Answering Questions with Questions: Final

Intro

Hello, my name is Clint. Thank you so much for joining us today here in person and online. I am excited to share with you today, but first let me tell you about Project Timothy

Friends we had 41 high school students come to Duluth this week. They came from across Minnesota, WI, and Illinois, and they have taken the last 4 days to invest in their relationship with God. We saw so many amazing things happen. People had breakthroughs, they were set free and healed, friendships where made, and for me really personally, I’m filled with a ton of hope. God is working in this Generation of Young believers and some powerful ways. I’m so excited to have them as leaders in the church. If you see one of them, ask them how there week has been.

We are continuing a series of messages that focus’s on the questions Jesus asked. Last week Brian looked at how Jesus used questions to poke and prod at our pride, and how that can produce transformation in our lives.

It’s important to remember that when Jesus asks ask a question, there is a reason behind it. He uses questions to get us thinking so that we move closer to him.

This part of Jesus frustrates me. I want Jesus to tell me what to do, not help me figure it out by asking questions.

My family is a strong military family. Legend has it that when the first Considine came across the pond from Ireland wrote home and told his family how great the United States was Great. They gave him a job as soon as he got off the boat, he was fell fed and cared for, and you know what, the whole Clan should come. That job was in the Union Army, and he promptly died in the Civil War, following orders. But you know what, the rest of the Considine Clan, they followed orders too, and they immigrated here. Following orders is in my Blood!

That’s why I loved my time in the service. Most of the time, I could just turn my brain off. Stand here, dress this way, do this task this way. Follow orders.

But, Jesus has a different method. Jesus doesn’t want mindless robots, he desires disciples, people who learn how to reflect his image, his character qualities, his goodness into the world. He wants to teach us how to be about the things of God.

If you want a task done, give an order. If you want to teach somebody how to think, ask them a question. (Pause) Jesus wants to teach us, so he asks questions.

Today, we are going to be looking at a couple of instances of were Jesus was asked a question, and instead of giving a straight answer, he reply’s with a question. He’s teaching these would be question askers, and us, how to think. On the surface, it may seem like Jesus is dodging their question, but that’s not it at all. Jesus is using these questions to teach us how to really see the world. He’s challenging us and our current way of thinking, and he is inviting us to draw close to him, and see the world the way that he see’s it.

So today, we are going to start in Luke 20:1-8, you can open that verse up, but first let me set the scene for you:

Main Point #1 Questions About Authority

Sub Point #1 Jesus’s Authority Questioned

Jesus came to Jerusalem shortly before the passover and the people started freaking out. They were singing songs of praise to him in the street and saying things like “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord”

From there, Jesus went up to the temple and shook things up. Remember, the temple is the center of Jewish life at this point, and he walks in and drives out people who were doing business there.

And as you can imagine, this upset those in power.

Who is this backwoods, un-credentialed, illegitimate son of a carpenter to come in here like he owns the place.

The religious leaders weren’t happy, and then we read this verse.

Looks look at Luke 20:1-8

“One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?” He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.” Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.””

We have Jesus proclaiming the good news in the temple. In the beginning of Mark it says the good new Jesus proclaimed was that

“The time has come,” “The kingdom of God has come near.” And that we are to “ Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)

The time is now, God’s Kingdom is so close you can touch it. This was the good news than and still is the Good News now. God is with his people, he is near, you can reach out and touch him. Jesus is teaching and Then we see this confrontation happen.

Jesus is approached by the Chief Priests, the Teachers of the Law, and the Elders

Three groups of people, and each one of them had power and authority.

The Chief Priests, they traced their authority all the way back to Aaron and Levi. They took care of and ministered in the temple. This was their place.

The Teachers of the Law, they had authority. They had studied the scripture forwards and backwards. They were the experts in God’s word and Law.

And the Elders, they had age, and wisdom. They were leaders in social and economic affairs, they had authority.

And they come to Jesus and ask by what authority are is he doing these things.

