each one of us who walk
forward today ready to love those with whom we agree, and to love those with whom
we disagree.
We live at a time of such division. I think following Jesus,
living under Jesus’ authority, partnering with God in bringing about the
kingdom is about reminding ourselves that beneath all of those differences is a
profound commonality and solidarity in that we are each a child of God whom God
loves, adores, and is speaking to right here and now. In God’s kingdom we take
a little more time to listen to each other, we try to understand each other,
and try to listen for God’s calling for ourselves and our community together.
And in this particular room in God’s kingdom we gather
together to experience the awesomeness of God in the bread and the wine, the
mystery that heals us and makes us whole. We gather together to experience the
awesomeness of God in the midst of our humanity and in the forgiveness of the
hurt we’ve caused ourselves and others.
By whose authority? By the authority of the one whose love
calls us into being and blesses us. The one whose Word lives among us, in us,
and through us. The one whose love forgives us when we are greedy and full of
ourselves. The one into whose life we are baptized, the one whose love wins.
Amen.
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