Welcome To Holy Week

– Ponderings:

Welcome to the last week of Jesus’s life on earth to live as one of us. Welcome to Holy Week. What would you want to accomplish if you knew you had just five days to live? Is there a place you’ve always wanted to see? Are there “affairs” to be put in order? Would you want to spend all your time with family and friends? Jesus spent much of his time doing the same thing he’d been doing during his three years of ministry, trying to get people to understand who he was and what he came to do. But some people just wouldn’t get it.

“One day (during Holy Week) as Jesus was teaching in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came and said to him, ‘Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?’ Jesus answered them, ‘I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ They discussed it with one another, saying, ‘If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.’ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’” (Luke 20:1-8).

It would seem natural if we had forgotten about John (the Baptizer) by now. He’s been dead for a while, and there have been so many miracles, parables, and preaching since then. But Jesus obviously hasn’t forgotten John, and neither have the people. John, killed by Herod, has attained real “street cred.” Jesus’s question puts the chief priests on the spot. When John baptized Jesus and proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah, was John speaking as a prophet of God or as a mere human?

When the priests and leaders asked Jesus who gave him authority to preach and proclaim himself the Messiah, their question might, at first glance, seem fair. After all, Jesus had just gone into the temple, where he overturned tables and disrupted the status quo. The leaders want to reassert control. But beneath their question lies a deeper issue. They aren’t seeking truth; they are seeking to influence the crowds to turn against Jesus to protect their interests. They knew the correct answer the minute they asked the question. But they didn’t want to answer. It would turn their world upside-down, and they didn’t want that.

Jesus – who he is – is not a matter of public opinion or popular vote. It’s a matter of truth, rooted in his divine identity as the Son of God. The One who turned over temple tables is the same One who will carry the cross, not by compulsion, but by choice.

Lent is a season to ask ourselves: Whose authority do I trust? Do I allow Jesus to speak into my life even when his words challenge me and my assumptions?

Prayer: Jesus, you are the One with authority over my heart, my choices, and my future. Help me surrender the areas of my life where I still resist you. Teach me to trust in your wisdom, even when it calls me into discomfort or change. May I walk with you, not in fear, but in faith. Amen.