NOTES for Mat 21:23-27

We are accustomed to thinking that the greater a person’s authority and the more significant their role in society, the more concerned they must be about what others will think of them. In the modern world this is called by the attractive English word “image,” literally “an image.” The word may be new, but the problem of choosing the right strategy for constructing an image was clearly relevant two thousand years ago as well. The chief priests are in a difficult position: either acknowledge John as a prophet and thereby, as people now say, disavow all their previous statements, or once again say aloud what would most likely cause their approval rating to fall sharply.

And this is precisely why Jesus refuses to continue the conversation with the Pharisees: it is pointless. They cannot even honestly say what they really think. What a terrible paradox: the creature speaks with the Creator, yet is concerned only with its own image instead of remaining the image of God.

Our forefather Jacob was not afraid to wrestle with God and received a blessing, but fear and self-absorption shut us off from God. Which path do we choose?