Picture it. You are in this temple, listening to this young preacher from a small town. He is saying things about how God isn’t distant or angry, but he is so close that if stretched out your hand, you could touch him. And then a crowd of some of the most important people in the City come up and say “Hey, who gave you permission to be here? Who said you could stand here and preach. It wasn’t any of us, and we run the show, so who was it?

Can you feel the tension!!

Has this ever happened to you? Has someone ever gotten really aggressive and in your face over something? I have and it was scary.

Years ago, I parked too close to my neighbors driveway....apparently. She knocked on my door and started chewing me out.

How dare you park there! Who do you think you are!! What gives you the right to do that? I never thought I would be so scared of a little old lady before, but she put me on the defensive immediately. I didn’t know what to say.

Most of us have probably, at least once been on that end of an attack like that.

How about the other way? Have you ever gotten aggressive, or passive aggressive with somebody?

Friends, the religious elites in this chapter, I think they get a bit of a bad rap, but we are all right there with them.

We all have gotten mad at that person that has parked too close. “Who do they think they are?!” We have all second guessed a boss who is just trying to do the best they can “If I were in charge, I would do things so much different” And just like the religious elites, in each of our lives, we have things where we deny the authority of God. (Let it hang!!!!) .......

We’ll talk more about that in a minute… but first, let’s look at how Jesus responds in this situation in Luke 20. Does he call down lighting and smite them, does he summon a choir of angels to proclaim where his authority comes from. Nah, he asks a question.

Sub point #2 Answering with a Question

He plays the old Uno reverse card and flips it around. He asks them a question about John the Baptist.

John the Baptist was Jesus older cousin. He had started his public ministry before Jesus and his message was that God was coming and people needed to get ready their hearts to receive him.

As an expression of being ready to receive God, tons of people had gone out to the Jordan river to get baptized by John.

He was very popular with the people, but John had been imprisoned by Herod for challenging the sin in Herod’s life, and eventually John was put to death. Herod was a jewish person that the Roman Government had installed as a local ruler. He was a Roman Puppet.

So, Jesus asks this question about John, and he redirects the conversation.

With a single question, he turns their attack on him, into an invitation for a discussion. They power up and try to take him down, and he basically says, I’m not having that conversation with you, I’m not having this fight with, instead, lets talk about this.

Jesus doesn’t power up. He’s the martial artist using the momentum of his opponent to leverage on opportunity. Instead of answering their surface level question, Jesus uses a question to dive deeper and invite the religious elites into something more.

He turns their attack inward and invites them to examine their motivation, the thing at their core that is driving there decisions.

Sub point #3: Where is your Security

Look how they respond: They say, well if we say it was from God, he will ask us why we didn’t believe him, but if we say it was from humans, they people will kill us they really believe he was a prophet.

They were looking for a way out that will allow them to save face and stay in power.

Their motivation wasn’t because they cared where Jesus’s authority came from, their motivation was self preservation.

If John and Jesus really came from God, think of all the things they would lose.

They would lose their statues as God’s mouthpiece on earth.

They would lose being the most prestigious people in the culture.

And, they’d have to admit that they were wrong about John and about Jesus.

Anybody ever have to admit that they were wrong? Admitting we are wrong challenges our pride.

The Elites here operate out of fear and self-preservation and try to find a way to save face.

How many times do we operate from a place of fear and self-preservation and ignore the voice of God in our lives?

When we are challenged, when we feel like we are losing control, when we feel the chaos of life swirling around us, what is our default? What do you reach for.

Do you try to hold on to control. Do you power up and get big, and muscle your way threw? Do you double down and trust that if you can just work a little harder, then you will be okay, then you will be safe. You can fix it, you can save it.

Do you distance. You just detach and withdrawn, because if you don’t try, then your insulated from the pain. You put walls up to make sure that you will be okay.

Do you try to calm that anxiety with a drink, with a pill, with a relationship. You are scared, your questioning your worth, but you know if you send that one 2am text message, you at least wont be alone.

