By What Authority?
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We last left Jesus heading back to Bethany discussing the withered fig tree with his disciples. When in the temple Jesus turned over the tables in the temple and called it a den of robbers.
So after talking about the fig tree and the temple with his disciples he went back to Bethany for the night. Now they are back in Jerusalem the next day and walking around in the temple.
Jesus’ Authority Challenged
Jesus’ Authority Challenged
By What Authority?
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.”
Mark 11:27-
Verse one tell us that they are walking around in the temple.
Jesus had just made a commotion the day before when he was in the temple by his acted parable communicating that the temple was to be destroyed.
And if you remember the Chief Priest and the scribes were not fans of Jesus actions
18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.
mark 11:
You see, the chief priests and the scribes were the authority in the temple. They thought the temple was there to serve them, rather for them to serve God.
So when Jesus says the temple is going away, that evokes some emotion in the leadership of the temple
One, who does Jesus think he is? he is not a high priest, he is not a great prophet, he doesn’t come with authority from Herod or from Rome. Who does he think he is?
So they ask him...
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?”
Mark 11:
The leadership of the temple, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders came to him...
And ask, by what authority are you doing these things?
or… “who gave you this authority to do them?”
Jesus then offers to make a deal with 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.
Mark 11:
Jesus knows the religious leaders are trying to trap him in giving the wrong answer and goes on the offensive
30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.”
You know, we would do well to follow Jesus’ example in this sort of situation.
Christians are often posed questions for the purpose of trying to trick us into saying something that is not politically correct.
Do you think its ok for two people to love one another as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else?
Do you not think that a woman has any freedom to do what she wants with her own body?
If we followed Jesus example we would be able to discern when questions are being posed in order to trap us.
As King Solomon says,
3 By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back,
but the lips of the wise will preserve them.
9 With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor,
but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.
prov. 13
Jesus was wise, and he was not about to be trapped by the evil religious leaders.
And Jesus’ response accomplished what he wanted to accomplish
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.”
mark 11:31
Now, Jesus was not about to plainly tell them where his authority comes from, because if he did that they would have arrested right there on the spot, and Jesus’ time had not yet fully come.
But Jesus does tell them about his authority in the form of a parable. (which historically really frustrated the religious leaders)
The Parable
The Parable
Jesus has told three other parables in Marks gospel up until this point
We also have Jesus enacting a parables with the fig tree and turning the tables over in the temple
And now we come to Jesus fourth spoken parable
Parables are some of the greatest sections in the gospels - we have Jesus flexing his ability to tell stories that teach and convict, that love and encourage, that challenge and outrage.
1 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:
“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11 this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
1-
This parables has elements that echo all throughout the OT
one such echo is the story of Nathan coming to David and telling him the story of the ewe lamb in
There were two men in a city - one rich and one poor
The rich man had many flocks and herds and the poor man only had one lamb
The poor man raised the lamb in his home
It grew up with him and his children
Fed it from his table
And treated it like it was his daughter
one day the rich man had some guests come to his house and instead of taking from his own flocks to prepare a dinner for the guests he took the poor man lamb and killed it and served it to his guests.
When David heard this story he was outraged and said the rich man must pay!
Nathan then said to David, “you are the man” for taking Uriah’s wife.
David realizes his sin and repents
likewise at the end of the parable the the chief priests and the scribes realized that he was talking about them - look at Mark 12.12
And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.
The difference is that David repented after hearing the story, where the religious leaders do not repent, rather they want to kill Jesus all the more.
So in what way does this parable speak about the religious leaders?
Lets look.
So when looking at parables and allegories we need to understand the different elements and characters (this is a multi-layered parables which makes a complex parable)
1 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country.
mark 12
A man planted a vineyard
The Owner of the vineyard built the vineyard himself, he formed it, he planted it, he did everything he needed to do to harvest good grapes in order to turn into wine.
the man is the owner of the vineyard which is referenced in verse 9
The vineyard is very important to the owner, in fact it is to be the inheritance he gives his son. (which we see in verse 7)
The owner leases the vineyards to some tenants
The tenants are supposed to take care of the vineyard, prune and cultivate healthy grapes in order to make wine with the winepress the owner built.
after leasing the vineyard to these tenants the owner goes away to a far country.
The owner sends his servants to the vineyard
2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
When the season came to enjoy the fruit of the vineyard the owner sent some of his servants to get the fruit
When the owner sends his servants to his vineyard to get some of the fruit, the tenants should have obliged because that was their job.
The tenants were to watch over the vineyard for the owner and give him anything he wanted from the vineyard.
When the season came to enjoy the fruit of the vineyard the owner sent some of his servants to get the fruit
However we find that the tenants were wicked tenants
The wicked Tenants
3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
However, the tenants were wicked and instead of giving the grapes and wine to the owners servant they beat him up and send him away with nothing.
and this doesn’t just happen once, but three times
Look at vv. 4-5
4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.
Notice that each time the owner sends a servant he is treated worse than the last time.
