Context No. 3216 of 4322 · Luke
Context · Reflection
Luke 20:1-7: in context
1On one of those days, as he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the Good News, the priests and scribes came to him with the elders. 2They asked him, “Tell us: by what authority do you do these things? Or who is giving you this authority?” 3He answered them, “I also will ask you one question. Tell me: 4the baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men?” 5They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” 7They answered that they didn’t know where it was from.
As Jesus teaches in the temple, the priests, scribes, and elders confront him: by what authority do you do these things, and who gave it to you? Jesus answers with a question of his own: John's baptism, was it from heaven or from men? They huddle together and reason: if we say from heaven, he will ask why we did not believe him; but if we say from men, the people will stone us, for they hold John a prophet. So they answer, we do not know.
They came to test Jesus, and he turns their question back, exposing their bad faith. Watch their reasoning: they weigh not what is true but what is safe. If we say this, then this will happen to us. Their entire calculation is about consequences to themselves, never once about the truth. And so they lie, we do not know. People who will not commit to the truth because of what it might cost them end up unable to answer honestly at all. Fear of consequences, not love of truth, drove them, and it left them evasive and dishonest.
When answering honestly might cost me, do I calculate only the consequences to myself, or hold to the truth regardless?