Jesus Debates

Tags: discipleship, surrender, obedience, faith, love, sacrifice, justice, neighbor, generosity, stewardship, transformation, gospel, kingdom, lordship, authority, truth, holiness, integrity, action, renewal, commitment, Jesus

Key: Slide; Speaker Callout; Illustration; Application; Scripture; Non-Bib Quote

[Title Slide]

Introduction

If you know me, then you know I tend to get really obsessed with hobbies and trivial things, but never really follow through. Do you know why? Because I don’t really love those things. And again, this happens often! I mean, just yesterday I ran a [Slide: running] half-marathon! [Pause] Now this might sound like “follow-through,” but hear me out.

I signed up for this race almost a year ago. I knew it was coming, I thought about it often, and I even planned for it! [Pause] Okay, yeah, my plans were just in my head and I never executed them, but I did plan! [Pause] You see, I had all the head knowledge: proper cadence, timing of water and gels, electrolyte balance, nutrition, training, mental preparation, etc. I even have all the technology to measure all of that data down to the last detail. [Blank Slide]

But, I didn’t sacrifice my time or my energy by putting all that good knowledge to use in training for this race—I didn’t train! The result: misery and suffering! My lack of sacrifice proved I didn’t truly love running; I only loved the idea of it. And friends, knowing about something is not enough—knowledge without practice is not enough. [Pause]

[Series Slide] We see this in our passage this morning. In Mark 12, Jesus confronts religious leaders in the Temple who know God’s laws, but that is not enough. [Pause] They didn’t love the act of obedience; they only loved the idea of being obedient. They just had head knowledge—that’s not enough.

As we have been journeying with Jesus in the second half of the Gospel of Mark, he has been teaching us these upside-down values of the Kingdom of God. And now, here in chapter 12, Jesus, in his final days, is debating the religious leaders in the Temple. These debates are not random—they are in direct response to what he has just taught in the Parable of the Vineyard.

Now, in response to that teaching, the religious leaders test Jesus with pointed questions: “Should we pay taxes to Caesar?” “How will life work in the resurrection?” [Blank Slide] They are trying to trap him, to see if he will say something they can use against him. But the parable has already revealed the nature of their hearts.

Knowing the Law (vv. 28-34)

Towards the end of all these debates that Jesus is having, a certain Scribe approaches Jesus, genuinely asking, “What is the greatest commandment?” [Pause] Take some time to think about this scene: Jesus has just been having intense debates with the religious leaders, debates that came after he made a scene in the Temple—after, Mark says, “The chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to kill him.” [Pause]

Do you think it was easy for this Scribe to approach Jesus? All of his friends were just fighting with Jesus! But, notice what our text says, [Slide: Mk 12:28] “One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?”

He heard Jesus. He saw Jesus. He moved toward Jesus. And while the other scribes were trying to undermine and challenge Jesus’ authority, this Scribe comes with a genuine question—“Which command is the most important of all?”

[Slide: Mk 12:29-31] Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.

Listen! That is what this Scribe is doing—listening to Jesus! This first commandment that Jesus gives comes from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and is called The Shema. The Shema is not just a simple command to remember; loaded into the Hebrew concept of “hearing” is an obligation. [Slide: BEB Quote]

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible Shema, The

There is an

If you know something, hear something, shema something, and don’t do anything about it, then you do not truly know it! [Pause] Can I say I really know how to run a half-marathon well if I never put in the effort to do it? No! Hearing and knowing imply doing! [Pause] Friends, this principle is scattered throughout all the Scriptures!

[Slide: Js 1:22-25] But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.

Hearing the word and doing the word is the difference between building your life on the rock and on sinking sand, as Jesus tells us in Matthew:

[Slide: Mt 7:24-27] Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”

The Scribe heard these words from Jesus: the greatest commandment. [Blank Slide] [Pause] And he agrees!

