Two Questions

Mark 11:27-28

      When people feel threatened they will do some unusual things. Fear is a very powerful emotion. People have been killed because of fear’s power to overtake rational thought. Fear is one of our most basic emotions. God put it in us to protect us from harm. Fear is a God thing. And one of the greatest sources of fear is the fear of being alone, separated, unconnected to other people.

      Infants overcome fear when their parents respond appropriately to their cries for safety and security. When the infant is held and comforted, their fear drops. They learn that they are important and that others will respond to them when they need help. They are worthwhile and others can be trusted. When infants are not cared for properly, then they develop a fear response that can last a lifetime. They learn that they are not worthy of response, that others can’t be trusted to meet their needs, or both. Their lives become detached from others, or stuck in a yoyo of pull for connection and pushing away from others.

      The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were driven by fear. They saw the things Jesus was doing. They heard the power of His teaching and its ability to cut right through their carefully constructed superstructure they had built around the Law and the LORD, and they felt threatened. Their jobs were at stake. Their place in society was at stake. Everything they believed about themselves and the world around them was at stake. For them this was not a dry academic issue. If they believed what Jesus was saying and doing, everything in their lives would have to change.

      Jesus is in town for the Passover Festival. This third day of His visit He arrives back in Jerusalem and is walking in the Temple Courts, the area outside the official Temple. This courtyard is where He caused a ruckus two days previously when He drove all the commercial activities out. This place was supposed to be a place of prayer.

      He is walking around and is approached by three groups of religious leaders. They have formed an alliance to deal with the Jesus problem. They have in mind catching Jesus in some claim that would warrant His death. Their powers are limited, so they must plan their move well. It must be a coordinated effort, or they won’t succeed.

      So they gather to question Jesus. They want to put Him on the spot, catch Him off guard. They start by questioning the nature of His authority. What kind of authority is it? Is it civil or religious authority? Is it authority that will overthrow the system, or authority that will exist within or alongside the system? This first question and its answer will define their role in the future if Jesus isn’t stopped. Their survival is on the line.

      The second question is equally important. It is about the origin of Jesus’ authority. Who gave you this authority? Is it just Jesus full of Himself, or is He sent from someone else? Jesus doesn’t have any inherent right to authority because of His lineage or status in society. There were many people who were descendent of King David. He wasn’t born into the right family or educated by the right people. He is a common craftsman from a backwater town. Lately He had been hanging around will all the wrong people.

      Someday, people will be questioning us about our authority to do the things we will be doing. They will want to shut us down, stop our caring for the poor and acts of kindness. They will want to muzzle our boldness in sharing the fact that Jesus is the only way. They will threaten us with punishment, even death. They will put us in prison, labor camps and kill us. They will do to us what they are doing to other Jesus-followers in Iraq and other Muslim countries. Are you ready to tell the truth about your authority?

Crushed!

Proverbs 15:4

      Children need kind words when they are hurting. They need to know that someone cares about them and their pain. They need to know that they are not alone. Have you ever felt alone, misunderstood, underappreciated, unnoticed? What do you need in that moment?

      Our proverb today tells us that gentle words bring life. Nothing crushes a child more than an insensitive word when they are hurting. Kids get two messages at that moment. They hear that other people can’t be trusted to help and that they are not worth helping. If the message is only delivered once, and is counterbalanced with lots of care and kindness, then it probably won’t have lifelong consequences. But if the pattern of crushing words is repeated, the spirit gets crushed.

      Both of these messages make having adult relationships difficult. If we don’t think other people can be trusted to be there for us when we need them, we can become bitter and resentful of them. The world becomes a very difficult place to walk through, because other people can’t be trusted to protect you. In fact, you are the only one that can be trusted. Offers of help or closeness are often heard with skepticism, because your history tells you that people will hurt you, they will pull the rug out from under you at the last minute.

      The other message, that you are not worth helping, is equally damaging. We have labeled this “low self-esteem” in our contemporary culture. Low self-esteem is the internalization of this second message. We learn that we are not worth other people’s care or concern. We are failures. We never will amount to anything. We are just like our _______. These words can crush us, even as an adult.

      A soothing tongue, a gentle word: these can make all the difference. Research tells us that it takes about twenty positive messages to counterbalance a negative message. So get busy with those positive, supporting messages. We could all use some more of them.