Authority of Christ

Intro

Last week we looked at Jesus’ Triumphant entry as the King entering peacefully into Jerusalem, but no one can simply claim to be a King

As a king you need to have the authority to implement what you want, and it gives you credibility in your duties

Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. Captain Frank was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities.

Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow." "Is it steady or moving astern?" the captain called out. The lookout replied, "Steady, Captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship. The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: 'We are on a collision course, advise you change course twenty degrees.'" Back came the signal, "Advisable for you to change course twenty degrees." The captain said, "Send: "I'm a captain, change course twenty degrees.'" "I'm a seaman second-class," came the reply. "You had better change course twenty degrees." By that time the captain was furious. He spat out, "Send: 'I'm a battleship. Change course twenty degrees.'" Back came the flashing light, "I'm a lighthouse." We changed course.

In our current society, Authority is viewed in a rather negative light, a tool that people use to oppress and marginalize others

By now I think we have all become accustomed to the term, ‘post-modernism’. It is a very broad system, but there are a few key tenants that define it for us

Tim Challies says this (all the way back in 2005 I might add!) “ One of the basic tenets of the postmodern mindset is a removal of absolute standards, even when it comes to the meaning of words.”

“Postmoderns try to be moral people. They want us to know that eating veal is baby-killing. They also want us to know that it is immoral for us to legislate about what a woman can or cannot do with her own body. Many feel that it is against their moral standards for the United States to go to war against Iraq and Afghanistan. In all these things they make moral judgments.

But what is the standard of postmodern morality? On what basis do these people make moral decisions and judgments? The obvious answer is that postmoderns demand to have personal moral autonomy. They want to describe morality the way they understand it, using their minds, emotions and experiences as the foundation. They want to be morally autonomous.

Implicit (and often explicit) in such a stance is a rejection of moral authority. Moral authority is quickly falling out of favor. After all, if postmodernism is built on relativism and narcissism, such a mindset can hardly agree to allow another person or standard to trump personal freedoms.

Yet, for us we know that our authority is under Jesus, and the teachings of Scripture, which sets the course of our entire life

It is interesting that when we look at society, it would seem that the churches that would be exploding are the churches that are moving to be more inclusive and theologically progressive

Yet it is the opposite, when churches remain steadfast to the message that we have been given from the Bible, it allows God to work for his kingdom and his authority!

That’s the biggest thing, when we accept God’s authority, on God’s terms, it brings us the blessing of having a good relationship with God

Yet, we see here in this story what happens when you refuse to accept God’s authority, it leads to your ultimate downfall and destruction

The Q&A (v.1-8)

Jesus is teaching in the synagogue after he had cleaned it out of the filthy corruption that had defiled it

So what is Jesus doing?

He is preaching the gospel, the good news

What is the good news?

Exalting Jesus in Luke You Cannot Question His Authority (Luke 20:1–8)

You can summarize this good news in four sentences:

• The only true, living, and holy God made all of mankind in his image and likeness so that all people could know him and enjoy him forever.

• People have broken their relationship with God through sin and now deserve God’s righteous condemnation in hell.

• To rescue mankind from his condemnation and to bring us back to his love and acceptance forever, God made up for our sin by sending his Son Jesus to suffer condemnation in our place on the cross and to defeat death in the resurrection.

• To receive that new life and to be brought back to God in righteousness, God requires all people everywhere to confess their sin, turn away from it, and follow Jesus as their Savior and God.

That’s the good news. That’s what Jesus was proclaiming on that day. That’s what we’re preaching today. And we want you to believe, to put your trust in Jesus, and to rely on him to rescue you from hell.

And who walks in but the Pharisees, Elders, and Chief priest and they want to know by what Authority is Jesus doing these things!

This all goes back to the end of Luke 19 in which he cleansed the temple

Luke Religious Leaders Challenge Jesus’ Authority / 20:1–8 / 189

Sanhedrin had met after the clearing of the temple, enraged by Jesus actions, but unable to decide how to handle him. They then sent this representative group to question Jesus regarding his actions, hoping he would say something treasonous or blasphemous. They demanded to know by what authority he had thrown out the merchants from the temple and who had given him that authority. The innuendo is that Jesus had not been authorized by them (the religious leaders of Jerusalem) and therefore was perceived to be a rebel.

You see, if Jesus claimed to acted on God’s authority, he would be accused of blasphemy and killed

If he answered his own authority, they could simply dismiss him as a fanatic and fringe crazy rabbi teacher

So in reality we have a showdown of authority, who has more authority?

