Mark 11 27-33

I was talking a few weeks ago with someone in the church at the Monday night Bible Study about Jesus being our Lord and Savior. I have always grouped those two aspects of Jesus together. He is my Savior, the one who saves me from the consequences of my sin, and He is my Lord. He is the one in the position of authority over my life. It seems to me that many people are fine with Jesus being the Savior; I think intuitively we recognize that we are sinners and there is no way for us to become perfect on our own. So we appreciate the free gift of Jesus on the cross. We are happy that a way has been provided for us to avoid Hell.

On the other hand, it does not seem like so many people are interested in having a Lord. We humans tend to want to be our own Lords. We want to have our own authority; we don’t want to be answerable to anyone or anything for our actions. We want to do what we want to do, no consequences, all fun all the time. What I had always grouped together, Jesus as the Lord and Savior, many people feel comfortable about splitting. He can be my Savior, I hear, but not my Lord. My friend’s father wanted to have complete control, be autonomous and independent. So he quit working for other people and went into business for himself. He was good at what he did, but wasn’t good at business. Eventually he went bankrupt, lost his house, business and everything except his family. He didn’t want to answer to anyone but himself. In some ways his story is my image for what it means to not want to have a Lord. Now the analogy breaks down because this person is a committed Christian. But in terms of business and working, he wanted to be his own boss and eventually he paid the price because he didn’t have the business skills needed to be his own boss.

The thing is that we don’t have the wherewithal to be our own bosses either. We aren’t great at being the bosses of our own lives. We need a Lord, we need to be under Jesus’ authority. We get a chance to see Jesus talking about His authority today with some of the Pharisees in Jerusalem. Our text is Mark 11 starting in verse 27. Please stand.

They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”

Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—was it from heaven or from men? Tell me!”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say ‘From Heaven’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’…” (they feared the people, for everyone held that john really was a prophet.)

So they answered Jesus, “we don’t know.”

Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Let’s pray.

We’ve been headed through Mark for quite some time now and were getting deep into the good stuff, the stuff that often gets overlooked by folks as we seem to go every year straight through Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday and we skip a lot of good stuff. Because we are looking at the text like this, we don’t have to skip over anything interesting, like we normally do. I might add that this past year attendance was very light for the services during Holy week. The services were quite good, very meaningful and a good way to walk through Holy Week. So next year make sure you come to the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. It will bring Easter morning more alive for you.

Jesus, as you know, at this point in Mark, has arrived with the disciples at Jerusalem. He has traveled through Israel teaching, healing, arguing with the religious leaders and has come to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, which is actually a really good analogy for Jesus death. We’ll get to that image at some point later in the sermon series. He has already started trouble by throwing over the tables of merchants who were in league with the priests, he has stopped the flow of goods through the outer courtyard of the Temple, and he has accused the priests of turning the Temple into a place of commerce, instead of a place of worship. In fact, Jesus has pointed out to the priests that they are doing a disservice to their position and their God by keeping people away from God because of financial issues. The Temple, which was intended to be a house of prayer for all peoples, has degenerated into a pay to pray sort of place. Worship has come to be about money, real faith is mocked by the actions of the merchants and the priests.

Stung by Jesus’ condemnation, His public denunciation of their approved practices, the priests demand to know who Jesus is and how He can talk to them like that. Who talks to them like that? No one. They control access to God, and if the people wanted access to God, they would bow down to the priests and do it their way. But Jesus has no intention of bowing down to the chief priests and teachers of the law. He has no intention of perpetuating the nonsense passing for worship of the living God, no intention of validating what worship had turned into. So the priests wonder who He might be, and by what authority He condemns them. Good questions.

You’ll notice this is the next day after Jesus overturned the money changers tables. The chief priests and elders recognize Jesus and move to confront Him. They want to know what we already know from having read through Mark. They want to know who gave Jesus the authority to criticize their system, their religious ways. We know the answer. As early as chapter 1 in Mark, in verse 27 we’re given a hint after Jesus heals a man from a demon. “The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, ‘What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even givers orders to evil spirits and they obey him.’”

Or a couple of verses later we find Jesus standing over a paralyzed man who has been lower through the roof by his friends. Jesus says this to the teachers of the law who had come to check him out, “Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” And he did. So from the beginning we know that Jesus is a man of authority.

The Centurion in Luke 7 gives us the clearest glimpse of someone recognizing Jesus’ authority. He tells Jesus there is no need for Him to go to his sick servant, but just say the word, and the servant will be healed. “For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” The centurion recognized the authority Jesus carried in Himself; authority over sickness, authority to teach a new teaching, authority to cast out demons, authority to turn over the merchant’s tables in His Father’s house. We know this because we’ve read Mark; because we’ve been in Mark and know the authority Jesus has displayed. The chief priests and teachers of the law should have known. They should have been able to answer their own question, if they objectively looked at Jesus life. But they were blinded by their position of power, by their humanity that likes to build up their own authority, and not at all submit to another’s authority.

We know what the Temple attendants do not; Jesus has the authority of God in Himself. He is the only authority He needs. That is not true for us. We need to be under His authority, to go where He sends, to do what He says to do, to come when He says come. This is what it means to have a Lord, to submit our lives to God. It is to listen for His voice, it is to search His word for ways to please Him with our lives. It is to recognize that Jesus has authority not just in our lives, but over our lives. We can have many authorities in our lives; our mortgage payments, our job’s time demands, bosses and so forth. Jesus is not one of many authorities in our life; He is the authority. And there is no gray in that. Either Jesus is Lord in our lives, or He is not. We cannot have Jesus as a part-time, when-we feel-like-it authority. He is either our Lord, or not. He is the kind of Lord who dies for His subjects; His children. He is a kind and just Lord, but He is not one that will be ignored.

