The Question Concerning Jesus' Authority

Jim ButlerMatthew 21:23–32

The chief priests and elders demand to know by what authority Jesus acts in the temple, and Jesus turns their challenge into a two-edged indictment: their refusal to answer his counter-question about John the Baptist's authority exposes their moral and spiritual incompetence to judge him, and the parable of the two sons confirms that tax collectors and harlots — who repented at John's preaching — enter the kingdom of God while self-righteous religious leaders who gave lip-service to God's will do not. The sermon works through three movements: the confrontation, the leaders' calculated evasion, and the parable's verdict. The application presses both the danger of self-righteous church-bred religion and the sufficiency of grace alone through faith alone for the most notorious of sinners.