[Slide: Mk 12:32-33] Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

This Scribe hears the words of Jesus and agrees with him. He even seems to agree with and validate the outrageous act of Jesus cleansing the Temple and condemning the Temple system. [Blank Slide] Can you imagine how much courage this took? This Scribe’s friends were just in a series of not-so-friendly debates with Jesus and wanted to kill him!

Despite all that, this Scribe dares to see Jesus, move towards Jesus, listen to Jesus, and agree with Jesus! He gets it correct, right? [Pause] [Slide: Mk 12:34] “When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’” [Pause] Wait, what?! Not far off?! Jesus, this man just summarized all your teaching, agreed with you, and agreed with your opposition to the Temple! What do you mean by “not far off”?

But remember, hearing the word is not the same as doing the word. Yes, this scribe had correct theology, he had the right priorities, he had the proper knowledge, but it all stopped there. [Pause] Despite all that he knows, it’s not enough to get him into the kingdom of God. Despite all he knows, he is almost there!

Don’t we hate “almost”? Sometimes, there is no other word in the English language that brings so much tension and pain with it. It screams loss or failure that is only accentuated by how close you are or were to actually grasping what you were reaching for.

Did you get that promotion? Almost. Did the treatment help? Almost. Did she say “yes” to going out? Almost. Did he say no to temptation? Almost. Did that client sign on? Almost. So close, but not close enough. It’s excruciating!

This idea of being almost is a central theme in the work of Propaganda, [Slide: propaganda] a Christian hip-hop artist and poet known for exploring faith, struggle, and redemption. In his newest release of poetry, [Slide: beautiful-ending] The Beautiful Ending, he has this theme of Almost, where he says:

[Slide: Propaganda Quote]

I’ve almost hit number one 4 times on Billboard

Grammy-nominated artist prop

Maybe I’m trippin’

But you ever ate an Almost cake

Almost fried chicken — that could kill you

I’m terrified

That I was a decent father

An okay husband

A pretty good poet

Just couldn’t manage to turn the corner

I’m barely squeezing by

And it’s okay, it will do

I am mister right now

Silver medalist

Option B, he was almost

A star

Even the word itself feels like it’s on its way and stops short, right? All? No, all…most—almost. Nobody wants almost. We want it all. We want to go the distance. We want fullness, not almost full. [Blank Slide] And that’s what this Scribe wants as well—he wants it all. He has risked it all to get there, and when he finally does, Jesus says, “almost.”

But why? Why was he just “almost” there? Because he knew, but hadn’t surrendered. The Scribe knew God’s law—even the greatest commandment that Jesus told him—but he didn’t surrender to the Law-Giver. [Pause] Knowing about something is not enough—knowledge without practice is not enough.

Knowing the Lord (vv. 35-37)

But notice where the story heads next. Jesus has been debating the religious leaders in the Temple about his authority, taxes, the resurrection, and the greatest commandment; he has these confrontations around different facts and knowledge of those facts, and then he says this in Mark 12:35:

[Slide: Mk 12:35-37] While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he asked, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself says by the Holy Spirit: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’ David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How, then, can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.

This seems a bit confusing to us, doesn’t it? Why is Jesus going from all these debates about his own authority and theology straight into what feels like a random discussion on the Messiah? Because through all of these debates, discussions around facts, knowledge, the “what,” Mark wants us to know that it’s not about a what, but about a who: the Messiah. It is not about following a set of rules and laws; it is about following a person: the Messiah. [Blank Slide]

But the religious leaders of Jesus’ day missed that simple fact—they missed the “who.” [Pause] Don’t get me wrong, they did believe in “The Son of David”—they thought that the liberator, the Messiah, the king from the line of David would come and set them free—but they missed it. How? Why?

The religious leaders believed that the Messiah would be just another king who would conquer in the same way that David did, but this time against the Romans. [Pause] They almost have the Messiah right. But because they are stuck on the “what” of what they thought the Messiah might do, they missed the “who.” [Pause] Friends, missing who Jesus is leaves us in “almost.”

Understanding who Jesus is—the Messiah—is the bridge between knowing the law and surrendering to the Law-Giver. [Pause] But we often fail to bridge that gap, don’t we? We, like the religious leaders, take the title “Son of David” too far—we want a political Messiah who fixes our lives, affirms our desires, and serves our agendas.

