Questioning the Authority of Jesus

Questioning the Authority of Jesus

Mark 11:27-33

            I heard a story this week about a government official with the water department down in Texas who paid a surprise visit to a rancher. The official said to the rancher, “I’m here to inspect the water allocation on this property.” And the rancher said, “ok listen don’t go over into that field behind the barn.” And the government official said, listen mister, as he pulled out his id card. You see that card? I represent the federal government and that card gives me the authority to go on any land I want to; public or private.”

            So, the rancher went back to his chores and the government official began his inspection. A little while later the rancher heard this death scream coming from behind the barn. He walked around the corner to see the government official running for his life from his 1500 lbs. prize bull. The rancher yelled out, “Your Card, your card, show him your Card!!!”

            We think that is funny because no one likes submitting to authority. No one likes anyone telling them what to do. We want to be our own boss. That is not just an American response to authority, that is a human response to authority. We like to stick it to the man, whoever the man is, because we are rebellious by nature. We love to speed but nobody wants to get pulled over. We love to get paid but nobody like the boss

            There are millions of people this week who are making New Year’s resolutions, but I guarantee you there is not one person who is resolved to be more submissive to authority. In fact, I would be willing to bet that has never been anyone’s New Year’s resolution ever.

            I want you to understand today, that if you do not submit to the authority of Jesus Christ in your life you will not have a relationship with God and you will not go to heaven. Not because I say so, but because that is what Jesus says. If you reject Jesus, He will reject you. What we learn from this passage is: Christ is the authority of God over the world, the question is, does He have authority over your life? (Mark 11:27-33)

  27      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 began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?”

  29      And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

  30      “Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.”

  31      They began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’

  32      “But shall we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet.

  33      Answering Jesus, they *said, “We do not know.” And Jesus *said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” (pray)

            In our passage this morning we are continuing to follow Jesus through what we commonly refer to as the passion week. We had the triumphal entry as Jesus’ rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey to the praises of the people. The next day He returned and cleansed the temple saying, My Fathers, house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.”  And again, now it is the third day and Jesus returns to Jerusalem and He enters the temple.

            You would think this was a place where Jesus would be accepted, where He would feel right at home. Instead, it is a place where He is despised, rejected, and hated. This is an important event that sets off a series of four confrontations that will take us through chapter twelve. We will see the leaders of the nation attack Jesus head on trying to trap Him in His words, so they can arrest Him and get rid of Him.

Just a simple reading of these passages teaches us what a great tragedy self-righteousness and unbelief is in the church. Those who should have loved Him and worshipped Him are the very ones who want to destroy Him. The point of this message is Christ is the authority of God over the world but, does He have authority over your life?

The first thing I want you to see in this passage is The Confrontation and Question of His Authority. Vs. 27-28.

Vs. 27 begins with the phrase, “They came again to Jerusalem.” “They” is referring to Jesus and the twelve disciples although there were many more who were traveling with them at this point. We read later about the women who went to anoint His body at the tomb. Also, we read in the book of Acts, after the ascension how there were one hundred and twenty praying in the upper room. So, “they” is probably referring to more than just the twelve disciples.

They were traveling back into the city to celebrate the Passover. Where they were worshipping God in the temple, then at night they would leave the city. They would probably go to Bethany, we are not sure, but we know Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had a home in Bethany just two miles from Jerusalem and Jesus would stay there often. In the morning they would wake up and travel back into the city.

Mark says, “He was walking in the temple.” Luke 20:1 says, “He was teaching the people and preaching the gospel.” This was a common practice of the Rabbi’s in that day. They would walk through the long corridors of the temple teaching the people the Word of God and for one day this was Jesus’ house, or for a moment He was doing what the world should have wanted Him to do. But it was only for a moment and then He is interrupted by envy, jealousy, and strife. By the way, those are three things that plague every house of worship, they are Satan’s foothold in the church.

He is interrupted by the Chief Priests, the scribes, and the elders. They must have gotten together on the night before to discuss what to do about Jesus. We know from Vs. 18 they were plotting to kill Him for what He did in the temple. These three groups make a what is called the Sanhedrin which is the ruling political/religious party of the nation. So, this is an official visit. They meant business because each one of the groups has a representative at the meeting. They wanted to arrest Him and put an end to Him teaching the people about God because it directly contradicted what they were teaching the people about God. It challenged their authority.

This was the first century Jewish equivalent of sending representatives from the House, the Senate, and the Supreme Court to go pay Him a visit. This was an official visit because they intended to bring official charges against Him.

I want you to notice the questions they ask Jesus are questions of contempt. There not really seeking an answer as much as they are making an indictment. They didn’t really want to know the truth. They didn’t want to recognize Him as the Messiah. Their minds were closed and shut to His claims. They already knew who He claimed to be. For example, Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He was a ruler of the people and in John 3 He comes to Jesus at night and acknowledges that He is from God. So, they were aware of His claims, they just rejected them because of the hardness of their heart. They were not going to believe no matter what.

They had two basic questions for Jesus that they had every right to ask. What authority do you have? Who sent you? And what gives you the right to do these things? As the authorized guardians and rulers of the temple they had every right to ask these questions the problem was they didn’t want to know the answer.

The word “authority” here that we see four times in these seven verses, is the Greek word “Exousia” which describes a person’s liberty or freedom to act. It describes not only the physical capability to do something but the legal right to do it as well. So, their question is who do you think you are and what gives you the right to do these things?

I have to believe the phrase “these things” is referring to more than the cleansing of the temple. Although that was the straw that broke the camel’s back because that affected their money -making scheme. But the truth is they hated Him. They hated Him for everything He had done. They hated Him because the people loved Him, they hated Him because they could not control Him but mostly, they hated Him because He was from God, and they were not.

