Sermon Tone Analysis

Things are not always as they seem.

Appearances can be deceiving.

Don’t judge a book by its cover.

Think with me.

Is the truth always self-evident?

Is reality - the way things actually are - always obvious?

The answer to these questions is, of course, that truth is not always self-evident, and the reality is not always obvious.

The man who appeared to be a poor busker by the subway is actually a world class musician.

The man driving the luxury car and wearing the nice suite is over his head in debt and about to declare bankruptcy.

The instagram feed that appears to be one blissful moment after another is actually controlled by a depressed teenage girl who can’t get her life in order.

Things are not always as they seem.

Appearances can be deceiving.

Don’t judge a book by its cover.

Now, consider the danger if we evaluate things according to our first impressions.

We might miss out on that which is actually significant, like someone mistaking a winning lottery ticket for a piece of trash on the street; or we might be; or we might invest our lives into something which is not important; like someone throwing their life’s savings into a pyramid scheme that will give no return.

At the most fundamental level, this is one of humanity’s biggest problems.

We don’t see as God sees, we don’t understand as God understands, and so we don’t evaluate as God evaluates.

But in our folly, we think that we’re wise, and we go on chasing the wind, making sandcastles on the beach, or like the Greek myth, we’re like Sisyphus rolling the stone to the top of the mountain only to have it come crashing down again.

How often are we calling insignificant what God says is glorious?

How often are we bored with something when God wants us to be captivated by it?

Or, how often are we enamored with what God is repulsed by?

How often are we drawn to something that God disdains?

How often are we impressed by something that God finds repugnant?

Our text this morning helps us see what is not obvious.

It reveals realities to us we have a hard time grasping.

It shows us something beyond appearances and presentations into reality itself, and helps us to see reality how God sees it, and to live accordingly.

So much of what we cannot know by intuition or observation, God reveals by his word.

And in our text this morning we are going to take a closer look at Jesus, and perhaps, in doing so, we’ll come to a clearer, more realistic, more accurate picture of Jesus.

Mark 12:35-37.

Our outline is going to be simply phrase by phrase.

Please, take out your Bible and follow along.

1 “And as Jesus taught in the temple.”

Let’s remind ourselves of the context for a moment.

Look at 11:1-10 - describes Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem.

For three years Jesus had demonstrated his miraculous power all across Israel, people recognized his authority, and when he came into the city he was greeted with an uproar from the crowds.

Monday morning, on his way back to Jerusalem, he cursed the fig tree.

The fig tree had leaves but no fruit; the appearance of fruitfulness, but the lack of any vital life, and he saw in it a parallel to the nation of Israel.

Israel appeared healthy - large temple, activity in the courts, religious leaders everywhere - but they were corrupt to the core, and deserving of God’s curse.

And that’s why Jesus stormed the temple and cleaned the place up in verses 15-19.

Israel’s temple worship was a sham.

It was hypocritical, money-loving, self-absorbed.

After clearing the temple, Jesus taught the rest of the day and then returned to Bethany at night.

Tuesday morning on the way in (vs 20-26) Jesus taught on the vital principles of following him: faith, prayer, and forgiveness.

And it’s that Tuesday that he begins to get bombarded with antagonistic questioners.

11:27-12:12 the chief priests, scribes, and elders ask him a religious question 1) “where do you get your authority to do these things?”

And Jesus refuses to answer plainly and instead tells a parable about them rejecting God’s son.

Then a political question about whether they should pay taxes.

His answer: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar and to God the things that are God’s.”

Then the Sadducees come at him with a theological question, asking him about marriage in the resurrection, and Jesus corrects their bad theology.

And then finally we get a question that’s not so hostile: the scribe asking about the greatest commandment, to which Jesus responds that it is love - for God and for neighbor.

All of this has happened on Tuesday - “as Jesus taught in the temple.”

2: “He said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?”

Now Jesus goes on the offensive.

Verse 35 says, “And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?” Again, for those of us who desire to teach well, whether that’s in one-to-one counseling, small groups, Sunday schools, or preaching, the text says that he “taught” and that the way he taught was by asking a question.

We think of teaching as disseminating information.

That’s part.

It’s also getting people to think by asking questions.

Have you noticed how frequently Jesus is asking questions in order to teach?

How much more persuasion and influence would you have with your children, your students, the people you’re counseling, discipling - if you mastered the art of the question?

Jesus here mentions the scribes - scribes were educated students of the law, committed to translating and interpreting it.

They would have been there in the temple courtyard with him.

Now, his question is “how can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?”

The “son of David” was the title Jews had for the promised king who would come from David’s line and reestablish David’s kingdom and rule from David’s throne.

See, Israel had experienced an apex of glory under king David, but after him things slowly declined until they crumbled and Israel went into exile.

But all along there were prophets saying the “son of David” would come and reestablish Israel and establish a righteous kingdom.

Now, in the last few chapters of Mark, it’s clear that Jesus knew he was the true son of David, and that the people knew he was too.

Remember the blind man, Bartimaeus in chapter 10? Jesus was called “son of David” and responded to it.

Jesus is the son of David, and he knows it.

In chapter 11, the crowds shout “Hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessed in the coming kingdom of our father David!

Hosanna in the highest.”

So everyone knew Jesus was claiming to be the son of David.

But here, Jesus asks “why do the scribes say the Christ is the son of David?” Jesus appears to be calling into question one of the most foundational truths about the identity of the messiah.

What is he doing?

He’s setting up a tension; a dilemma.

Jesus wants to put two seemingly contradictory truths side by side and to help them figure out something profound.

3 “David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared.”

Now, he’s about to quote Psalm 110.

But before we look at that, notice that little prepositional phrase “in the Holy Spirit.”

As Jesus quotes this Old Testament psalm, he does two things.

First, he establishes the authorship of David.

David wrote it.

But Second, he emphasizes that David’s work is divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit.

David was not merely inspired, like a poet is inspired by a sunset.

David wrote by the direction and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which means that as David spoke, the Spirit guided his every word, so that what we read is yes, David’s Words, and God’s Words.

4 “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.”

Now here, Jesus quotes the first part of Psalm 110.

This is the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament.

The early church loved this psalm, which is funny, because most of us are completely unfamiliar with it.

We love Psalm 23, the Lord is my Shepherd, but Psalm 110? It’s confusing to the modern reader: “The Lord said to my Lord” - what?

Keep your finger in Mark 12 and turn over to Psalm 110 because I want you to see something.

When you look at verse 1, you see “The LORD” and the letters are all caps, says to my Lord where only the L is capitalized.

The first LORD translates the Hebrew word Yahweh.

Yahweh is the covenant name of God.

Yahweh is how God revealed himself to Moses.

Not a title, a name.

Now the other word we see here as “Lord” is the Hebrew word “adonai.”

Adonai means “sovereign one” or “master.”

Now this is a title, and most of the time it is a title used to describe God himself.