Authority

Matthew 21:23 - He entered the temple and was teaching when the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him and asked, "By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you that authority?"

There's that focus on authority again. The chief priests and the elders are fearful for their own authority. They are unable to do the things Jesus has been doing and are concerned the people will no longer follow them, but follow Jesus instead. They fear they're about to be replaced. Much like white men in America now. Both groups fear losing their power, because there's only so much power to go around, right? They cannot open their hearts and minds to the idea that power and authority are not zero sum commodities because then they would no longer feel special or catered to by the rest of us. And they like being catered to.

Both groups have questionable sources for their authority. The chief priests and the elders are authorized by the occupying Romans; white men by the oppression of other groups. So, in order to keep their authority and assuage their fear - they demonize other groups who dare to question or ignore them. We see this happening with the sexual harassment revelations and Republicans in congress. For them, making America great again means returning the power to white men and kicking out the others. Republicans' authority comes from even more questionable sources: gerrymandering, voter suppression, and a little help from Putin. They, therefore question others' authority in order to keep us from questioning theirs and keeping them accountable.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Why is it that laws created by congresspeople and senators who got elected by dubious means still get to stand? Why is it that even though we know that several Republicans were gerrymandered into office, they still get to enact legislation that is then never questioned. The GOP tax law for example. What would it look like to erase the votes of such people - retroactively. Would the GOP stop their voter suppression and gerrymandering or would they ramp it up? Would they question where this authority comes from?

Yet, I think the chief priests and elders here have a point. We know Jesus' authority comes from God. But do we know where the authority of our leaders comes from? Are they serving their constituents or the Koch brothers? This is a vital question. We should always ask our leaders where their authority comes from. We should be aware of these things and we should be holding them accountable with actual consequences. 

Where do you and I get our authority? Are we serving God? Have we accepted our ordination? Or are we serving earthly masters?