Read Matthew 21:23-32 with your family.

Jesus did not come to start a new religion, he came to fix the problems in the Hebrew tradition that he loved and had been raised in. He was very frustrated with the priests in the Temple because they were teaching rules about how to dress and eat, but they weren’t teaching the people how to love each other.

Jesus wanted them to change. He wanted them to listen to what he was trying to teach them, but they refused to hear anything.

Instead, the priests in the Temple got very angry with Jesus and eventually helped to get him killed. This story is part of a larger story we call Holy Week, that ends in Jesus being killed on Good (God’s) Friday and rising from the dead on Easter Sunday.

The priest asked Jesus who gave him authority because the priest wanted power to stop Jesus teaching about God. Unfortunately for the priest, Jesus was very smart and he challenged the priest instead. The priest didn’t want to answer because he knew any answer he gave would anger the people.

Jesus wasn’t concerned about angering people, he was only interested in showing how much God loves and accepts everyone, and how the Temple priests had forgotten about God’s love.