Security

Friends, today Jesus is asking you the same question he did to the Religious Elites. What is motivating you? Is it the Voice of God? Or is it the voice of Fear and Self-Preservation?

We are being invited to trust that the God who hung the stars wants to be our safety and security.

We cannot prevent all the chaos in the world, but we get to choose how we respond. Are we going to try to carve out a safe world on our own. Are we going to listen to that voice that tells us to power up, or disconnect or distract ourselves, are we going to listen to the voice of God, that calls us to trust him.

Are we going to believe God when he says that we don’t need to be afraid, because the Kingdom of God is so close you can reach out and touch it.

Can you trust that listening to the Voice of God is better than listening to the voice of self- preservation.

Transition

Jesus asks this question and invites the religious elites into this relationship of trusting in Divine authority and they say no thank you.. They choose to listen to those other voices rather than the voice of God.

And then they hatch a plan to try and get Jesus arrested killed.

They rejected Jesus, and then we see them escalate their ugly behavior. Now they are trying to get him arrested. Eventually, they try and succeed and Jesus gets executed. Friends, we get to choose which way we move. We are either moving towards God, or we are moving away from him. When we choose to move away from him that has consequences. Sometimes we get hurt by our decisions, sometimes the decisions we make out of fear or self-preservation hurt other people. (Let it hang)

One of the the beautiful things about our God is that he never gives up on us. He is always inviting us into more.

We see this a little farther down in the story when this same group hatch a plan to get Jesus arrested.

They reached for self-preservation, and they tried to trap Jesus with another question. And we see Jesus do the same thing here, he uses a question to redirect them and gives them an opportunity to draw closer to the Lord.

Lets look at Mark 12:13-17

Main Point #2: Questions about Identity

Subpoint #1: Jesus’s Loyalty Questioned

Mark 12:13-17 “Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him.”

This is such a good trap you guys. The Pharisees and the Herodians weren’t really allies. The Pharisees believed in moral purity, the law, and an Isreal free from the corruption of Caesar and Rome

The Herodians supported the puppet king Herod. They were for compromise with Rome. An Isreal ruled by an Isreal King with some Roman influence was better than Rome burning the temple down and dragging them all into slavery again.

And here you have them asking if its right to pay taxes to Caesar.

Do you see the trap here? Listen to this quote from Conrad Gempf in Jesus Asked:

“Rome is an occupying army, a pagan government usurping God’s authority in the land he graced to his people. Is it right to pay tribute and show honor and submission to such a figure as the self-styled “divine” Emperor? Were Jesus to answer, “Yeah, okay, Pay the taxes,” it might well be taken as a denial that Israel as a nation belonged to God and that they should serve him alone. If, on the other hand, he were to answer, “No; we owe allegiance to no one but the Lord God,” he will be acting against Rome, virtually preaching noncompliance and rebellion, and would be liable to arrest and punishment. Again, although we readers know that Jesus is preparing to submit himself to arrest at the hands of Judaism and Rome, the characters in the story do not-they assume that such a fate would be the end of him. “

No matter what Jesus says, somebody is going to get him, either the Pharisee’s or the Herodians. They are asking Jesus “Where does your Loyalty Lie”

And once again, we see him redirect their question with a question of his own.

Subpoint #2: Where is your identity?

First, he asks for a coin. On the coin would have been a picture of, most likely, the current Emperor, and some sort of signature something like “Tiberias Caesar, son of the divine Augustus” claiming Caesar’s divine right to rule.

And then he asks his question, and they way its worded he is really saying something like “Whose image is this, and whose signature, oh, so its his, when then give him back what’s his.”

Now, this isn’t just a clever way to get out of being torn apart by these two politically opposite groups.

Look at that last part: Give to God what is God’s

Give Caesar the things that bear Caesar’s Image, and give God the things that bear God’s image.

To bear someone’s imagine is to reflect their nature and character.

Jesus redirects their question about loyalty by asking his own: Whose image do you bare, God’s or Caesar’s.

Do we desire the things of Caesar: Power, Privilege, Wealth, control or do we desire the things of God: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control

Jesus redirects their question and asks his own, deeper question: “What do you want to look like?”

