WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:01.360 Morning, church. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:07.200 Scripture this morning is from Mark eleven, verses twenty-seven through thirty-three. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:14.480 And they came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him. 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:17.679 And they said to him, By what authority are you doing these things? 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:20.160 Or who gave you this authority to do them? 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:27.039 Jesus said to them, I will ask you one question, answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:30.079 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:31.039 Answer me. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:37.840 And they discussed it with one another, saying, If we say from heaven, he will say, Why then did you not believe him? 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:39.840 But shall we say from man? 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:44.880 They were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:47.280 So they answered Jesus, We do not know. 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:51.840 And Jesus said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:53.039 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:54.159 You can be seated. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:00:58.240 Good morning. 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:01.200 Welcome to church. 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:02.960 This morning, my name is James Rathman. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:05.120 I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:06.079 Thanks so much for joining us. 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:08.560 It's great to gather and worship with you all. 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:13.680 Uh great job on the uh Shema, the hero Israel, Lord our God is one. 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:15.680 That's a nice way to start the day. 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:20.159 So this morning we are moving back into Mark. 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:26.560 We've been in Mark for this is our fifth fall moving through the gospel according to Mark. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:29.680 And we are coming close to the end. 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:31.680 We're not going to finish Mark. 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:33.200 Maybe ever. 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:37.200 But we're not going to finish Mark this year. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:45.760 But we are going to be moving through, continue moving through this time in Mark, which is Holy Week, which is where we've made it to in this chapter. 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:49.920 So before we move into our text this morning, let's pray. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:57.920 Father in heaven, we thank you for drawing your church together. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:07.599 We thank you for all the stories that you've woven into Redemption Church Denver and your guidance and care and love for us. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:34.400 Lord, I pray that as we look at your interactions with the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees this morning, Lord, that we would consider that the man who was talking there is the man who the blood that was running through his veins is the very blood that we were singing about in praise this morning that would make us white as snow. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:56.560 That as you engage with the people in Jerusalem, Lord, and as your son was making his way closer and closer to the cross, that we just see greater and greater the demonstration of your love towards us sinners. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:01.680 Lord, let us see that in your son this morning. 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:02.560 In Jesus' name. 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:03.280 Amen. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:08.639 So our fifth fall in Mark. 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:28.080 Now, when I had sort of established this preaching plan where we would move through Genesis in the spring and then uh Mark in the fall, and then that became Genesis and Exodus, uh, which we are moving through now as we finished Genesis and started moving through Exodus in the spring. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:43.599 Uh my hope was that by starting our church with Genesis, which that just seems obvious, and then with the Gospels, we would get to plainly see Jesus. 00:03:43.840 --> 00:04:00.560 We would see that we live in the world that God made, that He has orchestrated in uh ways that He saw fit, and then we would get to see and understand who Jesus is by looking clearly at Him and understanding what it means that Christ is Lord. 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:04.080 And we continue that same project. 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:32.720 Our hope for this is that you would see Jesus and that the Jesus that's sort of conjured up in your mind might gain the angles of Scripture and that the reality of who he is might be made present to you so that when you say that Jesus is Lord, and when you honor him and worship him, you're not just worshiping some caricature of him, but you're worshiping who he really is as he has revealed himself to us in his word. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:37.360 So we pick up where we left off last year. 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:41.600 And we left off at the beginning of Holy Week. 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:49.680 We had seen on Sunday Christ triumphantly enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:58.959 And then on that next Monday, as they were walking into back into Jerusalem, Jesus walks past a fig tree and he says, Great, some fruit. 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:02.240 And then the fig tree didn't have any fruit on it, so he cursed it. 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:22.639 Then they go to the temple, and at the temple, Jesus cleanses the temple by overthrowing the money changers and the vendors that were in the court of the Gentiles, and he tosses them out, and he says that this, my father's house, is meant to be a house of prayer, and you have turned it into a den of thieves. 