Right Question, Wrong Answer. (Mark 11:27-12:12)

 Some people ask the right questions, and some people ask the wrong questions. The there are some people who don’t ask questions at all. Most primary school teacher will tell you that those young children who ask good questions are much more likely to learn than those who stay silent.

I’d like to talk this morning about the different scenarios involved in asking questions. I think we all know at heart that asking constructive questions and applying the answers can be a learning experience and a good thing. One other scenario is not that you don’t ask questions, rather it is that you ask the wrong questions and because of that, regardless of the answers you get, you still make the wrong choices. But it seems to me the worst possible scenario is that you ask the right question and get the right information but still make the wrong choice. 

There is a situation in the life of Christ were that very thing happens.

I think if we take a look at that situation, we will see they ask the right question, but they still make the wrong choice. Let’s see if we can learn from their mistake.

The opening of the passage is relatively straight forward. It will begin with the religious leaders of his day coming to Jesus and asking Him some questions. Interestingly Jesus response is to throw some question back at them and then a rather intriguing conversation takes place. Then at the end of this sort of Q&A session, Jesus then tells them a parable and he concludes by quoting some prophetic verses from the Old Testament. Now you will notice that there is a man-made chapter break in the passage, but I can assure you that all the main bible commentators agree this is one single narrative. 

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.

(Mark 11: 27)

Now remember prior to this Jesus had come up from Jericho and arrived in Jerusalem and cleared out the temple, by turning over the tables of the money lenders and driving out the traders. So, this is the next day and Jesus is in the temple courtyard again. We are then told that the Chief Priests the Scribes and the Elders come to Him and ask him a question.

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‘By what authority are you doing these things?’ they asked. ‘And who gave you authority to do this?’

(Mark 11: 28)

Now, this little trio of authority figures and representatives of the three main groups in the leadership of the Sanhedrin. So, this is an official cross examination by the religious leaders of the day in light of what Jesus had done there on the previous day. It was the Sanhedrin’s responsibly to check out any claims people made of being either a prophet or especially the Messiah. So, although it was their responsibility to do this, it seems in the case of Jesus they had already made up their minds. Remember this is the same group who had decided back in verse 18 that they were going to kill him.

The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

(Mark 11:18) 

So, they ask, by what authority are you doing these things, who gave you that authority. What they are specifically talking about is his cleansing the temple the day before. Now in a sense this is a trick question. It appears whatever way Jesus answers he will be trapped. These men aren’t actually looking for truth, they don’t really want to know by what authority he does these things, they are just looking for evidence so that they can destroy him. So, listen to how Jesus dealt with this situation.

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 of human origin? Tell me!’

(Mark 11: 29-30)

Does this strike you as a bit odd he answers a question, with a question.  The question He asks is, “where then did John the Baptist’s authority come from?” Was it from God in heaven, or was he just a self-appointed prophet? So, why does Jesus bring up John the Baptist? Well, let me remind you about what John the Baptist said about Jesus.

‘I baptise with water,’ John replied, ‘but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

(John 1: 26-27)

And a few verses later he is saying this about Jesus.

The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, “A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.” I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptising with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.’

(John 1:29-31)

So, we can see that John the Baptist testified about both the eternity of Christ, the deity of Christ (The fact that He is God in the flesh) and the fact that he would die as a sacrifice to take away the sins of the world. Therefore, Jesus is saying to the leadership of the Sanhedrin, what do you think about John the Baptist, everybody seems to agree he was a prophet, what do you think about what he said about me. Talk about turning the tables. So now they are in a dilemma, let’s look at what they do next.

They discussed it among themselves (UH OH, that’s never a good sign) and said, ‘If we say, “From heaven,” he will ask, “Then why didn’t you believe him?” But if we say, “Of human origin” . . .’ (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)

(Mark 11: 31-32)

So, they are in a bit of a mess no matter what way they answer. So, what’s the answer they give in the end, verse 33 

So, they answered Jesus, ‘We don’t know.’

(Mark 11: 33)

There were only ever two possible answers, was what he said was inspired by God, or by man but in the end their response is, “We don’t know”. So, Jesus then say’s.

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

(Mark 11: 34)

So, Jesus refuses to tell them by what authority He is doing these things. Why would he do that? Because Jesus knows exactly what He is up against. This is a group of people who have already decided to destroy Him. Jesus knows if they won’t accept or confirm the word of God, in this case coming from John the Baptist, someone who they had already recognised as a prophet of God. Then they are not going to believe him, no matter what he said, or did. Even if He was to rise from the dead.

I believe once people have made up their mind in a way that includes an out and out rejection of the Gospel, you might as well just back off and hand the situation over to the Lord. Don’t argue, or dispute anymore just try and avoid being drawn into what Paul tells Timothy such things are just “idle babblings”. (1 Tim 6:20) In this situation Jesus knew they had made up their mind and there is no sense going any further because they are not going to believe no matter what. You see the real dilemma the Sanhedrin faced was not whether this was true or false, it was whether the answer they gave was politically safe or unsafe. It actually tells us they were afraid of what the people might think. They were afraid because they know the people respected John the Baptist as a prophet sent by God. So, although Jesus was unwilling to answer their question directly, he then begins to answer it indirectly by telling them a parable.

Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: ‘A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall round it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.

(Mark 12: 1)

So, the farmer in the parable prepares the ground and puts in place the infrastructure and hands over the land to be looked after by men and for the crop to be prepared for the harvest to come.

At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

(Mark 12: 2-3)

Servant, one gets beaten and sent away empty handed, let’s see how servant two gets on. 

Again, he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.

(Mark 12: 4)

Wow, not getting any better is it, what about servant three, how does he fair.

He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

(Mark 12:5)

What would you do if you were the owner, would you send anyone else. Well let’s see what happen here.

‘He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, “They will respect my son. ‘But the tenants said to one another, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” So, they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. ‘What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.

(Mark 12: 6-9)

They killed him, and they didn’t even bury him, they just cast the body out of the vineyard….Talk about disrespect. He then asks the question what the owner will then do, “He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others”. It is commonly agreed that this is the very straightforward illustration of this parable.

Q            Who is the owner of the vineyard?

A             God does..

Q            Who are the people He sent to them?

A             The prophets in the Old Testament and the Apostolic writers in the New Testament.

Q            Who is the son he then sent?

A             Jesus.

They stoned the prophets, and they killed the son, and they did these things motivated by the desire to take over the situation and live without accountability to their creator and master. So, the owner then eventually gives the vineyard to others. But remember only after giving them multiple opportunities to pay the debt they owed him. In fact, he repeatedly showed them patience they didn’t really deserve. 

God is generous, God is patient, God is self-giving, and God is just. Men and women will often take liberties with the generosity and patience of God but in the end justice and judgement must come. The judgement when it does come is always just. God will often bear along with disobedience and rebellion but in the end, he will act. Human nature means people will always think they can act against God and get away with it. But this shows us that if people accept their privileges but refuse their responsibilities God will eventually give them to someone else. Then Jesus concludes his interaction with the leadership of the Sanhedrin by saying, back to the text.

Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture: ‘“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes?’

(Mark 12: 11)

Jesus here is directly quoting Psalm 18. So, who do you think the stone is? That’s right Jesus, and He tells us the stone will be rejected. However, then He says, the stone that was rejected as being unworthy has become the cornerstone. Amazing, the very stone that was rejected has become the stone upon which the whole edifice is constructed. For every single human being on this planet Jesus represents a stone of some sort. He is either, the stone upon which they trip, the stone upon which the stumble, or He is the cornerstone upon which they build their lives.

So, let me try and pull this together and let me finish by saying how I think this all applies in our lives. The whole point of this is that we see the Sanhedrin leaders ask questions, the right questions by the way. But they make the wrong decisions. They decide to reject him, in fact, they decide to kill Him and because they made the wrong decision what they hoped for, they won’t receive and, in the end, they will be overlooked and replaced. Yes, Jesus Christ is going to be rejected and killed, but in the end, Jesus Christ is going to be exalted. Its intriguing isn’t it that they asked him a question, and he asked them a question right back, As an aside I think as Christian believers we too need to learn to ask better questions. Did you know that across the four Gospel account Jesus asked over 200 different questions? In fact, the first sentence he is recorded to have spoken is a question, “why do you seek me”. Luke 2

The second thing he is seen to utter is a question. “Do you not know I must be about my father business”. His first conversation with His disciples was a question “What do you see”? The opening statement at the beginning of His ministry period is a question, “Woman what is it you have to do with me”? The reason Jesus asked questions was not because he needed to know information, it was because he wanted to give people an opportunity respond. He wanted people to state plainly what they were thinking, what they believed. Last verse today.

And they sought to lay hands on Him, but they were afraid of the crowd; so, they left him and went away.

(Mark 12: 12)

The main application of this passage is a message for people who have never trusted in Jesus Christ, and a warning to those who reject his message all together. Because it tells you if you do that, if you continue to do that, God will be patient, God will be Kind, God will be long-suffering, but eventually you will have that decision to separate yourself from God made permanent. That’s the first and foremost application of this passage and if you have not trusted in Jesus Christ, then please do so before you do anything else today. Why, because I would not wish for you to see the consequences of that decision made permanent.

None of us know how long we have on this earth, so make that decision, today. Don’t be frightened of what the crowd might think, don’t walk away, let Jesus be your cornerstone. Let Him be the rock upon which you build your life from this day forward. Not the stone upon which you stumble. 

I want to make a final observation that applies to all of us. I think there is a principal truth embedded in this story that is for everyone, but you got to dig a little deeper to find it, and it is this. God has showered us with good things, and we do not respond as we should. Talk about the patients of our Father God. From the very beginning He sent prophet after prophet firstly to the Nation of Israel, but the religious leaders of that day uniformly ignored Him. So, the question we all need to ask ourselves, is, has God blessed you? Well then, have you responded as you should?

The tenants of the land in the parable Jesus talked about, were not even thankful for the gift of the vineyard they had been given. Are you like one of those tenants? Has God in his goodness keeps showering you with good gifts? Have you even bothered to say thank you? Have you committed your life to Jesus. If so, what are you doing to serve Him. What indeed are you doing to serve the people he loves and cared about so much, that he was prepared to lay down his life to set them free from the power of sin.