Today, the Gospel invites us to contemplate two aspects of Jesus’ personality: His shrewdness and His authority. Let us first consider His shrewdness. He knows the human heart intimately; He knows the interior of every person who approaches Him. So when the chief priests and the elders of the people come to Him and maliciously ask, “By what authority are you doing these things?” (Mt 21:23), Jesus — who knows their falseness — answers them with another question: “Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?” (Mt 21:25).

They do not know how to answer Him. If they say it was from God, they condemn themselves for not having believed John; if they say it was from men, they place themselves against the people, who regarded John as a prophet. They are trapped in a dead end. With a single question, Jesus shrewdly exposes their hypocrisy; He reveals the truth. And the truth is always uncomfortable — it makes you tremble.

We, too, are called to have the shrewdness of Jesus, in order to shake falsehood at its foundations. So often the children of darkness use all their cleverness to gain more money, more power, more prestige; while the children of light seem to let their shrewdness and imagination fall asleep. Just as worldly people use their creativity to advance their interests, Christians must employ their talents in the service of God and the Gospel. For example: when someone speaks poorly of the Church (which happens often), with what shrewdness do we respond to their negative criticism? Or in the workplace, when dealing with a colleague who lives only for himself and “couldn’t care less” about others — with what shrewdness will we return good for evil? If we love him as Jesus does, our very presence will be quite “uncomfortable” for him.

Jesus exercised His authority through His profound understanding of people and situations. We, too, are called to possess this kind of authority. It is a gift that comes from above. The more we practice putting things in their proper place — the small things of daily life — the better we will be able to guide people and situations, thanks to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.