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:38.240 And he is proclaiming the presence of the kingdom, speaking with all authority, and literally, like by by violence, throwing people out of the temple who are working wrongly in the temple. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:48.160 Now, Monday evening, think you might be a little tired, he's walking back to Bethany out of Jerusalem after a big day in the temple. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:54.639 And uh they're walking past the fig tree, and the disciples say, That fig tree you cursed, remember this morning? 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:56.720 Seems like ages ago. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:00.079 That fig tree you cursed is dead. 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:09.759 And Jesus says, uh, if you have even a mustard seed of faith, you'll be able to do such things by your prayer. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:14.240 And you must forgive one another. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:18.319 That's an interesting way to describe the fig tree. 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:21.040 Well, today is Tuesday. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:23.279 It's Tuesday morning. 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:37.120 And on Tuesday morning, what's going to begin is a series of seven conflicts, direct verbal conflicts with the chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees. 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:50.720 Now, that's a long way of referring to the authority of the Sanhedrin, which is the highest court of the Jewish people, which is made up of the chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:55.439 And so these are the ones who are in charge of the temple. 00:06:55.600 --> 00:07:14.079 And you can see how Christ's actions just yesterday, when he overthrew the vendors in the temple and he unveiled before everyone's eyes how horribly the temple is being run, so that it was, it could no longer be counted as a place of worship of the true God. 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:21.360 Now the Pharisees and the scribes and chief priests seek to uh discredit Jesus. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:27.600 And so they're going to try and do that before the crowds with these seven public conflicts with Jesus. 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:36.000 And what we see as Jesus moves forward through this process is he uh conquers his enemies. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:41.600 There is not a conflict that Jesus enters into with the chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees. 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:45.040 You don't read any of them and think that was close. 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:47.680 They are not close. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:54.399 These are uh kamikaze missions by the chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees. 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:58.240 And so we see those unfold today with that first one. 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:01.519 So let's move into our text. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:08.800 In Mark 11, 27, this is Tuesday morning, just walking into the temple, and they came again to Jerusalem. 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:13.759 And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him. 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:15.600 Now we remember yesterday. 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:23.439 Now, we've got to understand what the chief priests and the scribes' response was to Jesus cleansing the temple. 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:42.080 So back in just a couple of verses ago, but for us like a year ago, it says, And the chief priests and the scribes heard it, that is him overthrowing the money, the money changers in the temple, and him quoting Isaiah at them. 00:08:42.320 --> 00:08:45.600 The chief priests they hear that, like, what's going on out there? 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:59.360 And they were seeking a way to destroy him, it says in verse 18, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:08.399 So we have to understand that particular dynamic in order to understand the shape of the conflicts as they will unfold. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:15.440 They don't fear Jesus because of his authority. 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:24.480 They don't fear Jesus because of the strength of his words or the truthfulness of what he is proclaiming. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:26.720 That's not what they're afraid of. 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:34.399 They fear Jesus because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:42.159 Their greatest fear with Jesus is that they would lose the approval of the crowd. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:44.399 That is the shape of the conflict. 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:48.960 The Pharisees' main consideration is the approval of the crowd. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:58.879 So we have to understand that because if we don't, we might misinterpret the question that the Pharisees will ask Jesus. 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:01.759 Actually, the two questions that the Pharisees will ask Jesus. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:10.320 So we might think that the Pharisees are actually seeking to understand the nature of Jesus' authority. 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:24.799 We might think that there are Pharisees who are responsible for conveying the truth to the people of God, and that they might see this new data point, who is Jesus, and then be considering how do I understand this? 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:33.919 And they're wrestling with who Jesus is, and they're trying to understand what is the nature of his authority and how is it that he is able to speak with such authority in the temple. 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:43.200 And an authority where even diseases in nature and the uh uh demons themselves listen to him. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:46.399 But that's not what's happening. 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:50.480 This is not the Pharisees versus Jesus for the sake of the truth. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:55.679 This is the Pharisees versus Jesus for the sake of the crowds. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:05.440 Their question is not a question, their question is a tool to try and discredit Jesus in the eyes of the crowds. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:12.960 Now, so it so we have to understand that that's the dynamic that's going on. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:19.840 If you understand the dynamic, you can understand that the content of the question is not meant to uncover the truth. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:30.000 So in Mark 11, 28, as they're seeking to destroy him, they walk up, they approach Jesus as he's moving through the temple, and they're thinking, okay, things were a little hot yesterday. 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:32.240 I think we should go talk to this guy. 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:36.399 And they said to him, By what authority are you doing these things? 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:39.279 Or who gave you this authority to do them? 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:40.799 Two questions. 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:44.080 By what authority are you doing these things? 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:47.600 And then who gave you this authority to do them? 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:53.279 Before we move into those two questions, let's establish what it what do they mean these things? 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:55.919 What these things are they referring to? 00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:02.000 Well, immediately it's the cleansing of the temple, which took place the day before. 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:06.639 Who gave you the authority to walk in here and say how things should be orchestrated? 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:08.240 We have authority. 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:11.600 It's been given to us by the courts of the temple. 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:18.720 But I think these things is broader than just the cleansing of the temple that took place yesterday. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:42.159 Because the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem had been sending people out to Jesus while he was ministering, uh, not in Jerusalem, in Galilee or in Garcia, but particularly in Galilee, they were sending out people from Jerusalem to pester and discredit Jesus. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:53.039 And in one of those instances, people from Jerusalem, this same group, were sent out to Jesus, and Jesus had cast a demon out of a man. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:06.240 And the rumor that the Pharisees had developed is that they said in Mark 3.2, in Mark 3.22, by the prince of demons he casts out demons. 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:13.039 How is it that Jesus is casting out demons, that he has this authority, that even the demonic listen to him? 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:18.000 Well, it's it's because Satan himself has given him this authority. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:21.360 He's operating under the authority of Satan. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:23.600 That's the description that they were giving. 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:31.519 And so we can understand that these things do not just refer to Jesus cleansing the temple as he did yesterday. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:45.600 And it does not just refer to his triumphal entry when he didn't quiet the crowds as they proclaimed him as the one who comes in the name of the Lord, and the one who comes to establish the kingdom of our Father David. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:56.559 It's not just referring to the things that have taken place in Jerusalem, but it's referring to the whole of Jesus' ministry, all of the authority that he has acted with. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:00.720 They are questioning who gave you this authority. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:08.559 So the questions are, by what authority, or who gave you this authority? 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:19.440 If Jesus is unable to describe the authority by which he is acting, then he will be discredited in front of the crowds. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:28.080 Because they will simply be able to think, oh, he came in and he drove all these people out, but he was just, that's a one-off event. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:31.919 This isn't connected to any bigger story. 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:41.919 This is just a lone, crazy actor who is operating within no larger framework and therefore is connected to no greater story. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:45.519 Thus, they would be able to simply discredit him. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:54.240 So they are looking for this evidence of an external authority. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:57.679 By what authority or who gave you this authority? 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:05.759 Now there's this interesting dynamic, but we need to understand what authority is in the first place. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:09.679 Authority means that you ought to be listened to. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:18.080 So when a king says you go over there, you ought to listen to the king. 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:24.480 Because his authority means that there is a right response and a wrong response to him. 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:28.320 So authority means you ought to be listened to. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:36.720 But there has to be this connection between authority and truth in order for the authority to be legitimate. 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:38.000 And we know this. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:43.120 That there is some sort of connection between authority and truth. 