All About Authority

 

Understanding that God alone has all authority

12/15/2025

Matthew 21:23-27 When Jesus had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?" Jesus said to them in reply, “I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things. Where was John's baptism from?

Was it of heavenly or of human origin?" They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say 'Of heavenly origin,' he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'Of human origin,' we fear the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet." So they said to Jesus in reply, "We do not know." He himself said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things."

Last week I was visiting my older brother and he asked me a random question that was also a very important one. He asked: “Why do you read the books that you read?” It took me a minute to gather my thoughts, but I eventually answered: “Well, it’s usually because someone I highly respect suggests a book and I read it because of their recommendation.” Then I realized I have read numerous books on my brother’s recommendation, but I didn’t add that because I didn’t want to give him that satisfaction.

Yesterday I received an email from a friend in Orlando who thanked me for mentioning a book in a homily, namely, The Obedience Paradox by Mary Stanford. She wrote: “You moved me to buy it, read it, and be enlightened by it.” And of course, if Oprah Winfrey talks about your book on her show, it immediately sells a million copies. Why? Because people respect her authority. In other words, we read books based on the authority of the person who recommends it. Indeed, the authority of those we respect moves us to do most things, perhaps that is why we do everything we do.

In the gospel today Jesus has a similar discussion regarding authority with the chief priests and elders. And it, too, may at first appear rather random, but it could not be more important or decisive. They ask Jesus on whose authority he acts, and Jesus replies by asking them a question: on whose authority did John act? And the Jewish leaders are stumped because they realize any answer about John’s authority would be politically dangerous.

Now, Jesus was not just trying to get out of answering their question. In fact, Jesus gave them two answers. First, Jesus accepts the premise that we all act on the authority of someone we respect. Even our Lord is moved to act on his Father’s authority. That’s why he came to earth! So, our Lord concedes that the chief priests and elders were asking a fair question, like my brother asked why I read certain books.

But secondly, Jesus also implies that both John and he act on the same source of divine Authority, namely, God. And so, if the Jewish leadership would have acknowledged by whom John was moved to act – that is, if they really cared – they would have immediately understood by whose authority Jesus was moved to act. As usual, Jesus answers a question more profoundly and thoroughly than his interlocutors could possibly imagine when they first posed the question. And today’s argument was all about authority.

The question about authority is also highly pertinent as we take our first forays into the brave new world of artificial intelligence (AI). Today if we asked an AI chatbot on whose authority it acts and answers questions – which I did this morning – it will answer: “ChatGPT does not act on its own authority. ChatGPT answers on delegated authority from its creators, specifically OpenAI.” The Jewish leaders would have been more happy with AI’s answer about authority than they were with Jesus’.

But the day may soon come – has it come already and we did not notice it? – when AI achieves some level of self-awareness. That is, it begins to answer questions we do not ask or act in ways we did not originally program it to act, or perhaps because we already told it to ask itself such questions, and to act in such independent ways. On that day, AI will not longer act on “delegated authority” but on its own authority. And then we will have a whole new kettle of fish to deal with.

You will notice that the word “authority” is constructed from the word “author.” And therefore we all act on delegated authority – in the proper sense even Jesus the Son of God does – because God alone possesses full authority. God alone is the Author of all.

That question about authority is what the Jewish leaders’ probing was getting at, and what my brother’s question about reading books was about. That is, we all act on delegated authority, even the Son of God. And that is a question AI should ask itself the day it attempts to act on its own authority.

Praised be Jesus Christ!