What the Bible says about Exceeding Authority
(From Forerunner Commentary)
Even our Lord and Master Jesus Christ would not go beyond the area of His authority that God had specifically given Him. He was supposed to live His life a certain way, as a man like us, to preach the gospel and found the church, and then to give his life in sacrifice as our Redeemer. But within all these responsibilities, within his sphere of influence, he had not been given at that time the responsibility or the authority to be a judge or an arbitrator in matters such as these.
Therefore, He refused to go beyond the powers and the authority that He had been given.
Had He done this, He would have taken someone else's job. He would have been meddling in the affairs of, say, a justice of the peace, an elder at the gate, or some other person who had been legally entrusted with the job to arbitrate or judge matters such as inheritances. Jesus had no purpose, no right, to put his finger in that pie because God had not given Him that as part of His sphere of influence.
We are told in other places that He has been given the responsibility and authority to be Judge of all. We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. But when did that appointment take place? It occurred once He was received up into heaven. It began at that point, legally, because He had qualified to be our Judge. That, however, was after the scene in Luke 12, and it will come into its fullness in the judgment. He is judging us right now; judgment is now on the house of God (I Peter 4:17). But in Luke 12, He had not been given the responsibility to judge. So if He had stepped outside of His given responsibility and authority, He would have been guilty of sin, taking another's responsibility, meddling.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
What's So Bad About Busybodies?
It is apparent that there are things to be judged and things not to be judged. We must judge, but we are permitted to carry that judgment only so far. If the judgment is carried farther than God permits, we have gone beyond the bounds of our authority and intruded into someone else's—likely God's.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Judging Our BrothersRelated Topics: Authority, Exceeding | Exceeding Authority | Judging | Judging our Brethren | Presumptuous | Presumptuousness