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:45.279 Here's a good example. 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:49.120 Four out of five dentists recommend trident. 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:54.240 Good news, right? 00:15:55.360 --> 00:16:04.000 So that's one of my favorite jokes in Friends, which when Chandler, I forget what the intro is, but Chandler says, the fifth dentist caved, now they're all recommending trident? 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:07.120 That's a good joke. 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:15.519 Now it's an appeal to dentists and uh dental dental authority. 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:22.720 And what the claim is, is like, look, 80% of dentists, you're gonna disagree with 80% of dentists? 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:24.720 Chew this gum. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:30.000 And you don't want to be a fool caught flat-footed in front of 80% of dentists. 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:35.600 So when you're there, you're like, uh uh trident gum. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:38.480 I tried to think of other gums, and then I I don't really chew gum. 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:40.240 Makes my jaw hurt. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:54.159 But we also understand that this authority of the dentists, even in aggregate, it doesn't mean that trident is good. 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:58.399 80% of dentists could be wrong. 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:08.079 And so authority for the for the human is a good reason to think something, but it's not a final reason to think something. 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:14.400 All all of our authority must be connected to an absoluteness of truth. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:31.359 So that even a lot of authority in the aggregate, even if the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees all get together and they say, look, Jesus is operating demonically. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:40.240 You know, uh four out of five Pharisees agree that Jesus is operating demonically. 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:48.720 It's a good heuristic, but it doesn't get you to final truth, to an absoluteness of authority. 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:57.440 And so as humans, we're always trying to make this discerning connection of how do we connect the authority to the truth? 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:04.880 Because all of what you know in some way comes from some authoritative claim. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:24.400 You know, it's it's often like uh we we have this sort of narrative about the way that we mature in our faith, which is that I just had the faith of my parents when I was growing up, and then I began to question that, and then I developed a faith that was outside of the authority of my parents and just became my own faith. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:38.319 So we do that with certain categories of certain things that our uh parents gave to us, and we think of that as a as a demonstration of legitimacy because we step outside of the authority. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:57.599 But you don't do that with, let's say, English, by which you also received with by there was no your your parents never argued and said, hey, you're gonna have to go out there and you're gonna have to, if you're gonna it's the it's the language of commerce. 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:00.480 It's the international language of commerce, okay? 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:03.519 And uh this is gonna be a great one to for you to know. 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:13.359 You just you trusted them, you loved them, they loved you, and you learned English by just authority. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:19.200 And that became the foundation for how you learned for how you learned everything else. 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:32.319 I'm trying to unwind this spell that you are just some objective person who arrives in the world, and then you can, with no connections to any authority, you can arrive at claims of the truth. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:56.160 What I what I want you to see is that there is there is a danger for people like us in ascribing all truth claims to mere authority, because human authority is fallible, but there is a necessity for all humans in uniting truth and authority. 00:19:57.119 --> 00:20:01.359 That these can never actually be separated. 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:07.200 So think of the authority of the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:15.519 Another way of saying that is there are no truth claims which do not require the risk of trust to believe. 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:17.519 None. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:26.880 There is no plain, objective, no risk on my end. 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:30.720 I don't have to, I don't have to take any leap of faith. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:32.240 Truth claim. 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:40.079 You've always got skin in the game, which is ultimately saying, I'm submitted to this authority. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:44.480 Some authority outside of me, I'm submitted to. 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:47.039 And that's how I see the truth. 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:54.799 The chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees, they would be able to answer their two questions, be able to say, you know, we're experts in the law. 00:20:55.599 --> 00:21:06.319 We have this training that we've had since childhood that has given us this expertise, which is just far beyond what we could expect any of the crowds to be able to hold. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:14.400 And then they might say, also, there's this authority of the court which we are a part of, and that authority has been granted to us by the court. 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:18.880 And so there's some nesting of their authority by which they're able to talk. 