All Authority

INTRO

The caption for this photo on the NPR website was “Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as first Black woman on the Supreme Court.”

Do you remember back in March, during the second day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearings , Judge Jackson helplessly refused to define what a “woman” is.

Senator Marsha Blackburn asked her to define the word “woman.” Brown replied, “I can’t…I’m not a biologist.” Blackburn shot back, “The meaning of the word woman is so unclear and controversial that you can’t give me a definition?”

“Senator, in my work as a judge, what I do is I address disputes. If there’s a dispute about a definition, people make arguments and I look at the law and I decide.”

Senator Blackburn responded with “The fact that you can’t give me a straight answer about something as fundamental as what a woman is underscores the dangers of the kind of progressive education that we are hearing about.”

We live in a day where George Orwell’s 1984 Newspeak seems to be the norm. Words that were clearly understood for all of history, like marriage, man, woman, murder are all being redefined or undefined. And words like right, wrong, sin, and God are close to being removed from use.

These are difficult days to be a student when so many institutions are on the far left of culture. They are also difficult days for educators who are followers of Christ too. We need to clearly understand truth and the sources of truth and authority.

In today’s message, Jesus is confronted by religious leaders - the Jewish politicians of the day. They challenge his source of authority and Jesus masterfully makes them look foolish again.

Series

As we continue our series: The Crown & The Cross sermon, Mark’s Gospel shows Jesus as a man with a clear message and mission, and the reader is called to actively response to the message. Jesus’ responses always helped his listeners better understand God’s heart and his statements are typically clear commands for us to follow.

In the first half of Mark the emphasis was on seeing Jesus revealed as Messiah - the King who deserved the crown. Now in the second half the focus is on Jesus in Jerusalem fulfilling His life’s mission to suffer and die on the cross - and to rise from the dead.

In the last two sermons, we saw Jesus harshly judge the Temple and the Jewish leaders because of their unfruitful worship just as the fig tree was judged for having no fruit. Today, the religious leaders try to fight back as they plot their destruction of Jesus who they saw as a serious threat.

We are finishing up Mark chapter 11 today. Our parallel passages are Matthew 21 and Luke 20.

PRAY

READ Mark 11:27-33

Jewish Leaders Challenge Jesus vv. 27-28

It’s now Tuesday of Holy Week - the seven days from Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem to Easter - when he rose from the grave. Yesterday, Jesus entered the Temple and threw the animals and money changers out.

The next day, Jesus came back to Jerusalem and was walking through the temple and a group of Jewish religious leaders come to challenge Jesus.

The“chief priests, scribes, and elders” were the three groups that made up the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was composed of seventy-one members who had almost total freedom in religious matters but restricted power in political matters. They acted as a buffer organization between Rome and the Jewish nation. This would be a small group or delegation from the Sanhedrin rather than the entire council. Apart from his trial in Mark 14, this is the only instance in which the Sanhedrin approaches Jesus directly.

Both the approach and the question from the Sanhedrin show that the issue of Jesus’ authority was the major matter of concern with the religious leaders. When Jesus cleaned out the Temple the day before, Mark 11:18 says the chief priests and scribes were looking for a way to destroy him because they were afraid of him. His teaching and actions were a direct threat to their power over the people.

So they ask “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?”

These things definitely points to the cleansing of the Temple but it would also include Jesus’ power to heal any sickness, and his authority to forgive sinners, to command and cast out demons, to redefine the Sabbath, his teachings about God’s kingdom, marriage and divorce. And the call to repentance rather than offering up more sin sacrifices. Scribes and Pharisees had been asking Jesus similar questions throughout His ministry. But now that he is on their home territory, in the Temple in Jerusalem, they feel very threatened.

Jesus Asks a Question vv 29-30

In verses 29-30 Jesus responds in typical fashion with another question. In fact, he says if you can answer my question I will answer yours. Jesus is not evading the question or trying to avoid answering it - he is making a counter point about his authority.

Jesus question for them was “Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” This was not a hypothetical question or one to deflect their question. He called for their response. He wanted an answer.

When Jesus said heaven he literally meant God, but the Jews avoiding using God’s name out of reverence. Jesus is basically arguing that his authority and John’s were the same source.

