Sermon Tone Analysis

1And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, 2And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things?

or who is he that gave thee this authority?

3And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: 4The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? 5And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?

6But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.

7And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.

8And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

1And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, 2And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things?

or who is he that gave thee this authority?

3And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: 4The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? 5And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?

6But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.

7And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.

8And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

Engage

It is in a time like this where we see our Lord baited that we can really see the example of his character.

He had all authority

Pray

Pray

Not Taking the Bait

Tension

Social can be good

In a lot of ways social media has been very helpful.

We put up pictures of our kids up for friends and family, stay in contact with people and use it for a tool to communicate.

I have been really trying to get an understanding on social media lately as I have been focusing on the church plant in Ross, particularly Instagram which I never really used until recently.

And while Facebook and and other platforms have become the new town square I th ink it is easy

Setting the Scene

In this mornings passage we find Jesus pressed by the whose who of Jewish Leadership.

Before him were the Chief Priests; Sadducees who held the political power.

The Scribes; lawyers of the Torah who scrutinized ever nuance of scripture and hung the law over the heads of men.

And the elders; likely members of the Sanhedrin there to render judgment on the outcome of this questioning.

In this mornings passage we find Jesus pressed by the whose who of Jewish Leadership.

Before him were the Chief Priests; Sadducees who held the political power.

The Scribes; lawyers of the Torah who scrutinized ever nuance of scripture and hung the law over the heads of men.

And the elders; likely members of the Sanhedrin there to render judgment on the outcome of this questioning.

In a lot of ways social media has been very helpful.

We put up pictures of our kids up for friends and family, stay in contact with people and use it for a tool to communicate.

I have been really trying to get an understanding on social media lately as I have been focusing on the church plant in Ross, particularly Instagram which I never really used until recently.

And while Facebook and and other platforms have become the new town square I think it is easy

In a lot of ways social media has been very helpful.

We put up pictures of our kids up for friends and family, stay in contact with people and use it for a tool to communicate.

I have been really trying to get an understanding on social media lately as I have been focusing on the church plant in Ross, particularly Instagram which I never really used until recently.

And while Facebook and and other platforms have become the new town square I think it is easy

True Authority

In a lot of ways social media has been very helpful.

We put up pictures of our kids up for friends and family, stay in contact with people and use it for a tool to communicate.

I have been really trying to get an understanding on social media lately as I have been focusing on the church plant in Ross, particularly Instagram which I never really used until recently.

Facebook and and other platforms like it have become the new town square.

It is in a time like this where we see our Lord baited that we can really see the example of his character.

Jesus had the Authority.

We read in Jesus says: All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

There is no real challenge to his authority.

What is amazing is that through the passion week, when Jesus finally does declare his authority outright.

It is to put at peace Pilate who was befuddled over all that was going on, not to defend himself.

In the face of imminent crucifixion Jesus responds to Pilate in Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

Demonstration of Meekness

Jesus says: All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

But we don’t find Jesus commanding the privilege of this authority.

We never see him coming before the people in the way we find God communicating in the Old Testament.

There is no scene where Jesus stands before them and declares that he is God and that they would face wrath if his words weren’t heeded.

This is certainly a situation where human pride could get the best of you or I.

To have our authority questioned in this type of public setting, it could rouse our anger into saying something that could be used against us.

But that isn’t at all how Jesus handled things.

Avoid being set up

Jesus gives us an example of how we should carry ourselves.

Lord willing we will not find ourselves in the predicament where an answer could cost us our lives.

But certainly questions will be put before us where the questioner does not have our best interest at heart, where they will be trying to set us up for a fall.

They think that they have the gotcha question.

Jesus avoids getting baited, and if we are wise we will avoid being baited as well.

Pray

Social Bad

It became evident very early on that there is a drawback with social.

When I am in front of people speaking with them I have a guard about making them upset, and so I am likely going to be more careful not to offend.

On social however this guard about polite behavior and offensives seems to be non-existent.

Politics and lifestyle have become more divided than I can ever remember and people on both sides of the divide are frustrated and often chose to vent that frustration on social media.

I will be forthright, I personally wish I could go back in time and stop myself from posting, or commenting the way I had, and I wonder how much damage I have done for taking uncharitable positions and expressing them with venom.

I think one of these days we are going to look back and consider who that funny image we posted hurt, why that hard stance might have been unnecessary

Jesus’ Situation

Jesus has a decision to make.

Essentially all of the religious leaders were gathered.

Priests, Scribes & Elders.

And they were questioning him on his Authority.

How does he handle being baited?

Understanding the Trap

Truth

Deconstructing the trap

This group that has confronted Jesus had ulterior motives.

Jesus just got done cleansing the temple; remember where our Bible says on one of those days we could only be a few days later, that was on Sunday and he would die in just 5 days.

J. R. R. Token said:

They had been plotting against Jesus the entire time and had not found a solution to taking him out of the picture.

All the way back in they began plotting against him, right after he healed on the Sabbath.

The way that the parrallel passage in puts it give you a good understanding of where they stand: And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

You can read Sadducee here for Herodians, specifically these same priests we are dealing with.

They have been plotting to have him destroyed for 2 years.

So the plan goes, if they ask by whose authority Jesus preaches as he preaches, on whose authority does he run people out of the temple there are only a couple of answers to be given.

Either does these things under the authority of God or he does them under no authority.

Why must you speak your thoughts?

Silence, if fair words stick in your throat, would serve all our ends better.

Why must you speak your thoughts?

Silence, if fair words stick in your throat, would serve all our ends better.

Jesus had always impressed with his authority.

Earlier in Christs ministry we read reads And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.