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:31.359 But that's a different thing than the authority of Jesus. 00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:46.799 Because the authority of Jesus is the authority of God, which is an absolute authority wed perfectly with an absolute truth. 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:59.839 Now, God's authority, which is grounded in truth, you should not think of as God is authoritative, because everything that He says conforms to the truth. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:04.640 As though the truth were something outside of him. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:08.799 And he must say things which then conform to the truth. 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:14.640 That is the way that we do it, and our authority then becomes legitimized as it is connected to the truth. 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:16.400 That is not the way that God does it. 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:22.319 It's not the way that Jesus does it, because it is not as though the truth is something outside of him. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:27.920 Jesus will say things like this I am the truth. 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:34.000 So what is the metric of all other claims to the truth? 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:47.759 The metric, Jesus, we might say, oh, it's this method of that we've discovered where we can repeat this thing over time, and then we can say, okay, we're making accurate truth claims that map onto reality. 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:52.720 And Jesus would say, good, that's helpful for folks like you. 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:56.319 See, the metric of truth that I use is me. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:22:59.200 I'm the truth. 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:04.160 I am the one by which all claims are judged. 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:10.160 So you see that the authority, you ought to listen to him. 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:14.160 Truth itself, we speak of as having this sort of authority. 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:16.880 Like you must deal with the reality. 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:23.039 Eventually, the reality comes home to roost, and you have to deal with the reality of a situation. 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:37.200 We see that there's an there's an authority to truth as we talk about it, but what I'm wanting to show you is that the authority and the truth, the reason that those things are wed is because they are wed in the person of Jesus Christ. 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:40.559 Why does truth have an authority? 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:45.839 Authority is not something that that authority is something persons have. 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:50.240 And the truth is a person. 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:58.079 You don't ought to listen to, I don't know, like a mountain cliff or something. 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:03.039 You ought to listen to Jesus. 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:15.039 So when they are asking, from where does your authority come, the answer that Jesus could rightfully give is, I am. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:21.759 I need not appeal to anything outside of me. 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:25.680 You need to, because you're not like me. 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:34.880 But I don't need to appeal to any authority outside of myself in order for what I am saying to be absolute and truthful. 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:37.359 But that's not what Jesus says. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:43.599 And Jesus doesn't give the direct answer to the question because it is not a direct question. 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:56.640 They aren't asking him in any real sense what the source of his authority is, so that they might respond like the disciples had responded. 00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:59.519 Now you are speaking plainly to us. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:04.559 No, he is not, they are not asking a question in that sense. 00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:10.880 What they are trying to do is to get him to play a game before the crowds. 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:14.799 And they're trying to get him to play the very game that they are. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:21.279 They're trying to ask him a trap question and then get him to dance for his dinner before the crowds. 00:25:22.160 --> 00:25:29.519 Then what they will know is see his authority is just like ours. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:37.279 It comes from just deceiving the crowds and keeping them in the dark. 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:42.559 And insofar as we're able to do that, we can maintain this authority. 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:51.119 Because the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees do not believe that there is any real authority above them. 00:25:54.559 --> 00:26:00.559 What they believe is that their authority is just what they can get away with before the crowds. 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:02.000 Jesus knows this. 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:06.799 And so as they try and expose him, he exposes them right back. 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:09.279 So their questions, where do you get this authority? 00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:10.480 Who gave it to you? 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:12.480 Two questions. 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:16.720 Jesus says, I what you did in two questions, I can do in one. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:22.240 Mark 11, 29 through 30, Jesus said to them, I will ask you one question. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:27.759 Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:31.759 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? 00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:33.599 Answer me. 