Daily Lectionary: Numbers 20:1-21; Luke 20:19-44 

So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. (Luke 20:20)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. You have to hand it to the scribes and the chief priests for staying true to themselves. They pretend to be sincere when it comes to Jesus, all while trying to find ways to put Him to death. At least they're consistent in their doubletalk. 

What was at the heart of their issue with Jesus? For the scribes and chief priests, it came down to one word: power. They had it, and then Jesus came onto the scene, disrupting their powerbase. They could not allow that to happen, and so they sought to do whatever they could to remove Jesus from the picture. 

Regarding Jesus, it came down to a different word: authority. Jesus had the authority because He spoke the Word of God, not the word of man. That was at the heart of all the issues the people had with Jesus. It wasn't about power, but authority. When you seek to change God's Word in order to keep your power, it is clear that you do not have authority. Jesus, however, has all authority because He IS the authority. He is God in the flesh. If anyone should know what God has said, it would be Jesus. 

Later, when asking regarding marriage and the resurrection, the scribes and priests were put in their place again, because what they desired wasn't a legitimate answer. They wanted instead to discredit Jesus, show Him to be one who had no authority. And once again, they proved to be on the losing side of things, for Luke records: "For they no longer dared to ask him any question" (Luke 20:40). 

There is only one authority and that is God's authority. That authority has been revealed to us through His Word, both written and in the flesh of Jesus. God's Word reveals to us the length that God is willing to go to in order to redeem creation. For Christ's sake, your sins have been forgiven, not by man's authority but by God's. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Almighty God, You exalted Your Son to the place of all honor and authority. Enlighten our minds by Your Holy Spirit that, confessing Jesus as Lord, we may be led into all truth; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. 

-Rev. Jared Tucher is pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, Farmers Retreat, IN, and St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Dewberry, IN.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Over eight sessions, The Messiah: Revealing Jesus in the Old Testament will lead you through the entirety of the Old Testament with daily readings, questions, and discussion prompts. After a brief introduction that reviews Christ's earthly ministry, you will dive into the heart of the Holy Books that have spiritually nourished God's people from creation to today! Now available from Concordia Publishing House.