YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME

DAY 63:  YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!  If these mom ears heard it once, they heard it a million times.  Whenever one sibling would try to tell another what to do, out would come the defiant cry.  It was usually followed by something like, "You can't tell me what to do!" or "I don't have to listen to you!"  As often as I heard it though, it was never directed toward me or their dad.  We, in fact, were the boss of them.  They did have to do what we said and refusing to listen would come with dire consequences. Even so, on occasion without actually announcing their defiance, they did sometimes act as if they were not under our authority.  Acting like it, however, did not make is so... and sooner or later they figured that out. 

As a parent my desire is for submission, but as a person, I fully understand their desire to feel freedom from authority.  Like my kids, sometimes I just want to scream out - YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME...   Usually it is when I want to do what I want to do... even when God has a different plan.  It sounds ridiculous to challenge God's authority, but I admit that at times I try.

Thankfully, God uses passages such as the ones in Today's reading to remind me I do have a Boss.  Jesus had entered Jerusalem in the last week of His earthly life.  One of His first priorities was to visit His Father's house. I can only image what a comfort it would be with the cross looming before Him to surround Himself with the earthly reminders of God's glory, grace and presence.  Instead what He found was an invasion of greed and profiteering as religious leaders used God's house to line their pockets by selling "acceptable sacrifices."  Jesus was outraged.  He drove out the moneychangers, turned over the tables used to rob the people, and stopped the trade.  So that there was no misunderstanding Jesus declared in Mark 11:

It is written, My house will be called a house of prayer for the nations. But you have made it into a den of robbers. 

The chief priest and teachers were so outraged by His interference they "began looking for ways to kill him."  Theirs was not just an issue of disobedience.  They blatantly denied Jesus authority over them.  The very next day as Jesus was again at the Temple these men of authority flat out asked, "Who made you the boss of us?"

"By what authority are you doing these things," they asked. "And who gave you authority to do this?"

Because their hearts were hard, Jesus did not waste His time trying to convince them that He came with the authority of Heaven.  They proved time and time again that they were not listening for truth, but for traps, so He bluntly told them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."  Yet for those who would hear and see, His authority was - and is- abundantly clear.  Even in the last days before the cross His authority is clear.  His authority is clear as He controls the timing of the cross, His death on the cross, His resurrection from the tomb.  The only thing that is not clear is who will submit to His authority and who will deny - for now - Jesus' right to call the shots.

One day, the option to deny it will end: Every knee will bow.  Every tongue will confess.  He is the boss.  He is Lord. I don't want to be one who stamps my feet and demands that Jesus explain himself every time I am called to do something that turns the tables in my life.  I want to say, "You're the boss!"  More than that, He is the Lord, who loves and cares and graciously spares me from myself when I need it most.

Like my kids, I have the choice to ignore His authority (at my own peril), but I cannot deny it.  JESUS IS THE BOSS - what a relief!