Rightful authority comes from the Lord.


Wednesday, 11/13/13

In the first reading when God’s prophet was scolding the princes for their misuse of authority, we should note that God was not taking authority from them. No, he told them, authority was, “given you by the Lord.”

In Chapter Two of Genesis God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” By those words he declared us to be social creatures who must live in a harmony, and that is unattainable if there is no one wielding authority.

Paul, in the two opening verses of Chapter Thirteen of Romans, said, “Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God. Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed.”

We do not humiliate ourselves when we obey a rude cop, or when we follow  politicians, because we are not obeying them, we are only nodding to the authority of God which backs up those so-called superiors.

That lesson comes across in one simple phrase from Chapter Six of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians where he said, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord.” In submitting to any authority we are really paying respect to the Lord.

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