Breaking the Word

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.' "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined." (Mt 7:21-27)

In this passage the author continues his attack on the false prophets (Mt 7:15-20). The false prophets will be known by their actions (fruits). Here the attack is broadened to include the disciples who also perform works of miracles in the name of Jesus but their lives show that they are evil. Calling on the name of God will also not bear fruit. Even though, Jesus has told the disciples that whatever they ask in his name will receive the favour.

Kingdom does not function as the people expect. In the kingdom calling on the name is not important (though it will be done). Mighty acts and miracles are not guarantee for entrance into the kingdom. Entrance into the kingdom is only for those who do the will of the Father.  Discernment of the will of God acting accordingly will be the sign of God’s acceptance. Interestingly even the miracle workers are called evil ones and asked to depart from him.

Listening to the word of Jesus and acting accordingly is considered wise. Listening to the word of God is not only for the disciples but for every follower of Jesus. Word of God should b the foundation for the life of the followers. Where shall we go you have the words of eternal life should be the response of the listeners.

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."  (Mk 11:27-33)

Jesus’ preaching and ministry was always questioned. Those who questioned him were mostly the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. These were the people who were exercising power and authority. The simple and ordinary people just followed Jesus and never questioned him on his authority.

Authority could come from either God (divine) or from men (human). Those who questioned Jesus always concerned about it and they thought that it was not from God. When he chased the demons they thought that the power was from the head of the demons. They thought that he was doing some magic or so. But they were worried if it was from God.

Authority which Jesus exercised was from God. This was what the people believed. The people saw the miracles which Jesus worked for them and they also heard the teaching and preaching. People were convinced that the authority was from God. The people who were exercising authority (scribes and Pharisees etc) considered Jesus’ authority as a challenge.