Posted by The WORD in other words (2010) by Fr Nielo Cantilado SVD – Catholic Trade Manila
Monday 3rd Week of Advent
The question of Jesus’ authority was at the center of the debate between him and his detractors. In today’s Gospel, his detractors came to the temple to inquire under whose authority he has been doing what he was doing. They compelled Jesus to produce his credentials. They were dying to know who the power behind Jesus’ authority is — his source of authority. Their intention was malicious; they laid a trap before him.
Of course Jesus was willing to give them what they came to ask for – but not yet. He promised them an answer only if they are able to answer his own question first. He asked them to first state publicly whether John’s baptism was from God or purely from man. They were posed with a dilemma; they need first to confer with each. If they declare “from God”, they admit their lack of spiritual insight in not taking up John’s call for repentance. If they admit “it is from man,” then they have to take the risk to face the anger of people who regarded John as a prophet. Anyway, like any typical “sigurista” his detractors agreed to assume a passive, uninvolved, uncommitted and safe mode and stated “we don’t know”. Their answer prompted Jesus to say, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
In the book “Educational Administration” Fred C. Lunenberg and Allan C. Ornstein, to explain the concept and nature of leadership, enumerated what they called the different sources of leadership influence namely: (1) Legitimate Power (i.e., vested in the leader’s position, or role, in the organizational hierarchy); (2) Reward Power (i.e., by virtue of his ability to reward the subordinates; (3) Coercive Power (leader’s ability to control and administer punishment to subordinates for noncompliance with the leader’s directives); (4) Expert Power (i.e., based on the special ability an/or knowledge – e.g., education, training and experience – that the leader has and is needed by the group); and (5) Referent Power (i.e., the ability of the leaders to develop followers from the strength of their own personalities. Or it is something that may emanate from a person’s reference or association with another powerful individual in the organizational hierarchy.)
We know for sure that both John and Jesus’ authority come from God. And both have the charisma and the ability to draw crowd of followers to them courtesy of the strength of their personality. But Jesus knew fully well that it was premature to go head on disclosing his full authority as it was not the time yet. Hence, he played it cool by deciding not to engage unnecessarily with the agitations of his opponents. He withheld declaring publicly his identity for his time is not yet. He had other things to accomplish in sequence before the final conflict. But once the green light was up he never hesitated headlong to make sure he accomplished everything the Father sent him to fulfill for the whole of mankind.
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