Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is G_d who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure." People perceive you differently when they know your association with authority. In antiquity, to speak or do something "with authority" meant that the person was acting on instructions from a power outside of self. For example, Roman Centurions were not considered simply as soldiers, but their actions were from the direct authority and hands of the Emperor.
In Matthew, the chief priests and the elders, seeing and hearing Jesus, as he was teaching in the Temple, recognized that this was not just some itinerant preacher. They ask Jesus, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" Jesus tells them that he will give them what they wish to know only after they answer his question first. Jesus puts these learned scholars in a situation where they must decide the source of the authority of John the Baptist.
"Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?" Was John the Baptist a prophet of G_d, as most of the people believed, or simply a man from those people, who believed in him? Had they answered, "from Heaven" the question would be "then why did you not believe?" If their answer was "human" then the masses would be angry with them. Knowing that Jesus had put them in a bad position they answered, "We do not know."
Jesus continues to press them with a parable of a man with two sons. The man asks his sons to go into the fields to work. One son says that he will go and work but does not, while the other son refuses to work "but afterward he repented, and went." They tell Jesus that the son who repented and went to work was the one who did the father's will. Their answer reveals that they know the source of the Authority of both John and Jesus, but will not accept that Truth. Since they wish to stand firm in their lie, Jesus tells the chief priests and the elders a message of hope for the sinners that this group had likely ridiculed and abused, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of G_d ahead of you." The Creator looks for our willingness to heed the call to repentance, to change mind and heart, and to believe.
Pax,
jbt
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