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:44.160 So you can hear the authority in his uh question anyway, from the beginning. 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:45.279 Answer me. 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:52.480 This is the voice, remember, that spoke and said, Let there be light. 00:26:53.519 --> 00:26:56.240 Such is the nature of his authority. 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:08.799 Jesus takes their question of extrinsic authority, which is this reality that as humans, we don't have authority just in ourselves. 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:18.000 It has to be tied to something above us in order for us to be truly speaking authoritatively, something truthful above us. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:21.599 And the chief priests and the scribes and Pharisees, they know that. 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:28.720 They don't believe it, they act against it, they war against it, but but they know that's what they ought to think. 00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:32.799 And that's how they have to present themselves, is what they ought to think. 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:41.599 And so Jesus takes this to a maximal example, which is an authority from heaven. 00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:45.359 He doesn't say, okay, let's talk about John the Baptist. 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:53.440 Was John the Baptist's authority from a legitimate education like the Pharisees received? 00:27:53.680 --> 00:28:03.920 Or should we say that the person under whom he was discipled was not actually legitimate, and so we shouldn't consider his ministry legitimate? 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:07.839 That would be a proximal authority. 00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:13.200 Jesus is saying, was it from heaven? 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:15.839 Was it absolute? 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:18.079 Was it true? 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:21.759 In an absolute sense. 00:28:22.880 --> 00:28:25.839 Was John the Baptist's authority from heaven? 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:30.559 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:36.319 So it is, was this true or was it counterfeit? 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:39.599 And it might seem like Jesus is changing the subject. 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:42.559 You know, not talking about himself anymore. 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:47.519 Okay, let's not talk about my authority, let's talk about somebody else's authority, but he's not really changing the subject. 00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:52.079 Because John the Baptist in Mark 1.7 is the one who was preaching. 00:28:52.400 --> 00:29:02.000 And when he preached, he would say things like this: After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:07.599 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. 00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:12.880 John's whole ministry was about Jesus. 00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:16.799 John's ministry is handed over to Jesus. 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:21.039 Like half of Jesus' disciples were John's disciples. 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:31.759 So Jesus is saying, like, look, this thing which testifies to my ministry, uh, you're gonna have to answer about that. 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:35.440 And you're still talking about me, even when you answer about that. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:41.279 But Jesus is not merely pressing them to answer a question about his own authority in an indirect way. 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:43.359 This isn't just misdirection. 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:55.839 He is pressing them so that they must consider what it is that is the true that that they must expose what it is that they consider to be the true source of their authority. 00:29:56.079 --> 00:30:06.480 Do they care if an authority is really from heaven, or do they think that the nature of authority is merely what the crowds believe? 00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:17.680 Do they think that their ability to hold and manipulate and maintain the approval of the crowds is the final authority that really matters? 00:30:19.599 --> 00:30:33.440 And what will be exposed in their answer to the question is that they believe that their authority finally rests in the deception of the people beneath them and therefore needs no conformity to the truth above them. 00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:37.440 So they have this question from Jesus. 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:42.880 John the Baptist, was his baptism from heaven or from man? 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:44.960 And then they gather together. 00:30:45.119 --> 00:30:48.799 Okay, let's have a, we've got enough people to have a quorum. 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:51.200 Um, is everybody here present? 00:30:51.599 --> 00:31:00.720 And uh Jesus must be listening in, and everybody is probably listening in, and they discuss it with one another in Mark 11, 31 through 32. 00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:08.079 They discuss it with one another, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, Why then did you not believe him? 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:09.599 Yeah, he would say that. 00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:13.279 Because remember, did you go get the baptism with John when he was doing that in the wilderness? 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:14.880 Did you ever no, I wasn't gonna go do that. 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:16.799 Get baptized by some hippie in the wilderness. 00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:17.920 Did you ever go? 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:19.279 Did any of you no, of course. 00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:21.920 We were the ones who were saying, This is an absurd thing. 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:24.640 Why is anybody baptizing for repentance? 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:27.279 We got great stuff going on at the temple this week. 