Nov. 30                            Luke 20:1-8                                         Donna Cook

Those Chief Priests, Scribes, and Elders, they are supposed to be the ‘smarts ones”. Yet, here they are. They are the ones asking Jesus the questions! (Ok. In teaching school we learned that “there is no dumb question, the dumb question is the one you don’t ask. So this is awkward.) And the question that the “smart ones” ask? “What authority do YOU have? Who gave YOU this authority?”

Jesus answers their question with a question. (That’s a teacher thing, too.) In the time of Jesus the word teaching means to pass on the truth. So Jesus asks “Was John’s baptism from God, or was it merely human?” The smart ones “think they are being tricked, and to avoid the wrong answer they reply that they don’t know. (Sounds like school.) “Very well, then,’ says Jesus. ‘Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” The “smart ones” don’t get it. Or they are afraid to.

“Jesus will exercise that authority, the powerful authority of saving and healing love, until all acknowledge it.

“I Wake Close To Morning” by Mary Oliver

Why do people keep asking to see

              God’s identity papers

when the darkness opening into morning

              is more than enough?

Certainly any god might turn away in disgust.

Think of Sheba approaching

              the Kingdom of Solomon.

Do you think she had to ask,

              “Is this the place?”

Prayer

“Instructions For Living A Life” by Mary Oliver

Pay attention

Be astonished

Tell about it

Help us see, you, God, and help us spread your gospel of justice, love and peace. AMEN

Devotions. The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver, by Mary Oliver

Luke For Everyone, by N.T. Wright