The Word This Week
Matt 21:23…
Jesus’ authority comes into question when there is an idol placed between you and God.
The idolatry of religious practice is one of the most difficult idols to destroy because it presents itself as ‘goodness,’ (which is certainly superior to all the evil we see present in the world.)
Since we are called to worship an invisible God, our visual and sensual nature is threatened.
Even though God has commanded those who choose to follow Him not to worship any sort of visual or sensual representations of Himself, we find ourselves wrestling with the ‘void’ of God’s invisibility.
We long for the physical and philosophical symbolism religion has the capacity to present.
Now that God IS visible - in the person of Jesus Christ, Who IS God in flesh, (God Incarnate,) - the religious leaders have a difficult time understanding Who Jesus is. This is because of all the visual and sensual edifices they have constructed over the centuries of attempting to fill the void of God’s invisibility with various physical representations, even those representations which are philosophical, i.e. religious legalism.
As such, their view of Christ is obscured by their closely held ‘idol’ of religion.
Therefore, for religious leaders it is logical and necessary to call Jesus’ authority into question, to protect themselves and the people they supposedly represent from the threat to their idol of religion which Jesus uniquely poses.
Jesus would have them revert to God’s standard of worshiping The invisible God, made visible through the means of His choosing rather than man’s construct - no matter how well-intended.
When you find yourself questioning Jesus’ authority over your life, it always because there is some sort of idol between yourself and Himself.
We now more fully understand the ministry of John the Baptist – as the forerunner of Christ – who was to remove the idolatry which so easily and readily comes to man. This is why John’s exhortation to repent was so strong for anyone in his presence. The true God was about to reveal Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Only those whose idols had been removed would see Him as He is.
Pastor Bill
Jesus’ authority comes into question when there is an idol placed between you and God.
The idolatry of religious practice is one of the most difficult idols to destroy because it presents itself as ‘goodness,’ (which is certainly superior to all the evil we see present in the world.)
Since we are called to worship an invisible God, our visual and sensual nature is threatened.
Even though God has commanded those who choose to follow Him not to worship any sort of visual or sensual representations of Himself, we find ourselves wrestling with the ‘void’ of God’s invisibility.
We long for the physical and philosophical symbolism religion has the capacity to present.
Now that God IS visible - in the person of Jesus Christ, Who IS God in flesh, (God Incarnate,) - the religious leaders have a difficult time understanding Who Jesus is. This is because of all the visual and sensual edifices they have constructed over the centuries of attempting to fill the void of God’s invisibility with various physical representations, even those representations which are philosophical, i.e. religious legalism.
As such, their view of Christ is obscured by their closely held ‘idol’ of religion.
Therefore, for religious leaders it is logical and necessary to call Jesus’ authority into question, to protect themselves and the people they supposedly represent from the threat to their idol of religion which Jesus uniquely poses.
Jesus would have them revert to God’s standard of worshiping The invisible God, made visible through the means of His choosing rather than man’s construct - no matter how well-intended.
When you find yourself questioning Jesus’ authority over your life, it always because there is some sort of idol between yourself and Himself.
We now more fully understand the ministry of John the Baptist – as the forerunner of Christ – who was to remove the idolatry which so easily and readily comes to man. This is why John’s exhortation to repent was so strong for anyone in his presence. The true God was about to reveal Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. Only those whose idols had been removed would see Him as He is.
Pastor Bill