We want a king to wield as a weapon, not a Lord to surrender to. [Pause] But Jesus isn’t just another king. Jesus demands to be surrendered to as Lord. [Pause] Again, the Messiah is not merely a descendant of the line of David; he is David’s Lord—he is God. Entrance into the kingdom of God does not come by knowing the law of love, it’s submitting to the Lord of Love—the one whose authority transcends all.

It is not about a “what,” it is about a “who”—it is about submitting to the person of Jesus Christ. [Pause] This is something that we explored over five sermons earlier this year in our “Becoming” series. [Slide: Becoming Graphic] In those five weeks, we explored how we become virtuous people by following a person rather than practicing a set of rules. I encourage you to go back and listen to that series.

Because when we, like the Scribe in our story, get laser-focused on getting it right—knowing the right thing, right now—we miss following the who: Jesus. [Blank Slide] We have to move from knowing Christ is Lord to surrendering to his Lordship. [Slide: Thesis] Love isn’t proven by what you know but by Who you know. And love is known in surrender—when we know Jesus, then we will surrender to him.

Knowing Love (vv. 38-44)

This morning’s passage shows us two examples surrounding this truth. The first example is a negative one. Verse 38 says:

[Slide: Mk 12:38-40] He also said in his teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes and who want greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher judgment.”

The religious leaders—those who know God’s law, even correctly—are acting in hypocrisy. [Blank Slide] The religious leaders crave excess. They crave attention. They crave honor. They crave these things all to the detriment of loving not only God, but their neighbor as well. Clearly, they don’t love God!

Clearly, their head knowledge of God and his law did not lead to their love for God and neighbor, or else they would have sacrificed their excess, their attention, and their honor for God and for their neighbor. The religious leaders want it all, but instead they are left with “almost”—or perhaps nothing—and are judged. [Pause]

Mark immediately contrasts that with a positive example:

[Slide: Mk 12:41-44] Sitting across from the temple treasury, he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins, worth very little. Summoning his disciples, he said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. For they all gave out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had—all she had to live on.”

The widow—who knows and loves God—acts in total surrender. [Blank Slide] The widow surrenders what little she has because she loves the God who owns it all and has all authority. [Pause] Whereas the religious leaders gave out of their abundance, the widow, with her two tiny coins, gave out of her poverty; Jesus says that because of that, she gave more than anyone else!

What are you giving to God? What are you surrendering? And how does what you are surrendering show what you love? A lot of us claim to know God, and we do up in our heads, but are we showing that we truly love God by our actions and what we surrender? Are we being hearers of the word and not doers?

A lot of us claim to know God, but our surrender stops where our comfort begins. We sing that he’s Lord, but only over the parts of life we’re willing to give up. We pray for his will to be done—as long as it doesn’t disrupt our plans. We study his Word, but stop short of obeying it when it costs us something.

Or maybe we know a lot about God and surrender a few convenient things to him, but withhold actions that love our neighbor. I see that a lot in our day. I see a lot of us keeping up-to-date on all the injustices happening around the world, but I don't see a lot of us going all the way in sacrifice, like we saw in the passage from the widow.

We ‘like’ causes online, but don’t like the idea of rearranging our weekends to serve. We sign digital petitions for justice, but don’t sign up to mentor a kid from a broken home. We repost Scripture graphics about mercy, but hold grudges against people we actually know.

We share posts about human trafficking, but don’t ask what it would cost to support a survivor ministry. We grieve over Gaza, Ukraine, or Sudan—but hesitate to open our wallets to help refugees rebuild their lives. We drive past empty buildings and homeless neighbors, yet when a chance comes to turn one into a shelter, we say no—not because we can’t help, but because we don’t want to see them.

These are hard truths that I see, and friends, I am seeing it in myself as well! Just this past weekend, on my way to write this very sermon, I went to pick up lunch, and at the corner of the street was a homeless man with a sign that said “Hapless, helpless, homeless.” He, through his presence and sign, was asking to be shown some love.

