AUTHORITY WITH HUMILITY AND LOVE

 “SPRINGS OF LIVING WATER”

Daily Spiritual Reflections

29th May 2021

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SATURDAY, EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Sir 51:12-20; Ps 19:8-11; Mk 11:27-33

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AUTHORITY WITH HUMILITY AND LOVE

In today’s Gospel, Jesus was approached by three groups of religious leaders who together made up the Sanhedrin, the highest level of Jewish authority: the chief priests, scribes and elders. They were unhappy with Jesus, who had cleansed the Temple, overturning the tables of the money lenders, and the merchants from carrying goods through the Temple. So, they confronted him: “By what authority do you do these things?” 

Jesus had taken upon himself the authority to cleanse the Temple of its commercial activity, where godliness was exploited for financial gain. This action offended particularly the chief priests because the Temple area was under their authority. They were the guardians of the Temple, and they felt that Jesus had crossed into their sphere of authority. “The Temple is my business,” the chief priest would say. And here Jesus comes in and does this kind of thing. So, they wanted to know what right he had to interfere with their area of responsibility. The religious leaders knew what Jesus was claiming to be, but they rejected his claim, refusing to believe. 

The word “authority” in today’s gospel passage contains the secret of the faith journey and spiritual growth that we can attain if we let ourselves be guided by the Lord. The challenging question addressed to Jesus by the scribes and chief priests makes us understand how much distance there was between them. For the priests and scribes, authority is power, strength, dominion, etc. For Jesus, it is being like the Father, and comes from the relationship of love with the Father. 

Authority is good if exercised with humility and prudence, and this is how Jesus exercised his authority, unlike the Pharisees and the chief priests of his time, who were so proud of their authority that they used it to perpetuate their self-serving agendas. Let us be like Jesus at all times, exercising authority with humility, compassion and love.

Response: The precepts of the Lord gladden the heart.

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