From: Matthew 21:23-27
The Authority of Jesus is Questioned
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Commentary:
23-27. When the chief priests and elders ask “By what authority are you doing
these things?” they are referring both to his teaching and to his self-assure pub-
lic actions—throwing the traders out of the Temple, entering Jerusalem in triumph,
allowing the children to acclaim him, curing the sick, etc. What they want him
to do is to prove that he has authority to act in this way or to admit openly that
he is the Messiah.
However, Jesus knows that they are not well-intentioned and he declines to give
them a direct answer; he prefers to put a question to them that forces them to
make their own attitude clear. He seeks to provoke them into examining their
consciences and changing their whole approach.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
First reading | Numbers 24:2-7,15-17 © |
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Psalm | Psalm 24:4-6,7-9 |
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Gospel | Matthew 21:23-27 © |
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