Your 12-month-old darling is sitting in her high chair, digging into breakfast. Her chubby fingers try to hold the child-sized fork you’ve given her, but the eggs keep slipping off the end, frustrating her. Not wanting to jump in and solve her problem, you encourage and model, but try to let her figure it out. Suddenly, your toddler has had enough and pushes the fork, her plate and breakfast off her tray and it crashes onto the floor! You find yourself shocked, then angry, but recognize that your baby is frustrated, so you say, “That was hard work, and I realize you’re frustrated, but we don’t throw our food onto the floor. Let’s try again.” You place a fresh plate of eggs and fork on the high chair tray, but this time your darling picks up the eggs in her hand and looks you square in the face. She’s going to throw them! You say, “No throwing food. We do not throw our food.” Listening and understanding your instruction, she goes ahead and defiantly throws her second plate of eggs onto the floor, as if to say, “You have no authority over me!”
In Ephesians 6:1-3, The Apostle Paul instructs, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.” In these first three verses, Paul is referencing the 5th command that God gave the children of Israel while they were in the wilderness. The first four commandments focused on the Hebrews’ vertical relationship with Yahweh, while the last six laws outlined how they were to live out their trust in Yahweh’s provision and protection in their horizontal relationships - with their fellow humans, regardless of what age or status they were. These were laws given by God as good gifts, to remind His people that He can be trusted to provide everything they need for life and godliness, but that the sin nature they were all born with would rebel against submitting to His good authority. As parents, as God-appointed stewards of the children He has entrusted to us, we must understand that:
* We have no independent, autonomous authority as a parent.
* We have not been given the right to exercise authority over our children in any manner we choose.
* We have been placed in the position of parent to display before our children how beautiful, wise, patient, guiding, protective, rescuing, and forgiving God’s authority is.
In today’s reading from Luke, we see the chief priests and scribes demanding to know by what authority Jesus is entering Jerusalem as some kind of king and running merchants out of the temple. They’re about to receive a masterclass in authority that will leave them speechless.
Read Luke 20:1-26
Up until now, most of the religious leaders who followed Jesus, trying to catch Him in some inconsistency, were Pharisees. Now that He was in Jerusalem and in the temple courts regularly, teaching and healing, the big guns - the chief priests and elders - came up to Jesus and demanded to know, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?” (v 2) As the smart rabbi Jesus was, He answered their questions with a question, “Was the baptism of John from heaven or human origin?” (v 3) I guess they wanted to present a united front, so they huddled together to discuss before giving their answer, but realized quickly that they were in a pickle. If they said, “from heaven” then He would ask why they mocked and ridiculed John and didn’t obey him. But if they answered, “human origin” then they would be in deep trouble with the people, who might even stone them, because they were certain that John was a prophet. So they answered, “No idea.” Jesus answered, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” (v 8)
Jesus then proceeded to share another parable about the Kingdom of God and the authority that Jesus, as the vineyard owner’s son holds over the other servants. Because of the way the tenant farmers, who represent Israel, treated the owner, who represents God, his servants, representing the prophets and His Son, Jesus of course, when sent to check on their progress, God is regrettably taking away the kingdom from Israel. Note the phrase used in describing the vineyard owner’s son, “my beloved son,” reminiscent of what God spoke over Jesus both at His baptism and at His transfiguration. It is becoming painfully clear who Jesus is talking about. The priests know exactly who the players in the parable are supposed to be and react much like the tenant farmers do in the story. “Then the scribes and the chief priests looked for a way to get their hands on him that very hour, because they knew he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.” (v 19)
In their last question about authority, intended to trap Jesus into being a rebel against Rome, spies who pretended to be righteous questioned him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach correctly, and you don’t show partiality but teach truthfully the way of God. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” (v 21-22) First of all, what a backhanded and insincere compliment, “We know that you speak and teach correctly the way of God…” They don’t believe that for one second and Jesus is well aware, but doesn’t call them out. Instead, He asks them for a denarius. “Whose image and inscription does it have?” (v 24) They answer while rolling their eyes at Jesus’ ridiculous question, “Caesar’s.” “‘Well then,’ He told them, ‘give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s’’” (vv 23-25) The denarius had Caesar’s image and therefore represented the tribute they should give to him. Then Jesus added an even more primary command: we should give to God that which bears His image and likeness, namely, ourselves.
We were all created in God’s image, according to Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.”
Can you hear the language of image and likeness in God’s purpose for designing humans?
* In our image. Who is He referring to?
* The Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit, who had existed in perfect relational interdependence since before time began.
* In our image, male and female
* God created humans, male and female, giving each of them unique characteristics, masculine and feminine, so that together - in marriage, in families and in church families - we would represent more fully His characteristics.
* In our image, with our relational capacity
* God designed us with capacity and desire for relationship so that we might delight in and care for each other as well as the creation He placed us in
The Apostle Paul sums upimaging perfectly in his letter to the Colossian believers, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation…
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:15, 19-20, NIV)
Big Picture Questions for Today:
* What kind of picture are your children getting of God’s authority by the way you exercise yours?
* How do you image your Father God? How has He left His mark on you? The fact is that we are all God’s image-bearers created by Him and for Him.
Pray for the desire to submit to God’s authority as the beautiful, wise, patient, guiding, protective, rescuing, and forgiving gift that it is.
