A Question of Authority Mark 11:27-12:12

For centuries people believed that Aristotle was right when he said that the heavier an object, the faster it would fall to earth. Aristotle was regarded as the greatest thinker of all time, and surely he would not be wrong. Anyone, of course, could have taken two objects, one heavy and one light, and dropped them from a great height to see whether or not the heavier object landed first. But no one did until nearly 2,000 years after Aristotle's death. In 1589 Galileo summoned learned professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then he went to the top and pushed off a ten- pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same instant. The power of belief was so strong, however, that the professors denied their eyesight. They continued to say Aristotle was right.

-The authority of Jesus demands the allegiance of His people

I. A Question of Authority vv. 27-32

After the events of the previous day, in which Jesus cleansed the Temple, Jesus returns to Jerusalem

Jesus is confronted by the scribes and the elders of the people: What authority does He have to do these things?

His actions here are incredibly bold; He has upset the apple cart by invading the space of the religious leaders

He has demonstrated a higher authority than theirs. His actions are a condemnation of their inaction!

Jesus answers their question with a question: Where did John the Baptist derive his authority?

This is a thorny question for them: They do not have a good answer!

If they claim that John the Baptist’s teaching came from heaven, then they must admit that they did not obey His teaching

If they claim that John the Baptist’s teaching came from man, then they will put themselves at odds with the listening people

Neither option seems attractive, so they choose neither

This is exactly the problem that they have currently with Jesus

He is popular with the people, so they cannot afford to stand against Him

However, if they were to recognize Him as Messiah, they would have to listen to what He says

Some of us are facing a similar question: Will we obey Him as Lord, or will we try to live in a way that denies His authority?

The podcast, “The Agent,” tells the story of Jack Barsky, a Soviet-era KGB secret agent embedded in the US, beginning in the 1970s. Gradually, his loyalties shifted and in a remarkable turn of events, the FBI actually eventually helped him to secure US citizenship. Near the end of the podcast he says, “I had a home again, an official home. … I’d put East Germany out of my mind. I stopped thinking about the folks back there … I put it away and put it in a part of my brain that I didn’t want to access anymore. You always want to belong to something. This is one of the basic things that make us human. … Now I had a country again. That felt really good.”

II. A Question of Identity vv. 1-8

Next, we see Jesus speak to them in a parable, a story of a vineyard owner and his tenants

The owner left for a season and put control in the hands of his tenants

The owner anticipated a return and sent a servants to collect from the tenants, yet they beat and even killed those servants

Finally, the owner sent his own son. The tenants did not respect the Son any more than they did the servants; they killed him and threw him out of his own vineyard!

This parable is a powerful warning to the listeners, who were able to connect the dots:

The tenants represent the leaders of the people in Jerusalem, who had care over the Lord’s vineyard

The servants were the prophets who came and spoke on behalf of the Lord

Jesus now identifies Himself as the Son who has come to inspect the Lord’s vineyard

They have not only rejected Him, they are prepared to kill Him

There is a prophetic element to Jesus’s statement here

This whole parable ought to cause us to reflect:

Who are we in this story? Are we like the tenants in the Lord’s vineyard?

What have we done with Jesus? Do we listen and obey the Son of God or are we rejecting Him? Neturality is not an option!

-The hottest places in hell are reserved for those, who in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.

Revelation 3:15–16

[15] “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! [16] So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. (ESV)

III. A Question of Allegiance vv. 9-12

Jesus makes it clear to them how the Lord will respond?

He will cast out the tenants and give the vineyard to others

Do not miss the power of this statement: God is going to give the Kingdom, not to the Jewish people who had it by inheritance, but to the Gentiles that He brings in

Why does this rejection take place?

Because the cornerstone of the whole building, Jesus Christ, was rejected by the builders of the building

If you reject Jesus, you will be rejected by His Father

Will you follow Him or will you experience His rejection?

An elderly woman in Romania was using a seven-pound rock as a doorstop for decades — which later turned out to be one of the largest known amber nuggets in the world.

As Spanish newspaper El País reports, the stone is being valued at around $1.1 million, making it an exceptionally opulent way to hold open a door. Ironically, the extremely rare find was also ignored by thieves who broke into her home to steal her jewels.

The woman, who died in 1991, found the rock in a nearby river near the southeastern town of Colti. Eventually, one of her relatives, who inherited the rock, suspected it may be worth something, selling it to the Romanian state. Authorities at the Museum of History in Krakow, Poland, later confirmed it as being an extremely rare amber stone, estimated to be anywhere between 38.5 and 70 million years old.