Submission by Faith under God’s Authority

Matthew 21:23-32

Jesus' Authority Questioned

23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?"

24 But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: 25 The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?"

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' 26 But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet." 27 So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."

And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.' 29 He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?"

They said to Him, "The first."

Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.

Submitting by faith to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ is required for the transformation of salvation’s regenerative work in us.  When the unbelieving religious leaders of God’s people confronted Jesus as He taught in His temple, they questioned that divine authority in unbelief.  The chief priests and elders confronted the right of Jesus to teach these things which they refused to surrender and submit to as they interrupted His teaching.  Jesus wisely turned the doubters back on their own hypocritical reasoning to expose it as unbelief and rejection by asking what they thought about the source of John’s baptism.  They cunningly assumed they could trick the Lord by not saying John was heaven sent by God out of heaven because they would be forced to admit their lack of faith; likewise, they could not deny John as a prophet as the majority of the people believed and so turn the crowd against them.  Because of these human reasonings, they lied and told Jesus that they did not have any idea if John came from God or man to protect their unbelief and rejection of the Messiah standing before them who was teaching the truth of God according to the scriptures.  They rejected His authority (Luke 7:29-30) by refusing to submit to it because they had no faith to trust His word to them, and so Jesus refused to tell them by what authority He spoke and worked in return because they were not willing to repent and believe to receive Him (John 1:12).  Even now, many reject Jesus Christ and His authority to avoid persecution from others and most importantly, accountability to God.  The Lord then told these religious leaders a parable about one man who said he would not do the will and work of his father and yet later regretted the rash words and went as commanded.  The other son said the same initially, but proceeded not to repent and go to work in obedience to his father’s will.  When they were then asked which son did the father’s will they admitted it was the one who repented and did the will even after initially refusing to do so as promised.  Jesus immediately pointed out their refusal to likewise repent to their Father in heaven as the fictional son who did after regretting his disobedience.  He made it clear to them that the most sinful people they could imagine had a better chance of entering the kingdom of God than them because those sinners  turned from sin to Him in obedience of repentant faith (John 6:29) in doing the work of that faith to take God at His word and place themselves under His authority in response.  They still refused to hear and afterwards repent and believe God’s word spoken by the Lord whom they rejected.  There is hope of heaven only for those who repent and by the obedience of faith submit to take the Lord Jesus at His word to be transformed and then follow that word recorded in scripture afterwards in willing obedience.