The tenants are not faithful or good, they are wicked, evil and violent.
finally the owner stops sending his servants because they keep dying, and he sends his son thinking they will surely listen to him
The owner sends his own son
6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
Mark 12.6
Notices that the son is a “Beloved Son” - we’ll come back that
So he sends his son hoping they will respect him
So he sends his son hoping they will respect him
7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
7-8
The tenants, rather than respect the son of the owner, plot with one another how to destroy him.
They recognize that the son is the heir of the vineyard, so if the Son is coming, surely the owner has died and the son has come for his inheritance.
So if they kill the son they will have the inheritance for themselves
So they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
Now Jesus steps outside the parable to ask the people a question
9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:
“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11 this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
mark 12 9-
9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.
Jesus tells them that the owner is coming, and he is going to destroy the tenants and he will entrust the vineyard to others.
The tenants foolish assumption that the owner was dead and his property available for seizure would be shattered on the hard rock of reality.
the Owner was not dead, and he was coming to make right the wrong that had been done. And he was coming to save his vineyard from wicked tenants.
Now for this parable to really make sense as to why the chief priests and scribes thought he was talking about them.
we need to look at the symbolic meaning of the parable.
It’s not just a moral tale about being good employees or about how to avoid trusting your possessions to the wrong people.
So lets look at the different elements of the parables and try and bring some clarity as to what Jesus means by telling this story.
We have five elements of the story that represent one or more people.
Vineyard
Owner of the vineyard
Tenants
Servants
Son
So first, lets look at the vineyard itself
The Vineyard = God’s Covenant People
The Vineyard = God’s Covenant People
The vineyard in this parables represents God’s covenant people
Both jews and gentiles who have been brought into God’s covenant would be considered part of the vineyard
There are multiple places in the scriptures where God’s people are seen as God’s vineyard
For example
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
And the most direct example of this symbolism is in .
Jesus actually wants his listeners to have in their minds as he tells the parable
1 Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
Jesus wants us to think of when he tells this parable.
because he uses the same language to set up his parable
Owner
a Vineyard
a hole dug for the vines
a watchtower
and a winepress.
Isaiah’s parable goes on to talk about how God would come and destroy the vineyard because of its wickedness -
it was supposed to yield good grapes but instead it yielded wild grapes
Isaiah goes on to say that the vineyard was the children of Abraham.
However Jesus focuses his judgement not on the vineyard, but on the tenants
The the vineyard itself represents God’s covenant people
Now, if this is the case who would the owner of the vineyard represent? God.
Owner of the vineyard = God
Owner of the vineyard = God
We see the owner of the vineyard doing what God does, planting gardens.
This is what God did in the second chapter of Genesis - he planted a garden for Adam and Eve
Jesus talks about God in these terms in . where he calls God the vinedresser or husbandmen or the keeper of the vineyard.
also speaks of the vineyard belonging to YHWH
1 Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
So the Vineyard is the people of God. And the owner of the vineyard is God.
So who then are the tenants in Jesus’ parable?
Tenants = Religious Leaders
Tenants = Religious Leaders
Isa 5.1-
In fact, Jesus wants us to think of when he tells his parables.
because he uses the same language to set up his parable
Owner
a Vineyard
a hole dug for the vines
a watchtower
and a winepress.
Isaiah’s parable goes on to talk about how God would come and destroy the vineyard because of its wickedness -
it was supposed to yield good grapes but instead it yielded wild grapes
Isaiah goes on to say that the vineyard was the children of Abraham.
However Jesus focuses his judgement not on the vineyard, but on the tenants
Tenants = Religious Leaders
Tenants = Religious Leaders
God left his vineyard, his people, in the hands of the priests and kings of Israel, which end up assuming power to the pharisees and scribes and the priests.
Jesus already called the religious leaders violent robbers when he was in the temple
Matthew records some of Jesus descriptions of the religious leaders as,
Hypocrites who shut the kingdom of heaven in peoples faces
Hypocrites who’s disciples are children of hell
Blind fools who cannot see their own ignorance
White-washed tombs who are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness
Matthew 23.29-
Jeremiah 7:
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,
The tenants are the wicked and violent religious leaders.
They are the ones who beat and killed the prophets of old
So can you guess who the servants are in the parable? prophets
Servants = The Prophets
Servants = The Prophets
Like God sent the prophet Nathan to King David to call him to repent so he sent prophets to the leaders of Israel throughout the OT. And Israel did not listen to the prophets
The prophets spoke with the authority of God, in the same way the servants came with the authority of the owner
Yet, Israel killed the prophets
Most recently, they killed the last prophet, John the baptist. which we looked at in .
So, if the leaders of Israel would not listen to the servants, to the prophets, God then sends his own Son to speak to them.
25 From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. 26 Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.
again
Son = Jesus
Son = Jesus
4 You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever.
And as we see this unfolding in Mark’s gospel the religious leaders have not listened, and like in the parable, they are currently plotting a way to destroy him.
And one of the reasons they want to destroy him is because the people of Israel are starting to follow him.
“Beloved Son”
two other times in mark - Baptism and Transfiguration
Used of Isaac in when talking about Abrahams faith tp sacrifice him.
