Our Source of Authority

Isaiah 5:18-21                         Galatians 1:6-10                          John 7:10-24

Our Source of Authority

How do you feel when you are falsely accused of saying something or doing something you did not say or do? It is not an easy thing to process, is it? Any form of protest on your part seems to reinforce the idea that you must be guilty. On the other hand, should you choose to remain silent, it is assumed that you have no defence and must therefore be worthy of blame. 

But it is even worse when your alleged culpability has been discussed and decided in your absence, leaving you without recourse for remedy or reconciliation. Sentence has been passed. Your visible or invisible jury have made up their minds. And even if you are later exonerated and absolved in the eyes of those who truly matter, the sweetness of the acquittal is eclipsed by the bitter reality that your word was once called into question. 

In 1994, Frank Darabont wrote and directed a film by the name “The Shawshank Redemption”. The movie is about the wrongful conviction of Andy Dufresne for the double murders of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of innocence. Everyone, including his fellow inmates, believed he was guilty. But then, after a few years had gone by, a new inmate revealed the identity of the real killer. Andy appealed to the prison authorities for a retrial…authorities he thought would protect him and vindicate him…instead, the witness was shot and killed in what was claimed to have been an attempted escape. The sheer power of helplessness drove Andy to plot and plan his own vindication and revenge and eventual redemption. 

But for the rest of his life, the consequence of this gross miscarriage of justice remained. Andy had to live in a foreign country as a fugitive…but he was free.

This movie paints a vivid picture of the pain of being falsely accused…a pain which can be healed, but never really be erased…it will always be a scar embedded deeply in your innermost being. That devastating feeling of impotence when all attempts to prove your innocence fail…remains for life.

In this situation, the accused can be driven to despair, to retaliation, or, hopefully, to prayer for exoneration and vindication.

Now, in our Gospel passage for today, we see Jesus dealing with the misunderstandings and misperceptions that were a direct result of false teachings and false accusations. Just as an aside, it is important that we never lose sight of the fact that our Lord was human and therefore subject to the hurt and pain that comes from rejection, just like we are. The raw wound inflicted by his unbelieving brothers in Galilee was, no doubt, still quite fresh and, as he had correctly anticipated, his accusers were waiting for him to appear at the Feast in Jerusalem. 

Some of the most influential religious leaders at the time were deceiving the people with their extra-biblical rules and rituals (not to mention their political inconsistencies) and perhaps they were even deceiving themselves into thinking that they were approved of by God. Remember, Paul believed that God was well pleased with him when still a zealous Pharisee, as he mercilessly persecuted the followers of Jesus. 

The subsequent muddle becomes apparent in verses 12 and 13. Some said of Jesus, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives people.” But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders. You see, the leaders had managed to confuse and confound and scare the people with their rigid regulations and restrictions to such an extent that the people were unable and unwilling to discern the truth for themselves…opinions on the person of Jesus were divided as the people had been polarised, apparently without either side really knowing why. 

Dishonest leaders often prefer to keep the general population ignorant of the real issues at stake. Unfortunately, this is as true in the Church as in the world. As the 19th-century British politician Lord Acton once said: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The people of God have often been kept in bondage by the false teaching of those with less than honourable intentions. This was as true in the 1st Century as it is in the 21st Century. 

Now, we are given a clue as to why some found it difficult to accept Jesus’ teaching in verse 15. John tells us they were “amazed” at his apparent strange or uncommon instruction (The Greek word, thaumatzo, may indicate amazement that is a result of witnessing something unfamiliar) and asked, “Where did this man get this knowledge seeing that he is uneducated?” The reason for this misperception was because the teachers of the law had been trained in the traditions and teachings of respected and revered Rabbis from the past and, as such, they interpreted the Scriptures according to their different schools of thought quoting from what they had learned from these famous men. Rabbi Hillel said this, Rabbi Shumai said that, and so on. So, when Jesus prefaced his statements with “I say to you”, his listeners were confounded as you can well imagine. Because he did not quote from these well-known sages of old, the people assumed he was unlearned.

Unfortunately, people tend to believe what sounds authoritative. That is why speakers often like to quote famous people, whether it be Rabbi Hirsch or Martin Luther or Winston Churchill. Peppering your speech with wise anecdotes or your social media posts with clever memes makes you sound and look intelligent and important, and by using the right quotations for the right audience, you can sway and influence whomever you like. 

Louise and I recently watched a TV drama in which a young man read scholarly books and classic literature, not for his education or enjoyment, but rather to glean useful information to impress his wealthy clientele. 

This tendency of people to believe what sounds authoritative can be fraught with dangers. While it's natural to seek guidance from authoritative sources and to trust in them, blindly accepting information solely based on its authoritative tone can lead to misinformation and manipulation. This is why we need to discern and filter anything and everything we hear and read on various media platforms, especially since the advent of artificial intelligence (or AI). The vulnerability of the uninitiated or uninformed might open the door to false narratives, fear-mongering conspiracy theories, and pure fabrication of false evidence, hindering critical thinking and fostering a polarized society, like this crowd of people in Jerusalem. Individuals must cultivate a healthy spiritual scepticism, check all assertions against the plumbline of Scripture, and engage in thoughtful intertestamental contextual analysis to safeguard against the potential pitfalls of uncritical acceptance of authoritative-sounding information.