I drove past him, ordered too much food for myself, sat in line way longer than I anticipated, all the while facing in the direction of this man—he was directly in view. And when I got my food, I drove past him because I “didn’t have time.” [Pause] Friends, based on that, would you say that I loved this man? No. I went out of my way to avoid him!

We must repent of that type of life—a life that is filled with the empty lie of loving ourselves, surrendering to my priorities, my comforts, and my conveniences—a life that only loves God and loves neighbor when it feels okay to me. I am repenting of that right here, right now. Will you repent with me?

If we don’t repent, then we are just like the Scribe who is almost there. And if you want to be all the way there—if you want to be in the kingdom of God instead of “not far off”—then you need to let Jesus turn your “almost” into “all.”

Conclusion

Let Jesus turn your “almost” into “all” by recognizing [Slide: Key Idea 1] You don’t own anything, but God owns everything. [Pause] You have nothing to give, nothing to surrender, and nothing to let go of that doesn’t already belong to God—not even yourself! As the first question of the New City Catechism says, [Slide: NCC Q1] “Our only hope in life and death is that we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ.”

We belong to God! That is what Jesus is teaching us when, earlier in Mark 12, he was debating the religious leaders on paying taxes. [Blank Slide] He asks them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” In other words, who does this coin belong to? It is Caesar’s image stamped on the coin, but it is God’s image stamped on you! You belong to God.

Whether in life or in death, you are God’s. That’s what Jesus is teaching us when he debates the religious leaders on the resurrection. Jesus says, “You don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God…[the Scriptures say] ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

We are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ. [Pause] When we take in that reality—when we give into that reality—Jesus takes our almost and by the power of the Holy Spirit turns it into “all.” We also let Jesus turn our “almost” into “all” by recognizing [Slide: Key Idea 2] You have no authority, but Jesus has all authority.

Everything that you have has been given to you to steward—Jesus has the ultimate authority over all things. That is what he is teaching us when he debates the religious leaders about his own authority and their lack of stewardship. When we recognize that we are but stewards of God’s great and precious gifts to us, then Jesus turns our “almost” into “all.”

Friends, we have to grasp this, and it is hard. We have to grasp the “who”—Jesus—not the what. It’s not about our ownership, our authority, our priorities, or our knowledge—it is all about Jesus. [Pause] The disciples—those who walked with Jesus—struggled with this as well! They were concerned with the “what.”

But then, a glorious thing happened. Their savior, their rabbi, died, and three days later he rose from the grave! [Pause] And when he rose victorious over sin, death, and the devil, he proclaimed:

[Slide: Mt 28:19-20] All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

It is here, beholding the resurrected Christ, that the disciples moved from the “what” to the “who.” It is in the resurrection of Jesus that we are emboldened to surrender our lives to him—to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. [Title Slide]

Hold onto that resurrection power. Remember the example of the widow: she had nothing to give but her whole life. If you have nothing left, Jesus, by the power of his resurrection, can reach into the abyss and pull out life. If you’re afraid you have nothing to give, or nothing left to give, then look no further than the resurrection. When you have nothing left to give, look to the one who gave it all for you!

Communion

Remember that the God who owns everything, even you, and has authority over everything, sent his one and only Son to give—not his almost—his all, for you. Jesus showed us that he loves us by surrendering his own body—his life—for us. And every Sunday, we remember that rich and precious truth through the act of communion. [Communion Slide]

During this time, we have a prayer team in the back. You can also take this time to grab a prayer card next to the box by the worship center door and write down your prayers. You can also scan the QR code on the seat back in front of you to submit a prayer request online. If your child is not yet ready to take communion but wants to participate, please have them put their hands out, and our servers will be happy to speak a blessing over them.

Hear now the words of institution:

On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

I’d like to invite the communion servers to their tables. Hear now the words of Jesus from John 15:13-14 as an invitation, “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” You are now invited to commune with the family of Jesus. Come when you are ready.

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