Jesus Not Declaring His Authority - Luke 20:8

Luke the beloved physician wrote as Jesus, “taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, And spoke unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority do you these things? or who is he that gave you this authority? And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed you him not? But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was”, and in chapter twenty and verse eight of his book Luke shared how Jesus told the religious leaders, “neither tell I you by what authority I do these things” where we read:

And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

The verse reads, “And Jesus said unto them, ...” Luke began with the words, “and Jesus” or “and the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate whose name means Jehovah is Salvation” “said unto them” which means “uttered, declared and proclaimed unto the chief priests, scribes and elders” the following words. Luke shared how Jesus answered the “religious leaders” with the following words.

The verse continues, “... Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.” Luke added the words, “neither tell I you” or “no and not in any way will I, Jesus, speak out, affirm or maintain” “by what authority” which means “through what sort or nature's power, liberty or permission” “I do these things” or “I, Jesus, make ready, render, produce or perform the acts Jesus did in the temple”. Luke shared how Jesus said He would not tell the “religious leaders” by whom He received the “power” to do what He did.

When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we see how Jesus used the inability of the “religious leaders” to answer His question to answer theirs. Since they could not answer Jesus' question, He would not tell them by what “authority” He performed His deeds. God's desire is for every person to have a personal relationship with Him through His Son Jesus, and without a relationship with Jesus, no one will have access to God. Jesus Christ came into the world to die for the sins of all people, and when they submit to Him rather than attempt to ask Him “unanswerable” questions, they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be granted everlasting life with God. .

Next time Luke share how Jesus speaks about, “a certain man” who “planted a vineyard”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".