Home > Advent Blog 2021

“You’re not the boss of me.”

December 13, 2021

Psalm 25:3-8 |  Numbers 24:2-7,15-17a | Matthew 21:23-27

When trying to find inspiration for this blog assignment I found these 3 lines that kept bugging me and I had to figure out why:

And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority? 

As I read and reread this in the book of Matthew it hit me that this is such a trick question. Why so? I don’t know…maybe because they pretty much could answer it themselves. I mean they had heard and seen Jesus’ works. I read it once again to fully understand and see why it bothered me. Suddenly I could feel the loss of power that the priests must have felt as Jesus’ teachings continued to challenge their status. I felt for them and their pain, but it did not satisfy me as to why those lines bothered me. 

Then suddenly I saw in that question a particular statement that I have used many a time when faced with something I could not dispute. Am sure you did too in your younger years and mostly it was directed at a sibling or at a friend, and at rare times against a parent (those times it had grave consequences). Those 3 lines fold quite nicely into this statement: “You’re not the boss of me.”

I can understand and believe in questioning all, but there is a point where your gut or facts would have already placed the answer at your feet. That is usually the time when the question should change to… What can I do? And unfortunately that too can lead into two paths, help or fight it. We all know which path the temple leaders chose.

Geo Borgia