I want you to know the same thing will be true in your life. If you are a follower of Christ and you want to serve God in any capacity, don’t be surprised when the enemy attacks you. He will influence people you least expect to confront you and attack your motives. Sometimes it will be at work and sometimes at school. Most of the time it will be in the church. Satan will use your brothers and sisters to launch an attack on someone he sees as a threat. The enemy has no pity and if you are serving God you can expect to meet hostility.

Christ is the authority of God over the world, but does He have authority in your life? That is the confrontation and the question of His authority. Now, I want you to see is the Counterpunch of Christ: Illustrated by John the Baptist, Vs. 29-32

Here we see Jesus counterpunching their question with a question of His own. Instead of falling into their trap and answering them, which would have incriminated Himself, He is a step ahead of them. Instead of allowing them to question His authority He asserts His authority again. He is in charge of this situation even under interrogation.  He already knows what they are going to ask, and He is lying in wait just to baffle them.

I like that He says, “I will ask you one question.” You see they asked Him two questions to trap Him, but He only needs one to completely confuse them. Answering a question with a question was an old Rabbi tradition of Rhetoric they were accustomed too. But Jesus is playing games with them now. He says, “If you answer my question, I will answer yours,” but then He asks them a question they cannot answer.

Vs. 30 says, “Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”  I love that He demands they answer Him with authority. By the baptism of John, He is referring to more than people going out into the wilderness and being submerged under water. He is talking about the entire ministry of John the Baptist.  He is talking about John calling people to repent and believe in the kingdom of heaven. He is talking about John being the forerunner of Christ. The voice of one crying out in the wilderness. Everything John did pointed people to Jesus. He said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

John the Baptist didn’t get to see this moment in the life of Christ, but he knew it was going to happen before anyone else and he said, “I must decrease, and He must increase. Jesus and John’s lives are forever intertwined because God intended it that way. They complimented each other and now Jesus is using John as an illustration, asking these spiritual leaders, where did John’s ministry come from? From God or man?

His question is amazing to me, because His question not only answers their question but it silences His critics. If they say John was from God Jesus will say, “why didn’t you believe him, because everything John did testified of Me.” But if they say John was just a man the people would revolt, because the people loved John. Luke 20:6 tells us they said, “all the people will stone us to death.” So, they were in a real pickle here. They had backed themselves into a corner they couldn’t get out of.

Vs. 31 says, “They began reasoning among themselves.” In other words, they huddled up to try and figure this thing out. Interestingly, they didn’t care about truth, all they cared about was the outcome. They were reasoning instead of repenting. Unfortunately, we do the same thing. We create a narrative to control the outcome and that’s what they are doing in this story.

You see they didn’t believe in John any more than they believed in Jesus. They didn’t care if they were from God, they didn’t care about honoring Him with their life. They were like politicians; they wanted to control the people and maintain power. So, they would flip-flop and say whatever people wanted to hear. But they couldn’t do that this time.

The people loved John and respected him because He was the last of the great prophets of the Old Testament. Even though we read about John in the New Testament. He served as a bridge between the people and the Messiah, between the past and the present, between the old and the new, between the law and grace.

He was the first prophet to speak for God in 400 years, and all of the people went out to the wilderness to hear John. So, these religious leaders did not dare say anything negative about John, but they were not going to concede to Jesus either. Their hearts were obstinate, and hard. Grace was standing right in front of them, and they couldn’t see it, they wouldn’t see it.

I want you to understand we are given the same two choices today these religious leaders had in Jerusalem. Is Jesus from God or is He just a man? where does His authority come from? Is He really the Lamb of God who died for the sin of the world? That is the choice we have to make, and that choice determines our eternity. Christ is here and He is exercising His authority over the temple of God. Today you are the temple of God.

Christ is the authority of God over the world, but does He have authority in your life? We have seen the confrontation and the question of His authority, and we have seen the counterpunch of Christ illustrated by John the Baptist. Now, I want you to see is the Tragic Decision of the leaders, Vs. 33 “Answering Jesus, they *said, “We do not know.” And Jesus *said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

They decide the best thing for them to do is not to answer Him at all, and we learn that not good enough. There answer is final, and it is fatal. They have rejected Him, so He rejects them.

They knew perfectly well the ministries of Jesus and John were from God. The things they were doing and the lives that were changing couldn’t be denied. The miracles were signs to them from heaven. The prophecies were all fulfilled. But they were more concerned with keeping their positions of power and authority. They loved the world more than they loved God. So, they denied Christ and choose unbelief instead.

I want you to see it wasn’t that they couldn’t be convinced of the truth. It was that they would not be convinced of the truth. They were given a choice, they could have chosen God, but they didn’t. They choose unbelief instead. They did it by making no decision at all and indecision always leads to tragedy.

The words of Abraham to the rich man in Hades rings true, Luke 16:32 “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets they will not be persuaded even if one rises from the dead.” The religious leaders would not listen to Moses and the Prophets and today many refuses to believe even though one has risen from the dead.

Each and every one of us has a choice to make about who Jesus is. To not make that choice in essence is to reject Him. If our answer to Jesus is not yes then our answer is no, and the longer we say no to Jesus the harder our hearts become and the more difficult it becomes to say yes.

We always think we have plenty of time in front of us and we can make that decision in the future, but the truth is none of us are promised tomorrow. We only have today to surrender our lives to His authority and recognize Him as our God. 2 Corinthians 6:1 says, “behold today is the acceptable time, today is the day of salvation. What choice will you make?  Christ is the authority of God over the world, but does He have authority over your life? The ball is in your court. What will you decide?