15th Sunday After Pentecost - Year A (Matthew 21:23-32)

Jesus never does directly answer the question about his authority but, by the end of the short parable he tells, it is clear for whom he is speaking.  In announcing who will enter first into the kingdom of God, Jesus clearly speaks for God.  Furthermore, the message Jesus speaks is good news for everyone; tax collectors, prostitutes, chief priests and elders.    Notice that it is not a matter of who is inside and who is outside the scope of God’s reign.  Jesus simply says that, contrary to expectations, it is the tax collectors and prostitutes who have been first to respond in faith to the call to repentance.  The chief priests and elders have not been excluded from the kingdom but they have been replaced as leaders and teachers of God’s people by tax collectors and prostitutes.  We are challenged to be open to the faith of those who seem most unlikely and to listen to the teaching of those whom the world deems unworthy to teach.  It is no wonder then that Jesus refuses to directly answer questions about authority.  In human terms, authority is always about hierarchy. Jesus continues to shatter all of our hierarchies in his announcement of God's reign.