Mark 11:27-12:12

Radiant Church, October 21, 2018 Mike Rydman Mark 11:27-12:12 Mark 11:27-28 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?” 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.” Even here Jesus exercises His authority in how he responds to their question Mark 11:31-33 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.” Their question of Jesus had nothing to do with getting information; it was a contest. If someone wanted information, they came privately – like Nicodemus did by coming at night to Jesus The leaders are not concerned with right or wrong, or how they should react They were, instead, only concerned with how to maintain control, to hold on to their own authority, of not being publically shamed In an honor/shame society, it was the crowd, the people who would ultimately determine the winner. Jesus then proceeds to tell a parable, which he borrows from the Old Testament. This would have been well-familiar to everyone who heard him… Psalm 80:8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it; you cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. Isaiah 5:1-7 Let me sing for my beloved, my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, he hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? when I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste’ it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry. Mark 12:1-11 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. When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this Scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” Last verse is a direct quote from Psalm 118:22-23 This is a picture of Israel, what they had done throughout the Old Testament, and what they were going to do to Jesus 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. They weren’t concerned with right and wrong in the parable Jesus had told. They were concerned that they had been publically shamed…that’s why they wanted to do away with Him in a public manner They could have hired a professional assassin to take him out: if embarrassment was their greatest fear But they wanted to do away with him in a public way: to save face Embarrassment is personal, but shame is corporate We westerners fear embarrassment Others in the world fear being shamed This is related to why western parents teach their kids to stand out from the crowd – so they “can be all they can be,” and won’t experience embarrassment by not achieving something and being successful And why middle-eastern and far- eastern parents teach their kids to blend in – so they won’t shame their family or neighborhood or city 2 Samuel 15:2-6 And Absalom used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate. And when any man had a dispute to come before the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him and say, “From what city are you?” And when he said, “Your servant is of such and such a tribe in Israel,” Absalom would say to him, “See, your claims are good and right, but there is no man designated by the king to hear you.” Then Absalom would say, “Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice.” And whenever a man came near to pay homage to him, he would put out his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. Absalom did what he did in a very public manner In doing so, he purposefully shamed his father, King David God is never embarrassed But God, on countless occasions has been shamed How could a Creator allow his creation to neglect, disrespect, torture and murder him? How we choose to respond to authority is a picture of how we respond to the authority of God What is our final authority, our ultimate truth source? Self (feelings, opinions, personal motivations?) Others/culture (our political persuasion, group think, etc.?) God, as revealed in Scripture Do we honor God…or do we shame Him?