The Authority Of Jesus
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Most people in this woke culture we live in, resent the word “authority.” When it is used they try to associate it with a master/slave relationship or police oppression/brutality upon the people. But without authority there is total chaos and that is exactly what we see happening in these major cities that don’t want any chain of authority over them.
There are two Greek words translated in the New Testament for “authority”.
Du na mis- the power or ability
Ex ou sia- the right or privilege
This morning we are going to begin a few messages looking at the “Authority of Jesus.” In Mark 11:27–12:44, the scriptures record five temple controversies that are prompted by the religious leaders over who has “authority” in the house of God. We will also see some common reasons, then and now, of why some people are not willing to follow Jesus.
Text: Mark 11:27-33
27 Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him.
28 And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”
29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:
30 The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”
31 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
32 But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed.
33 So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
1. The Three Stooges; 27-28
1. The Three Stooges; 27-28
Stooge- a performer whose acts involve being the brunt/idiot of one’s joke.
The chief priests, scribes and elders were nothing but performers in their duties. They didn’t care about the people, but their profits. They did not care about the temple of God, they had made it into a “den of thieves.”
What they did care about was losing “authority” over the people and how the house of God would be run because of this hick from Nazareth, Jesus.
So as Jesus was walking through the temple teaching, this group of stooges approach Him and ask two important and relevant questions;
“By what authority [Dunamis/power or ability] are You doing these things?”
“And who gave You this authority [Exousia/right or privilege] to do these things?”
What things are they talking about? I believe it starts back when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and accepted the praise of the people as the Son of David who comes in the name of the Lord.
Then His powerful preaching, teaching and healing of the blind and lame as He came into the city [Mt. 21].
Then it deals with the driving out of the merchants and moneychangers in the temple that put a dent in the stooges profit.
And to top it off, Jesus makes two statements that seem to be blasphemy to the stooges, Jesus called the temple “My house” and said the stooges had turned it into a den of thieves. That cut deep! Not only because it was true but that the people were astonished/amazed at the authority of Jesus.
They were requesting His ordination papers. They really didn’t care to know who He is, and they have no interest in submitting to His authority. Their goal is to trap Him, embarrass Him, and discredit Him. Because they know this “Jesus of Nazareth” is not from a religious lineage as they are and he doesn’t have authority over God’s house like the Law says they do.
If He admits He has no religious credentials and that He is acting on His own authority, He will probably lose the respect and following of the people, and they can be finished with this troublemaker. On the other hand, if He makes a claim to divine authority, then they could charge Him with blasphemy, arrest Him, and start the process for His destruction. Either way Jesus would be finished.
2. Jesus Questions the Stooges; 29-32
2. Jesus Questions the Stooges; 29-32
The wisdom of God is so awesome in Jesus when He answered a question with a question. Jesus’ counterquestion was a common debating technique among rabbis in that day, and we need to learn to use it in our lives as well when evangelizing the lost.
7 “He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself.
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him.
Jesus counter’s with a question to get them to think about God, His purpose, His Messiah, and that will give them the answer on His authority. And if they will answer His question, He will gladly answer theirs.
Jesus basically says, “Let’s look at the evidence of the one who paved the way for My coming and with whom I closely aligned Myself: the ministry of John the Baptist.”
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.”
3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ ”
4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
5 Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
7 And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.
8 I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.
11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.
13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Jesus gets these stooges to think back on John the Baptist and his ministry of baptism. A ministry of remission of sins, preparing the way for the coming of the LORD and the kingdom of God. Jesus backs up His actions with proof from scripture that settles the authority issue. But they weren’t going to give in!
[31-32] Note how the stooges reasoned among themselves. Their concern was not to discover the truth; but to save face. They committed a threefold sin.
1. They deliberately denied Jesus. To confess that John was of God would force them to acknowledge Jesus. And they were not willing to confess Him. They feared the loss of all they possessed (position, power, wealth, esteem, image, security). Many a man is in this conundrum today. I’m not willing to give up the world for Jesus!
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
2. They feared men; they were cowards. They feared the reactions of people (abuse, ridicule, persecution). How many today won’t submit to the authority of Jesus Christ because of fearing what others might say?
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
3. They chose convenience over confession. They feared being embarrassed and ridiculed so they pleaded ignorance. To confess Jesus would mean confessing they had been wrong all along and His authority was from God, which they already knew. It would mean denying self completely and submitting to Jesus’ authority publicly.
It’s sad in them and in people today. How many people today choose convenience over confession. How many today would rather keep their position and live a lie than to submit to Christs’ authority and walk in truth.
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
3. The Stooges End; 33
3. The Stooges End; 33
Their answer was a condemnation of their soul. They knew who Jesus was, He had provided ample proof that His authority was from God, the Messiah, and they willfully rejected Him. Because of this, Jesus closed the door of grace for them.
This is a bad place for any man to be in. Yet there are many today who have been given the gospel message and they still willfully reject Him.
35 Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.
6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
38 See! Your house is left to you desolate;
Close:
There is a limit to God’s patience:
Those who hard-heartedly reject the light will eventually be abandoned to judicial darkness. God said of the pre-flood world, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years” (Gen. 6:3).
In a prayer of repentance, the returned exiles from the Babylonian captivity confessed regarding their ancestors, “You bore with them for many years, and admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, yet they would not give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands” (Neh. 9:30). Isaiah adds, “But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them” (Isa. 63:10).
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God reminded wayward Israel, “I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently, saying, ‘Listen to My voice.’ … Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them’ ” (Jer. 11:7, 11).
Luke 19:41 says that “when [Jesus] approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.’ ”
The merciful, saving message of the gospel would still be extended to the people, and thousands would be saved on the Day of Pentecost and beyond. But for the hard-hearted leaders, the door of opportunity was shut.
(Luke 18–24, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 2014], 117–18) MacArthur, J. (2015). Mark 9–16 (pp. 158–159). Moody Publishers.
Let me ask you a question today.
Who is the authority in your life? Jesus or you?