That Time Jesus Didn't "Stand Up For What's Right"

Image from VeggieTales "Rack, Shack, & Benny," before they are thrown into the furnace. Image source.

[content note: mention of gun violence and martyrs]

So we've come to a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry interrrrrrrrrrrrrresting passage here. Matthew 21:23-27.

23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

So basically, the chief priests asked Jesus a question he didn't want to answer, and he avoided answering it, by asking them a question they didn't want to answer either.

I've been in bible studies before where people were puzzled over why Jesus wouldn't want to answer. We decided that if Jesus had just straight-up told them he's the son of God or whatever, it would have been dangerous for him, or would have messed up his plans. Maybe the religious leaders would have tried to kill him earlier. Maybe he wanted his followers to learn more about him and come to their own conclusions, instead of telling them what to think.

And that's all well and good, those are fine reasons, in my opinion. I don't have any issue with Jesus refusing to answer questions.

But here's the thing: This explanation is totally at odds with Christian folk tales about martyrs and "standing up for what's right."

Anybody who grew up in white American evangelical culture has heard the urban legend about a school shooting where the shooter asks people "do you believe in God?" or "are you a Christian?" and the understanding is that if the victim says "yes," they will be killed. And the victim is a hero and a martyr for saying "yes"- they did the right thing, they "stood up for Jesus" even though it was dangerous. And the message is: Would YOU be brave enough to say "yes" and get yourself killed?

There are lots of stories about martyrs that work just like this. The bad guy asks the Christian to say something, and if the Christian gives a direct honest answer about their Christian beliefs, they know they could be killed. (Sometimes God intervenes and saves them- as in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.) The Christian is held up as a role model for us to follow because they gave a direct, honest answer. Because they didn't consider the risk when they answered.

The sermons ask us to consider what we would do in that situation. Would we "stand up for God" and give a naive, honest answer that completely ignores the risk? Or would we "deny Christ" and say something a bit less straightforward or even a bit dishonest, in order to save ourselves?

Back then, we read these bible verses:

Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
Matthew 10:32-33

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
Romans 1:16

And we beat ourselves up over our failure to mention Jesus in conversation with our friends. Someone asked me what I'm doing tonight, and I said "homework" when in reality I'm going to a worship night, it's because I didn't want to explain what a "worship night" is, ohhhh I am "ashamed of the gospel." And so on.

So the message was this: If somebody asks you a question where the answer is something about you being a Christian, you need to give a straightforward, honest answer. Even if there is danger of violence. Even if you don't really feel like talking about religion right then. It is wrong to consider the situation you're in and adjust your response accordingly. If you don't give a direct answer, that means you are "denying Jesus" and "ashamed of the gospel" and you are a bad Christian.

And yet, here in Matthew 21 we have the chief priests asking Jesus, "By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?" Surely the honest answer here is "I am the Son of God, I have the authority to do this." But that's not what Jesus says.

Is Jesus "denying God"? Is Jesus "ashamed of the gospel"? No, he's just considering the situation that he's in, his goals, and how it's not really a good time to announce publicly that he's the son of God. Which, as I said, I agree Jesus is being reasonable here and it's fine for him not to answer, but THAT'S NOT WHAT WE LEARNED IN CHURCH about martyrs and persecution. We learned you HAVE TO ANSWER, and you have to answer in the most honest and straightforward way. We learned that we have to "stand up for what's right" and trust that God would protect us. Look the bad guy in the eye and say, "But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

Jesus doesn't "stand up for God" here. He doesn't want to answer the question, so he uses the chief priests' embarrassment over their opinion of John the Baptist to weasel out of it. That's clever, and it required him to have an awareness of the situation, his goals, the chief priests' feelings and motives, and rules for polite social interaction. Yes, we learned in church that, when prompted with a religion-related question in a possibly-dangerous situation, you should always blurt out your deepest core beliefs about God, without a second thought- but reality is not like that at all.

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Related:
Christians and Tests
OF COURSE Martyrs Don't Work That Way
Perfect Number Watches VeggieTales "Rack, Shack, & Benny"

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This post is part of a series on the gospel of Matthew. 

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