This is very much tied to that first question about authority.

We are challenged through these questions to examine what’s at our core.

What voices are we giving authority in our lives, what image do we bear, what is our primary identity.

Do we first and foremost consider ourselves Citizens of the Kingdom of God, Son’s and Daughters of the Creator of the Universe.....or do we bear a different image. Are we taking on the nature of character of a different authority and shining that back out into the world instead of God’s love and his goodness.

Jesus is inviting us to examine who and what we call Lord.

And we all have places in our lives where we have chosen to kneel before Caesar instead of before Jesus.

A couple of election cycles ago, I gave a lot of power to the talking political heads, I gave them way too much authority in my life. I was listening to podcasts almost everyday that told me why this political party was the only thing that could save our country.i’d turn on the radio and listen to somebody else walk me through step by step how the other-side, if elected would bring about the end of life was we know it.

And I found that the more and more I listened to it, the more I looked like Caesar and the less I looked like the Carpenter from Nazareth.

I was angry, I was on edge, I was defensive, I was meant and I thought that it was all justified because I was right.

Being civically engaged is good, being aware and informed is good, and and the same time, we need to keep sight of the fact that our primary citizenship is in the Kingdom of God. And our hope for the future is not a political party, its not a form of government.

Our hope is in a person who hung on a cross for us, a God that sacrificed himself so that you and I could be free of Caesar, free of all the voices that try to take authority in our lives.

We need to learn how to let the Lord challenge those voices. We need to create space in our lives where God can call out those things that aren’t from him, and we can receive his power to submit and surrender to him and be transformed into the people he has created us to be.

That’s what happened to me. I felt the nudge from the Lord that I was consuming too much of that political media, and it was changing me into someone I didn’t want to be.

So let’s spend the last bit of our time together today taking a look at how we can give back to God what is God’s. Let’s look at how we can intentionally create space in our lives to let Jesus challenge those voices that aren’t from him so that we can receive the strength, hope and freedom that he has for us.

Main point #3: How to be Challenged

We are going to look at a passage that shows how Jesus prayed in one of the darkest moments of his life on Earth. Here we see Jesus about to be arrested. He knows what’s coming, and he is distressed, so he enters into a time of prayer.

By the way, we have a whole class coming up that dives deeper into this. If you want to press in more you should come check out our Learning to Pray like Jesus Class. I’m going to give you the nitty gritty, but the information in that class can change your life.

This verse comes out of Luke 22: 41-43 “He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.”

Sub point #1: Draw Close

To quote our Senior Pastor Michael, I think the word used here for prayer in the original langue is Fascinating!!

It is a compound word, and the first part of it means go to a place of prayer or draw close

We see Jesus doing this here. Not only does he physically go somewhere, to a garden but more importantly he draws close to God in an intimate way, he enters into God’s presence. Thats one of the key components of prayer.

There is this nearness. The Kingdom of God is close enough to touch.

Maybe your different but I know I have prayed a lot of prayers where I haven’t really drawn close to God. Sometimes my prayers sound more like a Christmas list

God please keep my girls safe. Help me to find time to finish my nutrition class homework and maybe help out people who are sick, amen.

And while those prayers aren’t the worst, we should be praying about things all the time, even on the go, we need to take that time to draw close to God. It’s when take the time to draw close and listen, that God whispers things to us. He affirms us, he challenges us, we feel his love for us.

I’ve got two little girls at home, and they are always running around being crazy. But every once in awhile......they go to sleep and my house is quite. I lay down in my bed, and my old boy cat Dexter emerges from his hiding place.

He crawls up on the bed and he lays right on my chest. He draws close to me in the quite. And I scratch his years, and I whisper to him so that I don’t wake up the girls “Dex, your such a good boy. You deal with so much chaos around here, I’m so proud of you. I wish you wouldn’t throw up on the rug when your bowl is only half full. But appreciate how you’ve never carried a mouse up into the bed”

That’s what we do in prayer, we draw close. We sit down and lean up against our heavenly Father. We listen for the affirmation and the challenges.

