It is important to understand how good, proper authority functions. In the passage before us today, the religious leaders directly challenge Jesus’ authority. What right does he have to come into the temple and do the things he is doing? In response to this, in the second part of the passage, Jesus tells a parable that warns against the danger of rejecting his authority. And in both parts of the passage Jesus presents himself as one who has both lawful and loving authority. Let’s look at the passage together under those two headings of Jesus’ lawful and loving authority.