The Authority of Christ

Luke 19:41; 20:8

GOLDEN TEXT: “Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”—Luke 6:46

TODAY’S lesson deals with the authority of Christ, and apparently is intended to convey the Scriptural thought that the calamities which came upon the natural house of Israel were due to the fact that their Messiah came to them and they failed to recognize the authority of His visit and ministry.

Throughout all the centuries of Israel’s experience the Lord’s prophets had kept reminding them that He would send a Messiah, one who would act by authority from the Creator and through whom deliverance and blessing would come, not only to the natural seed of Abraham, but through them to all the families of the earth. These promises, moreover, implied that the Jewish nation, as the natural descendants of Abraham, were the first in line to qualify for the high position of being God’s royal nation, through whom the Messianic blessings were to be extended to the rest of the world of mankind.

These were God’s own people; those whom He had recognized and with whom He had kept covenant throughout the Jewish age. The record is that Jesus came to His own, and His own received Him not, but that to as many as did receive Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God. But the individuals among the Jewish nation who accepted Jesus at His first advent were few in comparison with all Israel. While this did not in any sense interfere with the successful development of the Plan of God, nevertheless, Jesus’ love for Israel was so great that in contemplating the rebellious attitude which they manifested, He was caused to weep.

Concerning Israel, Jesus said, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.” (Luke 19:42) Here is expressed by Jesus a wish that Israel might have recognized their Messiah and thus have been the ones to become joint-heirs with Him. But because they did not, their eyes were blinded. Not forever, thank God, because the apostle says that this blindness has happened to Israel only until “the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”

The Pharisees inquired of the Master concerning the authority by which He taught and performed miracles in their midst. If they had accepted Jesus as their Messiah they would have known that His authority came from God, that He was indeed the Anointed One, through whom the promises of restitution were to be fulfilled to all mankind.

On the other hand, they were reluctant to say that He did not have divine backing, because in such an event they would have difficulty in explaining how He was able to perform such outstanding miracles. To claim that He did not have divine authority, would also arouse the indignation and opposition of the “common people who heard Him gladly.”

The practical application of the lesson in our lives as Christians is found in the Golden Text in which the Master raises the very pertinent question “Why call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Surely indeed we who do recognize the authority of Christ in our lives should be quick to follow in His footsteps and thus demonstrate our full acquiescence in the divine will in all things.

QUESTIONS:

Why should the Jewish nation have been ready and willing to accept Jesus as the Messiah?

Did Jesus continue to love the Israelites even though they did as a nation, reject Him? What is the divine provision for them in the future?

Should Christians recognize the authority of Christ in their daily lives?

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