Jesus steps up to answer what the Pharisees already know.

Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—was it from heaven or from men? Tell me!”

You have to understand John the Baptist was a very popular person with ordinary Jews. He looked wild, but he was a local hero. His denunciations of the sins of people and the call to repentance changed people’s lives and really got the nation of Israel ready for the arrival of its Savior and Lord. But John wasn’t a typical teacher of the law; he hadn’t studied at the Temple, he hadn’t done the internships required to become a bonafide Pharisee or teacher of the Law. He hadn’t gone through the proper steps to have authority to teach as he did. Neither did Jesus. Jesus didn’t go through the proper channels to get His authority. It was given to Him by the Father. The people of Israel had determined that John’s authority was from God; they had decided the same thing about Jesus. His authority was from Heaven. But the teachers of the law and the chief priests weren’t so sure. They saw Jesus confronting them, and didn’t like what He was saying. So it was time to check Him out. These men were not committed to the truth; they wanted the truth to be their way, their truth. And so Jesus was not committed to them. Jesus doesn’t commit Himself to those who are not committed to the truth. In fact, Jesus gives them a push in the right direction, to help them see the error of their ways.

Was John’s ministry from Heaven, or was it something invented by John? We know how Jesus will answer if they say from Heaven, which is what most average Jews thought. We know the John proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah from Heaven. So the chief priests can’t say that John’s ministry is from Heaven because then Jesus will say, why don’t you listen to what John said about me. But then they cannot say that John’s ministry was from himself, because that would put them at theological odds with most of the country. They could have said what they knew was true, that John’s ministry was from God, and then followed the logic out that Jesus was the Messiah. But they didn’t want Jesus to be the Messiah. They wanted Him to be a trouble maker, they wanted Him to be an annoying fly of no consequence that they could swat. Instead of catching someone talking bad about them and the Temple, they are caught in a logical problem. People were around listening for their answer. How they answer is important. This is not a private conversation. This is an important theological conversation, ever since the day before when Jesus turned over the tables and the crowds hung on His every word.

Well, what is your answer? From God or from men?

So they answered Jesus, “we don’t know.”

Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

They won’t be honest with Jesus, so He won’t answer the question that they pose. That seems only fair. They have tried to trick Jesus, and so He chooses to let them think whatever they want to think. There are some people who will never come to the place where they believe in Jesus. They just refuse to believe it is so. This group of Pharisees was determined to prove Jesus was not who He said He was, and no answer would have made them decide Jesus was the Messiah. So why answer?

These men don’t want a Messiah. They are too busy saving themselves through their very righteous lives, through the good work they do for God. They’ve deluded themselves into thinking that they are on the right track. They don’t want a Lord. They’ve got themselves. I think they wouldn’t mind a Savior, but they’ve got a Lord of their lives, and he stares at them from the mirror. They don’t want Jesus authority. If Jesus told them the truth, they would just fight harder against Him.

I struggle with people like this. They sincerely believe that Jesus was wrong. And they sincerely rejected Jesus, thinking that the rules of the tradition would save their souls and deliver them into the great banquet in eternity. And they were sincerely mistaken. I wonder if I should argue with people who are sincerely wrong; who think their good deeds will save them, who aren’t interested in Christ, who think Jesus is simply a big bummer and killjoy…I wonder if arguing with them helps. I guess I handle it on a case by case basis. These people don’t mind having a Savior. But they really aren’t interested in having a Lord. And the trouble is that Jesus comes as a package deal. He is either your Lord and Savior or He is neither. He is either the authority in your life, or He is not at all. He is not one of many authorities; He is the Lord. God says very clearly you shall no other gods besides me. Not yourself, not your career, not your stuff, not your ego or your prestige or anything else comes before Jesus.

There is in this country the concept of Jesus as Savior and not Lord because we want to know what Jesus can do for me. We want to know what benefits are in this deal for us. But the truth is its own benefit. We have in this country people hawking all sorts of Jesus junk saying that blessed water or a blessed handkerchief will bring us all sorts of benefits. We will be wealthy, healthy and generally blessed because of Jesus Christ. And I think about that, and then I think what it means for someone in Pakistan or Iran or India to become a believer. Do you think their lives are going to be great and wonderful because of converting? No. They are routinely kicked out of their families, denied jobs, they are beaten, they are thrown in prison. Does becoming a Christian bring great benefit to them? Yes it does. They inherit eternity and now live in the truth under the authority of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. They believed a lie, and now know the truth. What is that worth to them and to us?

Are you willing to stand up under the authority of Christ, or are you still in this for yourself? Do you want a Savior and a Lord, or just a Savior? Be honest. God calls us to lay our lives down, and live for Him. We have it so easy, the cost for us is so small and so easy, and yet we hesitate, we delay, we hem and haw. The answer is very simple. Jesus is our authority; there is none other in Heaven, or on the earth or anywhere else. The cost to us can be high, but the rewards of living in the truth and grace of Christ cannot have a price. If you need to, come lay your life down at the cross. Jesus died to be your God, to be your King, to be your salvation and resurrection. Come and lay down your hopes and dreams, come lay down your time, your money, your desires, your secrets, your wounds, your possessions, your relationships. Come make a difference for God, come follow Jesus with your whole life.

Let’s pray.