Jesus asked about John’s authority for baptizing people - that included the call to repentance and God’s offer of forgiveness. John proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah and when he baptized Jesus, the Father spoke from Heaven, clearly identifying Jesus as His Son and Messiah. John helped establish the authority of Jesus.

Leaders Can’t Respond vv 31-33

The leaders discussed Jesus’ question among themselves for a while trying to find a reasonable answer. In fact, we hear their deliberation: if we say from heaven, he will say “Then why didn’t you believe him?” But if we say from man” then the people will hate us because they believed John was truly a prophet. We can’t win either way.

So their official answer, the final word was “We do not know.”

They reason they could not answer was not because they were not smart enough but because of their stubborn wills: they stood self-condemned. Jesus’ question was not a trap; it was yet another opportunity for them to realize and confess their blindness, and to ask for sight. By asking them about John, Jesus invited them to go back to the place where something new had begun to happen and affirm what God was doing. It was an opportunity to repent.

But sadly, they refused.

The Sanhedrin certainly remembered John’s powerful preaching - calling Jews to repentance and his insistence that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah. The link answered the leaders’ question about Jesus’ identity and authority. Jesus demanded a response from them - some kind of commitment—one way or the other, but they couldn’t do it.

The religious leaders simply would not evaluate the evidence that God graciously placed before them. God gave them John the Baptist, who conformed to OT expectation (1:1–11), and God attested to Jesus through miracles. But they chose agnosticism about John - we don’t know. (v 32), and earlier they had ascribe Jesus’ miracles to the work of the devil (3:22), even demanding further and different signs (8:11–13). Therefore Jesus would not reveal truth to them. The relationship between Jesus and the religious leaders has reached the point of final alienation.

Because the chief priests were basically politicians—but less popular than the politically powerless Pharisees—they wanted to balance the interests of both their people and the Roman authorities. So in their thinking, they had to keep popular opinion in mind when making decisions that might incur the displeasure of the people.

Jesus’ Final Word v 33

Since neither option was acceptable to the Sanhedrin, they pleaded ignorance in an attempt to save face. And so Jesus was not obligated to answer their question. His question about John implied that His authority, like John’s, was from God.

By suspending judgment, these religious leaders showed that they really rejected John and Jesus as God’s messengers. Throughout their history most leaders of Israel repeatedly rejected God’s messengers, a point Jesus made in the following parable (12:1–12).

Just as Jesus refused to answer their questions later when tried before Pilate, Jesus did not answer to the authority of the Sanhedrin now.

In Matthew 28:18-20 when Jesus is preparing to return to heaven, he gives his disciples their marching orders. We often call this the great commission when he said go make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey my words. But first Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus knew his authority for ministry was from God the Father and he sends his disciples out with that same authority. Our directions come directly from God and His Word not from people or some religious leaders.

SUMMARY

The Jewish leaders were caught in a dilemma of their own making. They were not asking “What is true?” or “What is right?” but “What is safe?” This is always the approach of the hypocrite and the crowd-pleaser. It certainly was not the approach of either Jesus (Mark 12:14) or John the Baptist (Matt. 11:7–10). Jesus did not refuse to answer their question; He only refused to accept and endorse their hypocrisy. He was not being evasive; He was being honest.

Take Aways

The only question that really matters in life is this: Who is Jesus Christ?

How you answer that one question makes all the difference for this life and eternity.

Have you accepted the statement: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life? Have you repented of your sins, accepted Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection as the only way to be forgiven and the only way to have peace with God? Do that today!

If you are already a believer, are guilty of hypocrisy? Do you say one thing and do another? Do you hold others to a higher standard than you live yourself?

Do you quickly judge other people and refuse to show them the grace and forgiveness God offers you?

Are you a people-pleaser who cares more about what people think about you than what God thinks or says is right? Is trying to keep with public opinion more important to you than God’s truth and His standards?

In James 4:17 we have this powerful reminder: Whoever knows the right think to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Don’t avoid speaking the truth or standing up for what is right because it is not popular. In Ephesians 4:15 we are called to speak the truth out of love for others.

Benediction

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. In the everlasting name of Jesus I pray. Amen.