This is what Jesus is doing in the Garden. He is wrestling with going to the cross, he is anxious and distressed, so he draws close to God. And then he does something that no kitty cat has ever done in the history of the world...... he submits.

Sub point #2: Let Go

He says: Not my will, but yours be done. God the Son submits to the will of the God the Father. He is saying, Father, only you have authority in my life. You are in charge, not me, I submit to you.

The second part of that compound word for prayer has to do with this, with us laying stuff down. We submit these things in our life that have a hold of our identify.

This takes effort on our part. We intentionally draw into Gods presence, and we let go of our Fear, we let go of the Self-Preservation that drives us. We let go of our conflicting loyalties. We let go of the voices that have power over us that aren’t from God.

This is an active thing, it’s not passive, or weak. It’s brave, it’s bold. This is what Faith is. Trusting that if we let this stuff go, if we submit control of our lives and give it over to God, he will keep us secure.

This requires effort, and it can be painful, and it is so good. We don’t have to be controlled and defined by these other things.

What is the thing that has taken control of your life that you are being invited to let go of today?

It might be a relationship or the desire for relationship. And that thought of keeping the other person happy, or finding that person that makes you happy, it the thing that controls you. It eats you up. It’s what you think about when you wake up, and before you go to bed.

Maybe its the desire for the next title in your job, or see YOUR name written somewhere special.

For lots of us there was a moment in our past that has defined us, and we are stuck there. We see ourselves there the lens of that moment

Or the thing that controls us it might be something that really good, but that really good thing is controlling you more than God. I want to be a good husband, I want to be a good follower of Jesus first. If I flip those, I’m missing the boat on both

What is it for you?

Are you like me, and you find yourself consume things, Politics, media, unhealthy talk from or about your co-workers, and as you consume these things, you can feel yourself turn into a person that you don’t like.

Today, can you let that go and stop listening to those voices. Let them go so that they don’t define you. Only God gets to define you.

Sub Point 3: Receive from God

What we see in this verse is that Jesus draws close to God, he lets go, he submits, and then an Angel comes and gives him strength.

Friends, when we draw close and let go, God has gifts for us too. There are going to be incredibly hard times, from here we see Jesus get arrested and journeys towards the cross, there are going to be hard times, but we don’t have to do them alone.

And maybe you’ve go an area of your life where you feel alone. There is some weight that has been dragging you down, there is some obstacle that you can’t over come, there is some voice that is so loud in your head that you think you might never be free from it.

What if today God wants to give you a gift. What if today is the day you get to see breakthrough and transformation in your life. (Pause)

Friends, as we get ready to close today, let’s remember that Jesus asked questions to redirect us and invite people closer to him.

Conclusion

Each one of us here today is being invited into more. Jesus is asking each one of us a question, just like he did all those years ago.

Security

He is asking, where is your security? Is it in me or something else?

He wants to point out all the ways we are getting our security from things other than him. Instead of relying on our own strength to feel secure, today there is an invite to rest in his love, knowing that no matter what happens, the God of the Universe is with us and will take care of us.

Identity

He’s asking what is the thing that is defining you, where is your identity. Do you see yourself first as an Image Bearer of the most high God, or do you see yourself through a different lens

Draw Close and Let Go

And as the Holy Spirit highlights all the ways, both big and small, where we are acting out in fear, in self-preservation, or where we have chosen loyalty to something over and above Jesus, as he points those things out to us, there is an invite.

Jesus is asking each one of us here today to draw close to him, and to let go of those things, submit those things to him, and let him strengthen you. Let him help you, let him love you....

Call to action

And the question you have to ask yourself, is will you respond? Will you take a risk, will you have Faith, that if you draw close and let go, the Creator God will meet you in powerful ways.

Let’s answer that question together by entering into a time of ministry together

Ministry

SALVATION CALL!!!!!

Dark Caesar influence

Defined by a moment (words spoken over you)