Mark 11:27-33 Knowing It All and Knowing Nothing At All.
Jesus and his disciples 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.”
Not everyone is a doctor, but far too many think they are. They get on the Internet and research their symptoms and undoubtedly find the worst possible case scenario. Recently, I heard that over 50% of patients do not take their medicine as prescribed. We think we know better but the superbugs know it even better.
Not everyone is the Pope, but almost everyone thinks they are, especially when it comes to marriage and family. I find it uninspiring, to say the least, how some Catholics consider themselves “infallible” as they speak ex cathedra or ex-married, or ex-remarried or extra marital or whatever. I know the Pope is only infallible in matters of faith and morals. But it seems like everyone else is infallible in all matters, especially marriage. And we listen to them, even though one-out-of-every-two marriages end in divorce.
Not everyone has a PhD, but almost everyone thinks they deserve one. I find it amusing, to say the least, when someone argues with me and their arguments fall short on logic, common sense, and facts. Do we think we can just blurt out anything? Unfortunately, yes. I have had the displeasure to met people who “knew more” about the Crusades than the Crusaders; who knew more about Galileo’s case than the Church and Galileo himself. I have even met some people who truly think they know the Scriptures better than their sacred authors. But ask them what such-and-such verse meant in its historical context and they are at a loss. Unlike the sacred writers, they can quote a bible verse in an instant. But ask them to quote the verse prior to or after it, they seem to be at a loss not only because they don’t know it but because it refutes what they just said!
A professor once told me, “My students speak as if they all have a PhD.” He could say that because he had a PhD; and while someone who has earned a PhD is generally open to learn a thing or two from those who don't; he found it particularly alarming how those who don't apparently have nothing to learn from those who do.
The Lord did not come into the world to share his opinion or feelings or experiences with others. He came into the world to be a light shining in the darkness. The Lord is color blind. He is not red (a Communist), or green (an Environmentalist), or black (a pessimist), or white (an optimist). He is Light. He is the light that shines in the darkness of our souls. His authority comes not from our approval but from the approval of His Father.
By what authority are you doing these things? Some people know more than others; some people think they know more than others. But how dare any of us try to change, manipulate, distort or twist Christ’s authority or creation around our middle finger? By what authority are we doing these things? By our own? Because we can? That's probably the only intelligent response I have ever heard. But to that I say, watch out! For just as a lie comes back to haunt us, so will any attempt to redefine God's creation come back to strike us.
How can anyone say, “Times have changed” and say it seriously? Isn’t that obvious? So why say something so obvious? Is it to claim something totally false; that is, that “God has changed”, or something more ambiguous; that is, that “man has changed”.
How can anyone say, “Times have changed” and say it seriously? Isn’t that obvious? So why say something so obvious? Is it to claim something totally false; that is, that “God has changed”, or something more ambiguous; that is, that “man has changed”.
Yes, times change but does man really change? Are we not made, as our ancestors, of flesh and bones, and souls filled with grace or sin? Are we not as flexible or as stubborn as our ancestors? Like centuries ago, some people live to be 100; others for only one day. And yet, we all seem to speak and act as if we have lived for centuries! In fact, we live and speak as if we were God himself! Some things never change.
But the question is: Can we change? Can our world change? And change for good?
But the question is: Can we change? Can our world change? And change for good?
The Pharisees, the scribes and the elders asked the Lord, “By what authority are you doing these things?” Their suspense was killing them, but ended up killing Him.
Is the Lord of human origin? If we say, “We do not know”, then nothing will ever really change for good. If we say, “Yes”, then everything changes. And changes for good.
The Know-It-All syndrome seems to affect just about all of us at one point or another, even the Religious. I think of it as a warped "survival of the fittest " mentality. It's our human nature to outwit and outsmart the other person. So we throw out the know-it-all tactic to appear better than we really are. Some people are more gullible to the Know-It-All. Others can smell the K-I-A horse manure from miles away. Habitually ignorant Know-It-Alls are so frustrating to deal with. I've come across quite a few of these people. They won't ever listen to the Truth. They are so set in their own opinions. All I can do is pray for them and hope they will eventually "get it".
ReplyDeleteI think one of the causes for the erosion of education in America today is people thinking they know-it-all! Even our congressman have defunded education in Texas thinking its not necessary. (Oil and transportation is more important. Big Business!) Our government is laying off teachers and closing schools because they know-it-all. I sometimes wonder if the access to copious amounts of information on the Internet has helped fuel this Know-It-All craziness. People think they can become a scholar in just about any subject based on what they read from the internet. (I've learned to take a lot of the stuff posted on the Internet with a grain of salt. Never know what's true or false.) I think of all the people who self-diagnose their medical conditions from websites instead of a licensed doctor. How many of those folks call up their doctor to get a prescription for a drug advertised on tv to help cure what they have self diagnosed? (More $ for the drug companies. Big Business!) Concerns me a great deal that more people want to be know-it-alls than learn-it alls! Our Lord had to be frustrated by the Pharisees always asking him questions and debating with him but refusing to understand or accept Him. We may have changed into a more modernized and technically advanced world compared to biblical times, but men are still the same with their human faults and weaknesses.
-Jennifer