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:37.519 We're gonna do a night at the movies series that everybody was really excited about, and we were gonna reach a lot of Romans, you know, so they can buy food in the temple. 00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:44.000 Then they high-fived and they said that was all great ideas. 00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:52.720 So we can't say from heaven, because then he could say, why then did you not believe him? 00:31:54.480 --> 00:31:56.079 But shall we say from man? 00:31:56.240 --> 00:32:04.880 And this is one of those moments in Mark, Mark sometimes does this where he writes like very uh casually almost. 00:32:05.039 --> 00:32:11.200 Because notice it doesn't finish the sentence, but shall we say from man? 00:32:12.640 --> 00:32:21.039 They were, this is the this is the secret that they can't say out loud, but that Mark shows us. 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:27.839 There's a there's always a secret that everyone knows. 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:35.039 And it's so powerful that you can't say it out loud. 00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:40.880 But shall we say from man, they were afraid of the people. 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:48.400 For they all, for they all held, the people all held, that John really was a prophet. 00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:53.279 So you can see how they're pinned. 00:32:54.799 --> 00:33:05.680 If they say it was from John, Jesus can simply reply, then why didn't you, excuse me, if they say that John's baptism was from heaven, Jesus could reply, then why didn't you believe him? 00:33:05.920 --> 00:33:12.160 And if they say that it was from man, they'd they'd lose the crowds. 00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:26.319 The source of their true power and authority, the ones that they have been able to keep so satiated in their sin under the spell of their lies. 00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:45.599 Now, the amazing thing about Jesus and the nature of his authority is that his authority is absolute and from the Father. 00:33:47.359 --> 00:34:03.759 So that means if everyone, if all of the crowds were to turn on Jesus, he would lose no authority. 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:07.680 And this will happen. 00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:22.639 That under the spell of the Pharisees and the scribes and the chief priests, these crowds will turn on Jesus and they will chant for him to be crucified. 00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:27.679 And it will look like Jesus has no authority. 00:34:29.039 --> 00:34:33.840 Well, his authority does not come from man, his authority comes from God. 00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:37.119 Mark 11, 33. 00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:40.000 So they answered Jesus. 00:34:42.159 --> 00:34:43.360 We don't know. 00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:51.039 The John the Baptist controversy, we're still undecided on the matter. 00:34:52.239 --> 00:34:58.639 And Jesus said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. 00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:01.920 Sometimes you don't know. 00:35:02.159 --> 00:35:04.800 In which case it's fine to say you don't know. 00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:07.599 But other times, you know. 00:35:10.239 --> 00:35:14.000 In which case, it's not fine to say you don't know. 00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:27.679 It is not okay to hide from the certainty of scriptures in an ambiguity which is meant to appease the onlooking crowds. 00:35:29.840 --> 00:35:35.199 And Jesus forces this issue for the Pharisees. 00:35:37.199 --> 00:35:55.199 What they came in to do is to humiliate Jesus in front of the crowds, and they thought that would take away all his authority because they believed the approval of the crowds is the only meaningful source of authority. 00:35:55.679 --> 00:35:59.119 It's just pragmatic, isn't it? 00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:06.320 Yeah, look, if all these people are on our side, then we get the power to do whatever we would like with them. 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:28.159 But instead, as they came to humiliate Jesus and remove his authority of the crowds, what happens is Jesus exposes that they don't believe in the authority of heaven. 00:36:30.639 --> 00:36:41.119 And so the crowds look on and they see the chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees, the experts in the law, the ones who were meant to train us and teach us. 00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:44.559 They don't even believe in anything above them. 00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:50.719 They're just using us to take what they can get. 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:54.960 They're here to just appease us. 00:36:57.760 --> 00:36:59.840 They have no real authority. 00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:16.079 And this thing, which you can imagine some of the folks walking around, especially the crowds that were astonished at Jesus' teaching, there's an overlap between the crowds that are astonished at Jesus' teaching and the ones that went out to receive the baptism of repentance from John the Baptist. 00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:22.480 And they're talking amongst one another, and they had to have just been saying, like, did you hear the chief priests and scribes and Pharisees? 00:37:22.719 --> 00:37:29.039 They don't know whether John the Baptist was, whether that was from heaven or from man. 00:37:29.519 --> 00:37:31.039 You were there, weren't you? 00:37:31.199 --> 00:37:32.559 Yeah, I was there. 00:37:32.880 --> 00:37:41.519 Do you remember when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist? 00:37:44.719 --> 00:37:46.320 Yeah, that was a wild day. 00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:48.559 Do you remember why it was wild? 00:37:49.599 --> 00:38:04.880 Well, there was a voice that came out of heaven and said that Jesus was his son. 00:38:06.159 --> 00:38:09.679 We heard God's voice and it proclaimed Jesus as his son. 00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:13.840 Yeah, I remember that too. 00:38:16.880 --> 00:38:30.159 That was sufficient authority for me to trust that John's baptism was from heaven and that the authority of Christ is something that is true and absolute. 