Matthew 21:23-27: a reflection

23When he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?” 24Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?” They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.” 27They answered Jesus, and said, “We don’t know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

When the chief priests and elders challenge Jesus about his authority, he asks them a question in return: was John's baptism from heaven or from men? And their response exposes something troubling about how they reach their answers. They reason among themselves, not about what is true, but about what is advantageous: if we say from heaven, he will ask why we did not believe him; but if we say from men, we fear the crowd. So they answer, we don't know, though they surely had a view. They calculate their answer by self-interest and fear, not by honesty; they say what is safe rather than what is true. Their evasion reveals hearts that weigh their words by advantage rather than by truth, unwilling to say honestly what they think when honesty is costly.

Notice how the leaders reach their answer: by calculating advantage, not by seeking truth. Faced with a straightforward question, they do not ask what is true; they ask what is safe, what will not trap them, what the crowd will accept. Every option is weighed by self-interest and fear, and in the end they give a dishonest answer, we don't know, to avoid the cost of honesty. Their words are governed not by truth but by advantage. This is a subtle corruption: to answer not according to what we believe but according to what serves us, evading honesty when honesty is costly. The leaders would not say what they thought, because saying it plainly would cost them. Truth was set aside for the sake of self-interest. Answering by calculation rather than honesty is a small dishonesty that reveals a divided heart.

That is worth taking to heart, for we are called to answer honestly, not to calculate our words by self-interest. We can find ourselves, like the leaders, weighing our answers not by what is true but by what is safe or advantageous, evading honesty when honesty would cost us, saying what serves us rather than what we believe. But this calculating evasion is a small dishonesty that corrupts the heart. There is integrity in answering honestly, even when honesty is costly. Do not calculate your answers by self-interest and fear, evading honesty when it costs you; answer honestly, as the leaders would not. Answer honestly rather than calculating your words by self-interest and fear, as the leaders evaded Jesus' question by weighing only what was safe and said, we don't know, though they surely had a view; for it is a subtle corruption to answer according to advantage rather than truth, evading honesty when honesty is costly, and there is integrity in saying plainly what we believe even when it costs us rather than trimming our words to serve ourselves.

Lord Jesus, when the chief priests and elders challenge you about your authority, you ask them a question in return: was John's baptism from heaven or from men? And their response exposes something troubling about how they reach their answers. They reason among themselves, not about what is true, but about what is advantageous: if we say from heaven, he will ask why we did not believe him; but if we say from men, we fear the crowd. So they answer, we don't know, though they surely had a view. They calculate their answer by self-interest and fear, not by honesty; they say what is safe rather than what is true. Show me how the leaders reach their answer: by calculating advantage, not by seeking truth. Faced with a straightforward question, they do not ask what is true; they ask what is safe, what will not trap them, what the crowd will accept. Every option is weighed by self-interest and fear, and in the end they give a dishonest answer to avoid the cost of honesty. This is a subtle corruption: to answer not according to what we believe but according to what serves us, evading honesty when honesty is costly. Take that to my heart, for I am called to answer honestly, not to calculate my words by self-interest. I can find myself, like the leaders, weighing my answers not by what is true but by what is safe or advantageous, evading honesty when honesty would cost me. But this calculating evasion is a small dishonesty that corrupts the heart. There is integrity in answering honestly, even when it is costly. Keep me from calculating my answers by self-interest and fear, evading honesty when it costs me; help me answer honestly, Lord, as the leaders would not, saying plainly what I believe even when it costs me.