Monday

Having experienced the major movements of the week, we come back to spend some time with Jesus as he does his final teaching and as he finishes the work the Father gave him to do.

If you knew you were going to die at the end of the week, how would you spend your time?

Every day he was teaching in the temple.  The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; ⁴⁸ but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.             –Luke 19:47-48 (NRSV)

One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and telling the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders ² and said to him, "Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?" ³ He answered them, "I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: ⁴ Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?" ⁵ They discussed it with one another, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why did you not believe him?' ⁶ But if we say, 'Of human origin,' all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet." ⁷ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ Then Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."            
            –Luke 20:1-8 (NRSV)

Who are the ‘authorities’ in your life?  Who do you listen to? 

Whose opinion carries weight in your life?

Why do you give them authority...because of a title...the opinion of others...or maybe from direct experience?

For the crowds Jesus had “street cred.”  In other words, his walk and his talk matched; they had congruence...he practiced what he preached.

Many people nowadays have a hard time listening to “Christians” because their talk and their walk don’t have congruence.

“Walking the talk” doesn’t have to be flashy...it just has to have integrity.  People aren’t expecting us to be perfect...just honest (graciously honest :o) --P/T