00:38:31.199 --> 00:38:33.679 And the Pharisees can't see that. 00:38:36.079 --> 00:38:46.800 Anyone with eyes, I don't need a I don't need their degrees to be able to just look with my eyes and see this is from heaven. 00:38:49.840 --> 00:38:51.599 This is from heaven. 00:38:54.159 --> 00:39:09.840 And so the Pharisees leave unmasked and humiliated in front of the crowds, as they say of something that can be plainly known just by looking. 00:39:11.119 --> 00:39:12.320 We don't know. 00:39:16.559 --> 00:39:37.599 The wonder, part of the wonder of these seven interactions that we'll continue to see with Jesus is that in each of these interactions, he is he is hardening it in a sense, like in a way that Pharaoh's heart is hardened by his interactions with Moses. 00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:44.800 He is hardening the hearts of the chief priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees against him. 00:39:45.840 --> 00:39:59.519 And he is backing them into a corner in which all of the tools that they would normally use to dispose of someone who would stand against their authority don't work anymore. 00:40:00.880 --> 00:40:05.840 And he's putting them in a position where they will have to resort to their final option. 00:40:06.559 --> 00:40:08.719 We have to kill Jesus. 00:40:14.719 --> 00:40:23.199 And in this sense, Jesus is ensuring, by engaging in this way, he is ensuring his own murder. 00:40:25.760 --> 00:40:31.360 And so he's marching towards the cross with each of these interactions. 00:40:31.519 --> 00:40:41.360 He's moving himself closer and closer to the actuality of the cross as he hardens the authorities that are able to put him there against him. 00:40:44.000 --> 00:41:00.400 And the Pharisees will then, by swaying the crowd, and by the authority which is in them and which they have received, demonstrate something that looks like an absolute authority over Jesus. 00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:09.119 And they will shout up at him, the one who has all this authority. 00:41:09.519 --> 00:41:11.039 Save yourself. 00:41:12.400 --> 00:41:24.719 And it will look to every eye as though he can't, as though he has no real authority where it matters. 00:41:24.880 --> 00:41:28.880 Like the type of authority that can put someone on a cross or take someone off. 00:41:31.199 --> 00:41:33.440 But here's the wonder of Jesus. 00:41:35.280 --> 00:41:41.440 His authority is not given to him by men, it is given to him by God. 00:41:42.400 --> 00:41:50.480 And so when all of all of the authorities of the world gather together to render his authority illegitimate, they are unable to. 00:41:53.440 --> 00:41:55.599 Because his authority is absolute. 00:41:56.559 --> 00:42:02.559 So that even when he is hanging on the cross, he is winning. 00:42:04.159 --> 00:42:22.000 Now it's one thing to the way that the way that us normal folks, you know, the ones that aren't Jesus, the best type of uh the best win that we can do is an undefeated season. 00:42:22.800 --> 00:42:27.119 I saw the first CU Buffs game on Thursday, got to go to it. 00:42:27.360 --> 00:42:28.400 They won. 00:42:28.719 --> 00:42:30.239 This is the beginning. 00:42:31.440 --> 00:42:32.800 I'm just kidding. 00:42:33.119 --> 00:42:35.760 Especially after seeing the game, I'm very kidding. 00:42:36.800 --> 00:42:39.519 They did win, but you know. 00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:44.079 Uh that's a sermon illustration for another time. 00:42:46.880 --> 00:42:50.239 The best thing that that humans like us can do is go undefeated. 00:42:50.400 --> 00:42:53.440 And we'd say, look, that's like an absolute power. 00:42:55.280 --> 00:43:02.079 Christ has a victory that's that's it's more wonderful than that. 00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:22.239 Because he is saying, I will go to the place of absolute defeat, and I will experience and take in myself the absoluteness of that defeat, and there, in that place, I will be victorious. 00:43:24.559 --> 00:43:32.880 That is a miraculous, unthinkable, unimaginable, unattainable type of victory and authority. 00:43:33.519 --> 00:43:38.239 And Christ does that on the cross on our behalf. 00:43:39.920 --> 00:43:44.159 And the ones that he has defeated, and the crowds that have chanted against them. 00:43:45.280 --> 00:43:52.960 He does not resist the cross because he sees the terror of what has happened in their hearts and the corruptness of who they have become. 00:43:53.440 --> 00:43:59.440 But he goes to the cross so that one such as that might be saved by his grace and his mercy. 00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:07.519 His mission of love, sent by the Father, under the authority of the Father, will be accomplished. 00:44:07.760 --> 00:44:18.639 And so he does not fear hardening the hearts of the Pharisees, moving towards what will look like a loss, because he knows that it will be a victory for himself and even for many of them. 00:44:20.079 --> 00:44:38.400 The man who stood against the Pharisees and argued in this way and conquers them to their face in front of the crowds in the temple, coursing through his veins was the very blood which saves us. 00:44:41.039 --> 00:44:43.760 He lays his life down for us. 00:44:43.920 --> 00:44:50.960 And then because he has the authority from God, he takes it up again. 00:44:52.239 --> 00:44:55.920 In him, in this Jesus, we are saved. 00:44:56.159 --> 00:44:57.280 So know this. 00:44:58.159 --> 00:45:11.519 If you seek to know Jesus, but you deny the absoluteness of his authority, and you pretend that there are aspects of your life over which his authority does not spread. 00:45:14.480 --> 00:45:26.079 And then you seek him in some way to say, Lord, I would like to see what is the nature of your authority, but it is with your fingers crossed, not here, not your authority here. 00:45:26.400 --> 00:45:27.199 Know this. 00:45:29.039 --> 00:45:32.559 Jesus will not answer your question. 00:45:34.239 --> 00:45:50.480 If you seek Jesus in a way that says, I will seek you in so far as you do not part me from the approval of the crowds, Jesus will not answer your question. 00:45:51.840 --> 00:45:56.639 This is a horrifying warning we see that the Pharisees receive. 00:46:02.400 --> 00:46:07.840 Recognize the absoluteness of the authority of Christ. 00:46:10.159 --> 00:46:26.000 And then see that as he's demonstrating it, the wonder is he is laying his life down so that those of us who have rebelled against his authority might be saved in his love. 00:46:27.679 --> 00:46:34.239 The absoluteness of his authority is wed perfectly to the absoluteness of his love. 00:46:34.559 --> 00:46:40.079