Jesus was sent by God, and is God

The Sanhedrin, Pharisees and Priests had authority from a few possibilities

The priest was based in the purity of their birthrights

The Scribes in their education

They of course had all good connections in their families of high status, and lived close to the Jerusalem temple

Jesus asks a question back

Was John the Baptist’s baptism from heaven or human origin?

This caused the religious leaders to debate among themselves

They really knew the answer as you can tell the way they answered among themselves

The were thrust on the horns of a dilemma

They would be condemned by Jesus if they said John’s baptism came from heaven

It would also validate Jesus’ own ministry, as John had called Jesus the Messiah

They will be condemned by the crowds if they said human origin

You see at this point John had been dead for a few years, so he had become a bit of a martyr, and how the lay people viewed him was as high as ever!

So they answered the only way they could: no answer

Ultimately, if they could not differentiate between a prophet of God and a mere man, are they even fit to be the leaders and protectors of the Jewish people!?

Therefore Jesus said, well then, I will not answer your question on my authority of my actions!

Jesus understood an important aspect of human psychology

When you engage in someone in discussions of things as important and deep as faith you need to know the motivations of people

There are two camps, and these have been elevated and pushed to the extremes with the public square of social media

Are you interested in learning, or simply interested in arguing?

If a person simply wants to argue, you will never make any purposeful headway

If the person is interested, give good time and energy in those questions and answers

If it’s simply about arguing, don’t give effort to intellectual things that come from a hard heart

In reality, our social media interactions are hardly ever gracious, as they revolve around our rage and making people angry

Not to mention it is easy to spew whatever nonsense you want, and much more time intensive for the truth to be well handled!

Eph. 4:29 “29 No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.”

This includes our actions on social media, emails, in person, on the phone and over text!

The Illustration (v.9-16)

Jesus continues to talk after not answering their questions, and gives an illustration, a parable of what the people of Jerusalem are doing

Jesus tells the story of a man who owned a vineyard and went away on a journey and leased it to tenant farmers

Then when he sent his servants to collect the profits of the tenants, they beat and humiliated the servants

Then when the owner sent his son, they killed him and threw his body out of the vineyard

Jesus is telling a parable set against the Old Testament that his audience, particularly the Pharisees would realize so well: Isaiah 5:1-5

Isaiah 5:1–5 CSB

1 I will sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one’s vineyard: The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones, and planted it with the finest vines. He built a tower in the middle of it and even dug out a winepress there. He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes. 3 So now, residents of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more could I have done for my vineyard than I did? Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes, did it yield worthless grapes? 5 Now I will tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.

So this is not simply a parable, but it is Jesus revealing that he is God, and he is dealing with Israel as he has always done

It is also not just here in Isaiah, but also in the Psalms, Jeremiah, and Hosea

So now we can see that there is a deeper meaning than a hypothetical vineyard and master, this is about God and Israel

It also takes some of the Greco-Roman understanding of how things worked to help people understand the parable

The Gospel of Luke 6.1.2. Jerusalem’s Unfaithful Leadership (20:9-19)

In the world of commerce in Greco-Roman antiquity, a slave often functioned as a virtual stand-in for his master with regard to leased properties; this already points to the identification of slaves with God’s spokespersons, the prophets, in Jesus’ parable. In fact, the term “slave” is often applied to the prophets in Israel’s Scriptures

So by rejecting the servants sent by the master, the prophets, it is denying the Master’s authority and ownership over the vineyard

It is a damning statement for the leaders in Israel, and of the Jewish nation as a whole

The leaders of Israel were rejecting the master of the vineyard, God

Matthew 23:29–31 CSB

29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we wouldn’t have taken part with them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

The tenants of the vineyard are the rebellious religious leaders, and we see their character in this parable as well as the Gospels

Yet, When the master of the vineyard speaks in this story it shows us incredible truth about who God

“What should I do?”

This is not about God being confused or at his wits end

The meaning of the question is “How much more can I do?” or “What greater step should I take?”

This is God continuing to pursue his people, even though they killed the prophets and would soon kill his son

This is the God that came humbly on a colt into the city that he had every right to be king over

So God sends his son, he only begotten, son that he is well pleased in

In fact, the word beloved is the same exact word used at Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-23

Luke 3:21–22 CSB

21 When all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. As he was praying, heaven opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in a physical appearance like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”

Beloved has the idea of dearly loved, a special relationship with God

In the NT this is used of those in the family of God, and it is a preferential love, God loves his family and his bride more than those not in his family

What happens to the son sent by the owner?

He is thrown out and killed outside of the vineyard, and the tenant think they can now claim ownership of the vineyard

Isn’t it interesting that the son in the parable is killed outside the city, just as Jesus would be in a few days?

