Authority Challanged
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Prayer
27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Often the best learning come from questions we have to answer for ourselves. I want to lead us through this passage in a way that causes us to reflect on where we came from, and where we are.
Exegesis:
Jesus confronted by the leaders - those in authority. Chief priests, scribes and elders. That represented authority over the peoples relationship with God, authority over truth and knowledge, and authority over civil matters. It would be like the president, the supreme court justices and the Speaker of the House and Leader of the Senate confronting someone driving out corruption in Washington DC. These represent the three branches of authority in the US.
Likewise, the priests, scribes and elders represented the three branches of authority in Jesus’ day. And these three branches were unified in confronting and stoping Jesus.
This is followup from Jesus cleansing the temple. Driving out those profiteering and controlling others access to God. But this was not the first time the happened.
John records what seems to be a previous time Jesus drove out the corrupt practices in the temple.
13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
We are not 100% certain this is a separate event. It comes early in John, ,but John in ordered to construct al logical argument about who Jesus is rather than in order of chronology. But John does give differing details that do indicate this was a separate event. Most scholars place this at the first passover of Jesus’ ministry while the events in Mark 11 are clearly at the last passover of His ministry.
So as we look at this first event, there is one detail I want to highlight.
18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
Here John records the the Jewish leaders sought a stamp of authenticity in the form of signs. Jesus could, and would show many signs throughout His ministry, But here He points to what He would later call the sign of Jonah. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
The temple was given by God, designed by God, and it use directed by God to be the intermediary between His people and Himself. Jesus draws those Jewish leaders, His disciples, and us to the understanding that the temple was a foreshadow of Jesus Himself. Jesus begins and ends His ministry pointing to the incompleteness of mans best attempts to live WITH God but WITHOUT the needed consolation between us and the Living God.
[Back to Mark]
While the Jewish leaders at the first temple cleansing sought a sign, the leaders at the second temple cleaning sought what authority Jesus had.
As Jesus drove out the corruption, the sin, and the brokenness from His temple, the leaders of the Jews united to confront Jesus. They confronted Him to challenge His authority, to seek to undermine Him. They challenged Him as an adversary, seeking to find Jesus’ flaws.
But the reality was their confrontation with Jesus had everything to do with their own sin, not the shortcomings of Jesus teachings.
[Transition to application questions]
With this background, I want to transition to a series of questions to help us see our need to continue cleaning the temple of our lives.
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
What brought you to Jesus?
What brought you to Jesus?
What brought you to confront Jesus, before you were saved?
What ‘money changers’ in your heart were you trying to negotiate with God?
What was the confrontation when you had to deicide who was in charge of your life?
Paul brings up His “I once was lost” story from time to time to so that He could communicate to others the “But now I’m found” power in his life!
There is value in witnessing. There is value in developing a grateful and joyful heart . There’s value in worshiping Jesus!
What motivates your questions?
What motivates your questions?
The Jewish leaders Jesus addressed came to Him with questions. The motivation of their questions were to trap, trial, and terminate Jesus.
Their confrontation with Jesus was caused by their sin. Their questions were motivated by rebelion.
In our confrontations with Jesus - before we are saved or after - He brings clarity between His perfect righteousness and our brokenness, rebelion, sin.
Our motivation through that interaction makes the difference.
Are we motivated by self defense, self preservation, self gratification?
If so, Just like the Jewish leaders, Jesus will be our adversary.
If we are motivated by humility, by desire to see more of Jesus and less of ‘me’.
Then that motivation will draw us to our Lord.
It happens a hundred times a day. Every opportunity to choose our flesh, or choose God’s goodness. Every temptation to point to ourselves instead of point to the Lord.
300 Illustrations for Preachers Olympic Runner Lets Competitor Win
Spanish runner Iván Fernández Anaya was running in second place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2012 London Olympics. As the runners came toward the finish, he was trailing the leader, Abel Mutai from Kenya, by a distance too great to overcome. Mutai would get the gold and Anaya would settle for silver.
Then Mutai made a big mistake. Thinking he had crossed the finish line, the Kenyan pulled up 10 meters short. Anaya quickly caught up and that is when his integrity kicked in. Instead of exploiting Mutai’s mistake by passing him and claiming victory, he stayed behind, using gestures to guide Mutai to the finish so he could cross first.
“He was the rightful winner,” Fernández Anaya said. “He created a gap that I couldn’t have closed if he hadn’t made a mistake. As soon as I saw he was stopping, I knew I wasn’t going to pass him.”
It is better to be proud of a silver medal honestly attained than wear a gold medal that rightfully belonged to another.
—Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell
When we choose a motivation of self over serving and imitating Jesus, we reach for a prize we haven’t earned, and can’t hold on to.
The Jewish leaders were holding on to authority that was not theirs, and which they could not keep. Rather than honoring the rightful owner, then mocked Him. May we honor Jesus in our motivations and choices.
Is Jesus’ authority enough?
Is Jesus’ authority enough?
For Jesus, He did not need to express His authority for it to be really there. His authority stood without qualifications. “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
There are two reasons for this.
First, the ones who came to Him, were opposed to Him, and who’s motives were for His destruction wouldn’t recognize His authority regardless of what Jesus did. Jesus still interacted with them, still pointed them to the truth, still weeped over them
Luke 19:41-44 “41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.””
For those opposed, Jesus’ authority is never enough. Unless the Spirit of God wakens their dead hearts and they choose for themselves a new master, it wont matter what signs or answers come to them.
But for those who come with motivation to be transformed by Jesus, and into Jesus’ image, His authority is self-evident. See the reason the Jewish leaders could not say Johns authority was from man - “they held John to be a prophet”. And based on how they treated Jesus a few days before, and how they had followed Him in massive crowds, they clearly regarded Jesus to have the authority of at least a prophet, if not the Messiah.
I want to apply this last question: Is Jesus’ authority enough? to us in two ways.
The first for ourselves. Do I find myself in a spiritual eddy? With the words of Jesus being counteracted and balanced with the priorities of the world? Spinning and making no growth in spiritual maturity? If we find ourselves there - Is Jesus’ authority enough?
Notes
First impressions:
The tension was set before He arrived that day
The chief priests and scribes approached Him in a sizable group to confront Him
They question Him about authority — they think He is without, but He has ultimate authority
Jesus is not moved from His path by their confrontation. He does not display His authority or become angry at their question. His day is Passover, not today.
Jesus’ answer is to leave the question. What can an unanswered question teach us? What unanswered questions do I/you/we have in our lives?