Recognizing Authority

Many of us like living by our own rules, doing what we want when we want and how we want. We like liberty but we also have the expectation of order, some authority maintaining our right to do what we want without others interfering with our actions. We do not go too far into our exercise of freedom and liberty before we bump into someone else’s pursuit of their ideas of what they see as their rights. Jesus taught a Parable about Rights that reminds me of the frailty of ‘my’ rights:

“A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ ¹

The owner plants, sharecrops and then expects a return on what he owns. Those who are working the vineyard decide their expectations are superior to his, that he has no right to the fruit of their labor, that they should have it all. After abusing his messengers, they decide not only should they have all the fruit but they should own the vineyard as well and that killing the rightful heir of the owner will give them the right to have it all. So is believing our rights exceed the rights of all others. Then we face conflict with those other folks who believe their rights exceeds our right to what we have taken. Self-aggrandizement is like that.

Imagine now that You created it All, that You are the LORD and Your created beings are the tenants—who has the ultimate Authority? Jesus had a situation with the religious elite over what gave Jesus the right to do what He was doing:

And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 
Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” ²

They didn’t want His honest answer but what they could twist into an accusation against Him. He countered with His question as to what was the basis for their decisions. They refused to answer for theirs rested in their traditions; their position of authority was built upon popular support. They knew that answering would call into question the lack of supreme authority in their decisions.

In an earlier devotional we looked at the Parable of the Wedding Garment ³ where the King has authority by who He is and that authority gives Him the right to see that what He provides is used according to His terms.

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” ⁴

Ultimate Authority is not ours to decide nor do we have the permanent ability to accept or reject for the last book of the Bible makes it clear that the LORD alone is the ultimate and supreme Judge with authority over all creation. ⁵ The question is not whether we will submit but rather whether we will submit while we still have opportunity to enter into relationship with the LORD or if we will wait until it is too late to repent and relate.