a long Tuesday

The Tuesday following Jesus entry into Jerusalem was a long day of controversy.

The entry into Jerusalem was followed by the confrontation and cleansing of the temple.

And now Jesus was being accosted by at least three different groups driven by three distinct agendas.

In Luke 20, Jesus was being criticized by the religious leaders of Jerusalem. Physical violence wasn’t an option to get rid of Jesus, because of the adoring crowds (19:47-48). So they challenged Jesus with trick questions - first about His authority (1-8), then about seditious political ideas (19-26) and finally theology (27-39). By 20:40, each group has asked a question and every possibility has been explored. Their efforts to “expose” Jesus have been unsuccessful. Instead, the hardness of their hearts, and the truth of their motives have become apparent. And in the process, Jesus’ ascendancy stands in stark contrast. His wisdom is infallible, and His insight is piercing.

It is easy at this point to turn these religious leaders into mere caricatures, and to ridicule their inability or unwillingness to see the rightness of Jesus’ words and presence.

And this is the point where the Holy Spirit says, “Wait a minute…”

Do I really think that these men were dumb? Were they utterly insensitive to the world around them? Did they think that their motives were wrong? They expressed the true posture of their souls by directly challenging Jesus, and rejecting His authority.

I don’t have the guts to do that. I challenge Jesus by being flippant about His authority. I challenge Jesus by insisting on going my own way (in an acceptable and sophisticated way, of course.)

My pastor Pieter Van Waarde said it well in the message this weekend;

“I just want to do things my way. I want to make my own choices and I want to be my own person. I may like God, in fact I might even want to be like God (in the sense that I want to do good things), I just want to do it my way. I want to be in control. It all sounds so innocent when we say it that way. But, in reality that orientation sets us at odds with God and his ways – and the longer we live that way the further off track we get. In fact, the more we all live like that the messier the world becomes.

When you boil it all down, it is really a matter of “unintended consequences”. We say that we are just trying to do our own thing, never seeing what that mindset does to the way life is supposed to be lived…Or to put it another way, God has all this goodness available to us, but we can’t see it because we have become too absorbed in our own way of doing things. We don’t see what we have done, and I think (by and large) people really never see the significance of this decision until they start feeling consequences of their own foolish choices.”

Whether through direct challenge or through indirect methods likes flippancy or apathy, it all boils down to questioning Jesus authority. And this questioning is motivated by a desire to control what should be his – control of our own lives.

“Jesus, you have experienced my ungratefulness many days. You have been patient, and right, every time that I have challenged you with my withdrawal. I add my voice to that of the Psalmist, and pray, “Do not forsake the (life) you have planted.” After processing through this day of controversy, and examining my own role in creating days of controversy for You, I am reminded again – I need your mercy. Thank you for this truth - as long as there is any desire in my heart to know you, you continue to hold open the way of reconciliation and redemption. Amen.”