When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” “We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded. “Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked. “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them!” (John 7:46-49)The Pharisees were the big-time religious leaders of Jesus’ day. They had degrees from important seminaries and thought they knew everything. They figured that since they were so smart, they had the right to tell everybody else how they were supposed to live and that those they told just needed to shut up and listen.
They thought that since they fasted, they knew the Scriptures, they had the degrees, they had the position of teacher – all that – they also had the authority to decide for everybody what was right and what was wrong. When people disagreed with them, which they really didn’t do much out of fear, they were usually pretty sarcastic with them, trying to convict them by their own words.
What they hated about Jesus (one of the things, anyway) was that he didn’t care what they said or what they thought. He never asked their opinion on anything, nor did he seem to care about their feelings.
If he had gone to them in the beginning, discussed what he was going to say, got their opinion, they probably would have liked him a lot and maybe even supported him. But instead, he just came in, with no real education, no real experience, just a nobody carpenter from nowhere and started teaching. He had no permission, no “authority” given him by the leaders, and he didn’t care what they thought or wanted.
When the devil was tempting Jesus in Matthew 4, one of the temptations was that if Jesus were to just kneel down – one little kneel – in front of the devil, the devil would leave him alone the rest of his life. With the devil’s permission, he would preach, people would believe him, things would go great, with no problems.
Of course, if Jesus had done that, he and the devil would know it, even if no one else ever did. And his ministry would be worthless. The same with the Pharisees. If Jesus had gone to them and gotten their permission, they would know he was under their thumb.
We do not need permission from anyone to tell people about Jesus and his grace. In fact, it doesn’t matter what people think about our message. If it is from God, it is fine. If it isn’t, all the certificates and diplomas, permission slips and memberships in official organizations will not matter. We will not be from God anyway.
People will try to stop us, but they will never stop the gospel. They couldn’t then and they will not now.
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