A reflection on Mark 11:27-33
Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 by Gloria M. Chang
They returned once more to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?”Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.”They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet. So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” Then Jesus said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Mark 11:27-33
Jesus fed the hungry
And lifted up the lowly
By God’s authority!
My Lord Jesus…love how He puts them in their place. As Bishop Barron said in his gospel reflection today, “His listeners knew they were dealing with something qualitatively different than anything else in their religious tradition or experience. They were dealing with the prophet greater than Moses.” He spoke as the Author of Life.
Amen!