The Authority of Jesus

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Introduction

This morning we will be continuing in Mark chapter 11 where the so-called “experts” are going to question the source of Jesus’ authority

But before we read it, let’s quickly frame this idea of authority within the whole of Mark’s gospel

This theme of authority flows throughout the gospel to the point that the only people who seem to be missing the authority of Jesus are those who should be quickest to recognize it

Authority as a theme is so prevalent in Mark’s gospel that the primary study Bible I use, the Gospel Transformation Bible, actually uses “authority” as the way they organize the outline of the whole book

Chapters 1-8 are the demonstration of Jesus’ authority

Chapters 9-16 are the testing and affirmation of Jesus’ authority

Mark 1:27 “And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.””

On Jesus healing demon-possessed man

The people recognized Jesus’ authority and it was unlike anything they had ever seen

Mark 2:8-12 “And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!””

On Jesus healing the paralytic

Jesus explicitly claimed this authority was his and it was unlike anything they had ever seen

Mark 3:14-15 “And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.”

Mark 6:7 “And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.”

Not only did Jesus have and demonstrate that he had authority, he also is able to grant authority to his followers

He is both recipient of authority from God the Father and the source of authority for his disciples

And yet, this morning, as we come to verses 27 through 33 of Mark chapter 11, the only people who seem to not understand the authority of Jesus are those who should have been first to acknowledge it, the self-proclaimed elites

Scripture Reading

Mark 11:27–33 ESV

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, and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 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.”

Pray

Retell the Story

We are following the Passion Week of Christ, the last days before his arrest and crucifixion

Sunday - the triumphal entry

Mark 11:1 “Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples”

drew near to Jerusalem

Monday - cursing of the fig tree and cleansing of the temple

Mark 11:15 “And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.”

Tuesday - authority of Jesus is challenged

Mark 11:27 “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,”

Each day here of Passion Week marked by noting their proximity to Jerusalem

For Jesus, this was a trip whose destination was not merely Jerusalem, but Golgotha

Not merely a city, but a cross

And we are just two days out now from his arrest

And we see the intensity rising as the elites wrestle with what to do to Jesus

So as he has now done for the third straight day, he goes into Jerusalem

The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders come to him intentionally in a public setting

This was not a couple of people coming individually with questions as we see with, say, another one of the rulers of Israel, Nicodemus - the Pharisee who came alone and at night in John 3

No, this was a plan

They are setting the trap and they want as many witnesses as they can get

They ask him a question - 2 questions really

Mark 11:28 “and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?””

Q1: By what authority?

Q2: Who gave him this authority?

First, what did they mean by “these things”?

What are “these things” to which they are referring?

Well, the nearest and most clear is what came immediately before in the chapter

As Mike pointed us to last week, the temple was fruitless

Instead of being, as God intended, the place where he met with his people

It had become a marketplace driven by oppression, usury and profiteering

And the ones who profited? This very group who was now questioning Jesus

Jesus responds to their question with a counter-question, to their two questions by telling them he will ask one question

Mark 11:29-30 “Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.””

“Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?”

He gives them an either/or question

Either John was sent by God or he wasn’t

If he was, his message should be heard

If he wasn’t, then his message was meaningless

So the great brain-trust of chief priests, scribes, and elders huddle up

Mark 11:31-32 “And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet.”

Option 1: John was from heaven

Implications: Well, then, why did you not believe him?

They saw it themselves - they knew that was the obvious response if they said he was from heaven

If John was from heaven, then his words should be held with the esteem of those from Moses and Elijah… and the great prophets of old

So that option is right out

Option 2: John was from man

Well, the people all held that John was a prophet and they esteemed him as such, even if the religious leaders despised him

Luke gets even more vivid here in recounting this event

Luke 20:6 “But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.””

So that option is right out

So this great brain-trust, asked an either/or question, chose option C, none of the above

And let’s be clear here - they didn’t take the intellectually honest option of “We don’t want to answer that question”

Mark 11:33 “So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.””

So Jesus declines to answer either of their questions

Mark 11:33 “And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.””

Transition

Having stepped through this account, there are 2 areas I would like to investigate here

John’s baptism - why did Jesus use this as his question?

