Mark 11:27-33. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on July 26, 2020.
With the advent of this summer’s protests and the consequent actions, the question of authority is a timely one. The First Amendment of the US Constitution recognizes the God-given right of every citizen to peaceably assemble in order to give voice to their concerns, and to ask for redress of their grievances- what the Bible would call justice. Thus, the founding generation saw God as the one who authorizes our right to do so, not the government.
However, if God has authorized the action that you are taking then you had better do it in a way that is pleasing to him because you will be accountable to him. This is why our founders added the word “peaceably.” Those authorized by God must work peaceably in this age of his grace.
The same can be said for police officers who are to protect and defend the public good. It is God who tells men that they are to uphold righteousness within their nations. Each nation is responsible to set up the means of authorizing individuals to serve as police, and as judges, so that righteousness may flourish. Thus, there is a divine and human aspect to their authority. Again, let us not forget that an authorized person must act in accordance with and under the direction of that which authorizes them. Of course, this all applies as well to protesters as well.
Today, we are going back to the week leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, and to the question of just what authorized Jesus to do what he did.
Just the day before our passage, Jesus had driven the vendors and money changers out of the temple compound. The chief priests, scribes, and the elders of Israel were probably in shock at the time, but they have had their private discussions overnight and they are determined to publicly confront Jesus. Just who does he think he is? No doubt, they were watching for him to come into the temple area that day.
When he does, they are quick to confront him with a two-pronged question that is ultimately one. By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority? Now, the immediate context would suggest that this is not about his itinerant teaching in Israel and the working of miracles. Rather, they are questioning him about his right to interfere in the operations of the temple and to make it his public place of teaching. You see, they were the ones who had authorized the vendors and money changers to be there in the first place. Jesus had not so much challenged their authority, but rather, the particular things that they were using their authority to authorize. They legitimately sat in the seat of Moses, but they were not making legitimate judgments and decisions. They were unwilling to receive the public rebuke and were attempting to turn the tables on Jesus, so to speak.
Just because a person holds a position that is legitimately authorized by humans, it does not mean that they are actually authorized. In Jeremiah 23:32, God rebukes the false prophets of that day.
‘“Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet, I did not send them or command them; therefore, they shall not profit this people at all,” says the LORD.’ (NKJV)
Whether some of these guys falsely obtained their positions, or they held them legitimately, they were at the least misusing their authority. God was not pleased with their judgments. All authority in this world is ultimately answerable to God for its actions. Those who questioned Jesus did not realize that they should have been asking themselves that question regarding each decision that they were making. It is precisely their failure in this area that made it necessary for God to send His Son to set things right.
It can look like Jesus is avoiding the question, but notice that he actually promises to answer it, if they will answer his question first. “Was John’s baptism from heaven or men?” This is essentially the same question that they were asking, but regarding John the Baptist. Who gave him the authority to do what he had done? This is a masterful turn of the tables because they are assuming to be the proper authorities and are in judgment of him. Jesus essentially says, “Let’s see if you can judge the case of John the Baptist before you judge mine.”
Now, John’s ministry was far less controversial than the ministry of Jesus, but it was adversarial to the religious leaders nonetheless. They had not authorized John to baptize people in the Jordan River. He seemed to be skipping around their domain at the temple. John even publicly declared that they were a brood of vipers who needed to flee the wrath that was coming (Matthew 3:7). John 1:19-28 gives us a picture of these religious leaders examining John the Baptist. Jesus is merely asking them to publicly declare the conclusion of their investigations into John. Was following himself, or another man, or had God sent him?
There is another aspect to this. It was John who publicly declared that he saw the Holy Spirit come upon Jesus, and that he was the one that he had been promising would come after him, the Messiah. If John was authorized then it was most likely that Jesus was too.
It appears that they have a sort of huddle to determine their answer. However, they are in a predicament. If they say that John was authorized by heaven (God) then Jesus will ask them why they didn’t believe him, and embrace his ministry. Yet, on the other hand, if they say that John was not authorized by God then they feared what the people would say and do because it was popularly felt that John was a true prophet of God.
Here, we see part of the problem with all authorities and their authorizing mechanisms. They typically fear people more than they fear God. They rely upon the power of their position, but they always realize that if enough people reject them then they will lose it. What do powerful people who do not fear God do in such circumstances? They operate behind the scenes and in the dark to manipulate the passions of the crowd. O, Christian, let us not be caught up in the manipulations of wicked people, who have no fear of God, but rather, let us hear the crying of the voice in the wilderness.
“Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth…” (Isaiah 40:3 NKJV)
There are a lot of mountains that are yet to be brought low, and a lot of crooked people, both in leadership and among the people. God has a day of dealing with such, if they refuse to repent, but let us be about our Father’s business!
The leaders decide to say that they do not know by what authority John did what he did. Jesus then responds that neither will he answer their question. Those who refuse to give sound judgments do not deserve an answer because they do not seek truth, but are only serving themselves. Very few people in our day and age are actually seeking truth. Those who start out to do so are often hijacked by false prophets and the false wisdom of this age. If you are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and if you are in a daily relationship with God through prayer, studying the scriptures and doing the commands of Christ, then you will be able to navigate these times of peril in which we live.
Was Jesus authorized? Completely! The Scriptures foretold his coming, and it was even testified by Moses who said that a prophet would come that would be like him, raising up the house of God. They would need to listen to him. The prophet John had publicly revealed who Jesus was. The Spirit of God had powerfully worked through his ministry. He was the Son of God who had come to that which was his own. He was the Good Shepherd seeking out the lost sheep of Israel before the wolves would come and have their way. He is the only way to the Father by which all men must be saved! Yes, Jesus was authorized, but they refused to accept it because they loved lies rather than truth.
How about me? How about you? May God help us to love truth more than lies, even when the truth publicly reveals that I have not been as good as I have pretended before the world. Such a person will find Jesus and in him find eternal life!