The tenants misread the room, they thought the owner had died, so that is why his son was coming, not realizing the mercy they were receiving

Yet, they let their greed cloud their judgement, in that day if ownership of land was uncertain, if you had used the land for three years, it would be given to you as ownership if no one else claimed it

They thought they could cover up the killing of the heir as self-defense as an unknown robber that was coming to take the land from them

This was the final straw, instead of accepting the son as a higher authority, the tenants killed the son, and now they have brought the ire of the master upon them

The master is coming to kill the tenants give the field to others

The others that are spoken of here are of the Gentiles being brought into faith into God’s kingdom

The judgement would be the razing of Jerusalem in 70 AD

Yet, we need to note the incredible compassion of the master

In real life, the law would of been on the side of the landowner, and the tenants would be severely dealt with

The owner could of ended it after the first servant, yet he sends multiple servants (prophets), and even sends his son, all to be rejected, they have no excuses left

New Testament (Second Edition) 20:9–18: Judgment on Evil Leaders

Ancient hearers of the *parable would regard the landowner as abnormal; naively benevolent, he counted on a kindness in his tenants that their behavior had already disproved. Rich or poor, all hearers at this point would agree that the landowner was in the right, and that he was benevolent—indeed, strikingly, foolishly benevolent.

In many ways, God’s love does look foolishly benevolent, but that is our God

This is what God says about himself, to Golden Calf worshippers in Exodus 34:6-7

Exodus 34:6–7 CSB

6 The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, 7 maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

God gave them innumerable chances, and even discipline in the form of the Assyrians and Babylonians, yet, they would still kill the son of God, Jesus

The people react to what Jesus say by saying, “This must never happen!”, but they didn’t really believe it

In fact it’s not clear if they are responding to the master destroying the field and giving it to the new tenants or the evil the tenants did

Being so closely related to Isaiah 5, it seems more probable that they saw themselves in the parable and said it must never happen that they are rejected by God

The Unraveling (v.17-19)

Jesus again responds with a quote from Ps. 118:22, which is the Psalm the disciples were praising from when he entered on the donkey

Yet this verse might seem very throw away in the context, yet this stone rejected by stonemasons becomes the most important stone, the capstone or cornerstone

Exalting Jesus in Luke The Point, Again

A cornerstone is used in constructing a building to make sure the foundation is square and level. If the cornerstone is off, the entire building will be off, so this one stone is essential to the entire structure.

The one that falls on it will be broken, but whomever it falls on it will shatter him

The religious leaders then knew it was about them, and they wanted to kill him but he was too popular with the crowds and they feared the crowds

Application

How does this apply to our lives?

First this is about authority of Jesus in our lives

Just as Jesus confronted arrogant religious leaders 2000 years ago he does the same today

He is confront you and me, our arrogance and hypocrisy!

Will you reject Jesus like the religious leaders did?

Or will you accept his authority and live by his commands?

This means having to accept we are sinners, and repent from that, to turn from those ways of living

Our hard hearts and arrogance can stop us from seeing the most powerful thing in the universe, the kingship of Jesus

We must decide how we will be broken

We like to act like we have it all together

If you’ve grown up in the church, I’m sure you can think of times when you had a massive fight with your family, then came to church and acted like nothing happened

Yet we don’t have it all together, we are sinful people that cause brokenness from sin

This parable does show us the nature of sin, the more we engage in it, the worse it becomes

The tenants started with beatings, and ended up as murderers!

One of our primary needs in our lives is to rectify the brokenness we face

For some, they find that when they lose everything and end up in prison, some when they suddenly lose their job or face a health crisis

Yet, it doesn’t have to be an earth-shattering event for you to do that, you can do it at anytime

Jesus tells us that we must lose our lives to find them, or in the verbiage of this passage, we must be broken to find wholeness

Those that cast themselves to Jesus, you will be broken

Broken of arrogance, hard-heartedness, self-centeredness

It is not pleasant, but necessary

Yet then Jesus becomes the very stone we build our lives on

He is the foundation of the church, of the apostles, prophets, elders, deacons, which becomes a holy temple unto God!

Those that don’t can’t themselves to be broken by Jesus willingly, will be crushed by the judgement that you will face at your death

So will you submit yourself to Jesus’ authority?

Will you find wholeness in being broken by him?

Come to him, all you who are heavy laden, by the burden of this world, of your own sins, and anything else and he will give you rest

His burden is easy, his yolk is light, and his foundation able to weather the most harshest of storms!

Benediction

1 Peter 2:4–10 (CSB)

4 As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God—5 you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

6 For it stands in Scripture: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and honored cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.

7 So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected— this one has become the cornerstone, 8 and A stone to stumble over, and a rock to trip over.

They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.