The authority of Jesus

John’s Baptism

Ok, so I think a fair question here is: Why is the nature of John’s baptism Jesus’ go-to in this spot?

How is the nature of John’s baptism relevant to this point in the narrative?

Let’s look back earlier in Mark

Mark 1:4-8 “John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.””

John pointed to Jesus

John’s ministry was a ministry of pointing people somewhere else - to someone else - to Jesus

“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie”

John the Apostle gets even more descriptive

John 1:29-31 “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.””

John’s baptism of repentance was free

Remember our spot in the narrative here - Jesus had just overturned the tables in the temple, upset at the abuse of the people when they came to worship

There was money to be made in the religiosity

As Mike so helpfully noted last week, there was the selling of animals of sacrifices, currency exchange tables, and more

There was an entire ecosystem that made money on the religious practices - hotels that were kept full as people made pilgrimage to Jerusalem, restaurants that were full

There is a reason cities like hosting conferences - they bring in money not just to a convention center, but hotels and restaurants and bars

And there is a way for the city to benefit on all of that!

Religion is big business and these religious leaders were making a profit on all of it

But John’s baptism?

He was out by the Jordan, out in the country

People went out to him, confessed their sins, and were baptized!

I love this statement from the NIV Application Commentary

“It was free; no sacrifice was required except that of a repentant heart.”

What as a stark contrast to all the costs and inhibitions of the temple that was just cleansed

John’s baptism upset the “religion as big business” ecosystem which profited these religious leaders

In asking about John’s baptism, Jesus shows it as the counter-point of the immediately preceding events in the cleansing of the temple

The repentance that John preached was made possible by the forthcoming death and resurrection of Jesus

The repentance that John preached could only be attained by a once-for-all sacrifice

And it was now, in the life of Jesus, imminent

He was two days away from his arrest, three from his death… and five from his resurrection!

The Authority of Jesus

Let’s go back to the huddle of this religious brain trust one more time

This is a great of experts

Chief priests was a group of people who had served as high priest - like an honorific after being high priest

Scribes kept the history, studied the text, knew the Holy Scriptures

Elders were the leaders of the tribes of Israel

So as I went through this text a few times yesterday, one thing stuck out at me

At no point do they ever try to determine what they thought was the actual answer to the question!

They had no interest in truth!

Their only concern is the political implications of their choices!

What would it mean if they answer option 1 that John’s baptism was from heaven?

What would it mean if they answer option 2 that John’s baptism was from man?

No concern in truth, just in the implications of the options

This feels so relevant in our current world

Concern is rarely over truth

Truth isn’t what matters, but how “truth” (whatever that is determined to be in the moment) is positioned

From phrases such as “my truth” - as if truth was that subjective that all of could have disparate experiences and declarations and they be equally valid

To “you do you” - as if morality was so subjective that all options are equally valid so long as they conform to my self-assessment

Jesus had authority - whether this brain trust wanted to acknowledge it or not

First, Jesus’ authority is true

As Mark has been arguing throughout, everyone saw Jesus’ authority

It’s just this group of people did did not want to acknowledge it!

His authority is not dependent upon how it is positioned - it is true

Connections class - authority of Scripture this morning

Paul Martin teaching through Hebrews in Discipleship Class

Heb 1:1-2 “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

If Jesus has authority - If the Scriptures have authority

then they have it whether it is convenient or not

then they have it whether I like it or not

then they have it whether the world around us likes it or not (and spoiler alert: the world doesn’t!)

But Jesus does have authority

His word - the Bible - does have authority

Second, Jesus authority is relational

Question he was asked: By whose authority? Where did your authority come from?

Jesus actually did answer that question in his high priestly prayer in John 17

John 17:1-5 “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.”

Authority of Jesus is relational

They asked a question: Where did your authority come from?

He answered the question: The authority of the Son came from the Father

The authority to give eternal life

The authority to conquer sin and death

A true authority - the authority that John in his baptism had been pointing to

An an authority to call each of us to himself

Let us be people under authority who stop and acknowledge that the authority of Jesus is:

True

It is real

It is relational from the Father

And it is that authority which has redeems us and rescues us and holds us as his very own

Pray