This was a major difficulty for the people of Israel in the time of Jesus. The teachers of the law were quoting from one another and praising one another, patting each other on the back and giving each other glory and honour (John 5:44) while robbing the general public of the ability to understand and interpret Scripture for themselves. 

However, Jesus tells the crowd that he too was quoting, but from a much higher authority than their intellectuals. This wasn’t the only time he bluntly stated that his authority was not derived from himself or anyone else but from God his Father. In John 12:49-50 he said, “I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.” In other words, the source of his teaching was not the interpretation of scholars, but rather the source of his teaching was Scripture itself. 

Now, of course, we all interpret Scripture…indeed, interpretation is necessary to understand any historical document in our own time, especially when it is written in an ancient foreign language…but it is the way we interpret Scripture that makes all the difference. Biblical context and biblical continuity are both extremely important. The Bible is one story and, as such, every book and every letter and every sentence must be interpreted “intertestamentally” and interdependently and consistently. God is not like a gearbox that shifts from one gear to another depending on the driver's will. Scripture is our final authority because it is the Word of God. 

It doesn’t matter how convincing a contrary argument may seem to be…even if the most respected person in all of history or, as Paul said in Galatians, even if an angelic being was to declare something conflicting with what has been revealed in Scripture…that teaching is to be rejected as false. God’s Word is the supreme authority for all believers, and it is the ultimate source of truth. What we teach in the Church must not be based on how we feel or what we think or what we prefer…nor on how others feel or think or what they may prefer. 

Jesus tells us that his teaching will only be understood by those who actively choose to do the will of God. Those who derive their authority from anyone or anything else are open to error. Only those who are of God and belong to God can understand his Word (John 8:47). If our primary source is not God, then any ill wind can shift our focus. Many have used the Scriptures to promote their own agenda or to seek to profit from what they teach. They will either manipulate Scripture to force compliance or undermine Scripture to acquire affirmation. In their hands, Scripture becomes a wax nose that can be shaped in whichever way will suit the face best. They will never confront errors and will constantly play the proverbial chameleon. 

But such self-deception can only lead to inconsistent contradiction and, regrettably, those who teach contradiction and inconsistency can become dangerous when confronted. While professing to keep the law, these religious leaders were plotting murder.

Religion is a strange thing. It can be so beneficial…so liberating. And yet, it can become such a web of deception and deceit if used to pursue or advance anything other than the will of God. While professing godliness and holiness, some have made it an art to wrap their agendas in elaborate and eloquent words that appear to all to be so learned and so right… so sweet…and yet so deadly. With one side of their mouth, they talk of equality, tolerance, and acceptance; with the other, they deride, denigrate, and seek to destroy. 

Of course, like all good con artists, they will deny this, all too often through ridicule or outright attack. “You have a demon!” some in the crowd said. “Who is trying to kill you?” It is at this point that Jesus not only reminded them of the consequence of his healing of the man at the Pool of Bethesda, but he also exposed their own illogical faith system. 

Circumcision, which involved but one small part of the body, was permitted on the Sabbath, even though it was considered to be “work” by the Rabbis. Yet, when a man’s whole body was healed and restored on the Sabbath, the objection escalated to the level of a capital offence! The Sabbath was gifted to humanity to bring about restoration and renewal. It was meant to be a day to recalibrate…rest, contemplate, evaluate, and prepare for the week ahead. In many ways, it was an image of liberation…of freedom. Yet, the teachers of the law had made the Sabbath a prison. So many rigid rules and regulations governed the observance of this day that people lived in abject fear of violating them. 

Their leader’s disproportionate judgment of Jesus for his healing on the Sabbath was a result of the misinterpretation and misapplication of a biblical command. And so, those in the crowd were unable to judge correctly because the judgment of their leaders was not based on the truth. “Do not make superficial judgments,” Jesus told them, “But rather base your judgment on what is right and true.” 

Jesus was falsely accused and unjustly condemned even though he was and is the truth itself. He was eventually executed because he exposed the leaders for what they were. We cannot expect to be treated differently should we, like Jesus, actively choose to do the will of God and if we are called to walk as he walked, to live as he lived, and to love as he loved…if we profess to follow him, we can do no less. If we call him Lord, we must obey his Word. Jesus’ source of authority, whether confronting the devil or his assistants, was always the Word of God. 

Scripture is our source of authority. We must seek to read it, learn it, understand it, and inwardly digest it so that it becomes the sole guiding principle for our life and conduct as believers. We live by it so that we might judge rightly by it even though it may cost us dearly. The world will judge you; the world will accuse you falsely; those who call evil good and good evil will oppose you, reject you, and persecute you. But be of good cheer…not only has Jesus given you the perfect example of how to deal with false accusations, but he is also the one and only actual judge of all…and his judgement is always right and true.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2023