By What Authority? Christ Comes to Rescue Us

Matthew places the chief priests and elders before Jesus with one sharp question: “By what authority do you do this?” Jesus has entered Jerusalem like a king, received the crowd’s praise, overturned the money changers’ tables, and taught in the temple. The temple leaders know the Scriptures, yet they resist the One standing before them because his authority disrupts the life they have learned to manage.

The same resistance shows up wherever believers want Christ to save, comfort, and help, but not to rule. The question becomes, “What can be gotten away with?” The heart looks for the line where forgiveness can stop, where the neighbor no longer needs care, where earthly authority can be ignored, or where personal freedom can decide what is right. The chief priests and elders say, “We don’t know,” because they know the answer about John’s baptism but do not want to give up control.

Jesus turns their question back on them: Was John’s baptism from heaven or from man? Their refusal to answer exposes their refusal to receive heavenly authority. Christ does give borrowed authority in vocations and situations, and such authority can bring order and peace. Yet sinful hearts want borrowed authority in order to control, dictate freedom, and choose what is pleasurable or right in their own eyes.

Christ’s authority does not need to be guessed at. The Father declares at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my beloved Son.” The Father says at the transfiguration, “Listen to him.” Christ declares after his resurrection that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. The fear beneath resistance is that Christ might use such power the way sinners would use it, for himself.

John 10 shows the true shape of Christ’s authority. Christ has authority to lay down his life and authority to take it up again. The cross is not a failure of his authority, nor is it merely earthly rulers overpowering him. Christ lays down his life for rebels, cowards, anxious planners, and sinners. His authority brings him to the cross to forgive, cleanse, bless, and listen.

Christ’s authority still confronts sin, hurt, and sorrow. Christ corrects, directs, and changes what must be changed. Yet Christ does not come to destroy his people. The King who disrupted the temple comes to rescue, save, and draw sinners ever closer to himself.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ’s authority disrupts managed religion. Christ does not fit neatly into a life built around personal control. The chief priests knew the words of Scripture, but they resisted the living Lord because he threatened their place and power. Religious knowledge becomes dangerous when it is used to keep Christ at a safe distance. [32:06]
• 2. Sin wants a limited Savior. The sinful heart asks Christ for comfort without judgment, answers without the full Law, and rescue without lordship. Such prayers seek pieces of Christ’s authority while refusing Christ himself. Christ cannot be parceled out according to personal preference. [37:42]
• 3. Christ uses power to lay down life. Christ’s authority is not the authority of self-protection or domination. The Father gives the Son authority to lay down his life and take it up again, and Christ uses that authority for sinners. The cross reveals that divine power is holy love willingly given for rebels. [41:04]
• 4. Christ corrects in order to rescue. Christ’s correction can feel like disruption because sin holds tightly to what is familiar. Yet Christ does not enter broken lives to crush them. Christ changes, directs, and cleanses his people so that they may be drawn closer to him.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [30:28] - Who Gave Jesus This Authority?
• [31:17] - The King Enters and Disrupts
• [32:30] - Resisting Christ’s Authority
• [33:32] - Jesus Questions the Temple Leaders
• [34:32] - Looking for Limits and Loopholes
• [36:10] - Borrowed Authority and Control
• [37:42] - Wanting a Savior Without a Lord
• [38:36] - All Authority Given to Christ
• [39:43] - Christ’s Silence Before the Cross
• [40:35] - Authority to Lay Down His Life
• [41:32] - Christ Dies for Sinners
• [42:11] - Authority That Rescues

Bible Reading

Matthew 21:23-27
“And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” [31:08]

John 10:17-18
“For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” [40:35]

Matthew 28:18
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” [38:55]

Observation questions

1. What events in Jerusalem had prompted the chief priests and elders to challenge Jesus’ authority? [31:17]
2. How did Jesus respond to the leaders’ question, and what question did he place before them instead? [33:42]
3. What reasons did the chief priests and elders consider before they answered Jesus’ question about John’s baptism, and what answer did they finally give? [33:50]
4. According to John 10:17–18, what authority does Jesus say he has received from the Father? [41:04]

Interpretation questions

1. Why does the leaders’ refusal to answer Jesus about John’s baptism reveal more than simple uncertainty? What does it show about their willingness to submit to God’s authority? [34:18]
2. Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem and cleansing of the temple disrupted a religious system that the leaders had learned to manage. What are some ways religious knowledge or church habits can be used to keep Jesus at a safe distance? [32:06]
3. Matthew 28:18 declares that all authority belongs to Jesus, while John 10 shows Jesus using that authority to lay down his life. How do these two truths reshape the common fear that authority is mainly used for control or self-protection? [39:21]
4. Christ corrects, directs, and changes his people, yet he does so to rescue rather than destroy them. How can this truth help someone distinguish Christ’s loving correction from condemnation? [42:11]

Application questions

1. Where is the temptation strongest to want Jesus as Savior but not as Lord—perhaps in relationships, finances, habits, priorities, or private thoughts? What makes that area difficult to place under his authority? [37:42]
2. The heart often looks for limits: How much forgiveness is really necessary? Who truly counts as a neighbor? Which authority must be respected? Where have you recently looked for a loophole rather than asking what faithful love requires? [35:11]
3. God gives people real but borrowed authority in vocations, homes, workplaces, and communities. In one area where you have responsibility over others, how can that authority be used to serve and bring peace rather than to control? [36:25]
4. When Christ’s Word exposes a sin, changes a plan, or disrupts something familiar, what is your usual response—defensiveness, avoidance, anxiety, or repentance? What would it look like to trust that his correction is meant to draw you closer to him? [42:17]
5. Jesus had all authority, yet he laid down his life for rebels, cowards, anxious planners, and sinners. Which of those descriptions especially meets you honestly right now, and how does Christ’s willing sacrifice bring comfort or hope there? [41:32]