In other words, he is beginning to experienced the inheritance that is his which is the vineyard (the covenant people of God). And the tenants want the inheritance to themselves. so they are planing to kill the Son.
So to recape
Vineyard = The Covenant People of God
Father = God
Tenants = Religious Leaders
Servants = Prophets
Son = Jesus
So Jesus tells this parable in response to the chief priests question,
10 Have you not read this Scripture:
“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
10 Have you not read this Scripture: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11 this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
The Son who was rejected by the tenants has become the the keeper of the vineyard - or as Jesus says in Johns gospel,
“I am the vine, you are the branches”
Though the religious leaders rejected the son, and are about to kill him, by doing so the Son will destroy the evil tenants and take back ownership of the vineyard.
He will free the people of God from the hypocritical leaders, and bring in all the nations to be part of the vineyard.
What Jesus did on the cross was to take the enemies plan and use it against them.
Jesus conquers evil by suffering under evil.
He conquers death by dying
He defeats satan by using Satans own weapon.
David talks about this sort of thing in Psalm 7
15 He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. 16 His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends.
The religious leaders are afraid that Jesus is stripping them of their authority over the vineyard, so they want to get rid of the son so they can maintain authority over the people of God.
And overall the religious leaders want to know by what authority Jesus is doing these things.
By What Authority?
By What Authority?
Jesus tells the parable to communicate to them that his authority is from God himself - and that he has come not as another prophet, but as the son of God.
And the chief priests and the scribes are no authority at all, rather they are the evil tenants who have killed the prophets who have come to them to speak on God’s behalf.
So in the manner of two days
Jesus comes in to Jerusalem and is treated like a king - praised as one who has authority.
He goes into the temple and turns over the tables declaring the temples destruction. This sort of action is an assertion of authority.
The Chief priests and scribes are not about to share their authority or give it away to Jesus so they ask him in 11:28, “By what authority are you doing these things?”
Jesus then
Jesus then
Jesus then
Jesus tells them a parables that claims his authority is from the owner, from God Himself.
And his authority is greater than the servants - the prophets, because he is God’s son.
And how do they respond? They continue to reject his authority in favor of being their own masters.
And if we are honest, we will confess we struggle with the same thing.
We struggle under the authority of
parents
supervisors
police
government
Pastors
Elders
Scripture
God’s authority
We don’t mind authority as long as we can choose who’s authority we will submit to.
And deep down, we question why we should be under God’s authority - and when we sin we rebel against his authority claiming to be our own masters - our own authority.
So why is it that all people everywhere should submit to God’s authority?
Is it because he’s God? - yes, thats enough
is it because he is worthy of all praise? - that too is enough
Is it because he is the creator of everything? - that is also worthy of authority
But there is another reason as well, and this reason is presented to us in mark 12:13-17
13 And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk.
14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?”
15 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.”
16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.”
17 Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.
Jesus looks at the coin and asks, “who image is on this coin”? And they say Caesar’s. Jesus then concludes to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s
Interpreting the Parables 7.8 The Wicked Tenants (Mk 12:1–12 Pars.)
From this central, triadic structure emerge at least the following three points: (1) God is patient and longsuffering in waiting for his people to bear the fruit which he requires of them, even when they are repeatedly and overtly hostile in their rebellion against him. (2) A day will come when God’s patience is exhausted and those who have rejected him will be destroyed. (3) God’s purposes will not thereby be thwarted, for he will raise up new leaders who will produce the fruit the original ones failed to provide.
In other words, if Caesar’s image is on the coin, then pay him what is his.
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However he goes on to say render “to God the things that are God’s”
And what bears God’s image? Every human being. And we are to give to God all that is his - in other wards, our entire lives should be lived serving God. Why? because we are made in his image.
To live as we are designed we are to live according to our his image
When we give God authority over our lives we transformed more into his image
And to live according to the image of God we live as truly human. We become more truly human when we live under the authority of God.
God has called us to take his image and bring it to the nations.
He has called us to image him well in our lives
If our entire lives are to be rendered to God because we bear his image that means
Everything we do should be according to his image - or as Paul talks about it according to his will.
We are to image him in our
homes
with our friends and families
at church or at work
at school or during times of relaxation and play.
You see, there is never a time, never a situation where we are not imaging God, therefore there is never a time nor a situation were we are not to live under his perfect authority.
As we go, remember we go as sent ones by the king, by the owner of the vineyard, in order to make the whole world his vineyard.
Lets pray
Interpreting the Parables 7.8 The Wicked Tenants (Mk 12:1–12 Pars.)
Klyne Snodgrass, however, has examined in detail all of the charges of lack of realism in the parable and found them wanting. Information from other historical sources, especially the papyri, has shown that possession was more than nine-tenths of the law of ownership in ancient disputes of this nature. Such hostilities were not uncommon in first-century conflicts between absentee landlords (especially Roman ones) and their tenants. And the tenants could have interpreted the sending of the son as a sign that the master had died, thus provoking them to try to kill the one whom they would have believed was the sole remaining heir.