"27 Jesus and his disciples went again to Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came to him. 28 They said to him, 'What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?'29 Jesus answered, 'I will ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. 30 Tell me: When John baptized people, was that authority from God or just from other people?'31 They argued about Jesus’ question, saying, 'If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘It was from other people,’ the crowd will be against us.' These leaders were afraid of the people, because all the people believed that John was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, 'We don’t know.' Jesus said to them, 'Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things.'" ~ Mark 11:27-33
Today, we return to our study of Mark 11 where the Lord Jesus and His disciples are in Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus was there knowing full well that He was going to be crucified for the forgiveness of mankind's sin. Amazingly, the disciples were so far convinced in the idea that He was about to set up a political kingdom on earth that they had yet to comprehend that He was in to Jerusalem to die in obedience to God's eternal plan.
In v.27 of today's passage we read, "Jesus and his disciples went again to Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came to him."
Here, the Lord Jesus, yet again, encountered the religious leaders. We may think this is bad, however, as is the case with all of our trials, the difficulties of that day created the context whereby the disciples were being taught the culture of God. God has a unique way of utilizing the pains of our lives to build a platform from which we gain a greater amount of His wisdom. In addition, when we have gained His wisdom, we are granted a greater platform and subsequent audience.
In v.28 of today's passage we read, "They said to him, 'What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?"
The religious leaders wanted to know by what authority the Lord Jesus taught as He did. They appeared to be the consummate learners when they asked their questions. Yet, over and over, they asked these questions trying to trip the Lord Jesus up and use His trip ups against Him. Of course, the Lord Jesus never tripped up. Sadly, the religious leaders came as close as one could to entering heaven, but their choice to reject the Lord Jesus sent them to hell.
Recently, I had a conversation with a young student at a local university. He made the point that he believes the education he is receiving is not what others have received in the past. While this may be true, his statement made me think of the essence of education. The essence of education is learning. Wait, that is the essence of being a disciple which begins and ends with the pursuits that we engage in for the answers to our questions. Granted, we benefit from the learned, however, we truly maximize our learning when our questions fuel our pursuits. And, our questions are created by our hunger and our thirst. The religious leaders were served very poorly by their hungers and thirsts.
In v.29-30 of today's passage we read, "29 Jesus answered, 'I will ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. 30 Tell me: When John baptized people, was that authority from God or just from other people?"
The Lord Jesus responded with a question, asking the religious leaders by what authority John the Baptist baptized the people. It is quite significant that the Lord Jesus asked about the baptism of John, not his ministry. You see, the baptism of John was something that had never been done before in Israel. John baptized repenters, yet he was not of the religious order. And, that is why the religious did not believe John because they were not willing to repent. And, John the Baptist baptized in the dirty and unpleasant Jordan River.
By its very nature, the authority of John the Baptist came from God. When we speak or behave as we do, we do so on the authority that has been given to us by God, by self or by men. Our obedience is either to God, self or other people. And, John's authority came, as did the Lord Jesus,' from God.
In v.31-32 of today's passage we read, "31 They argued about Jesus’ question, saying, 'If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘It was from other people,’ the crowd will be against us.' These leaders were afraid of the people, because all the people believed that John was a prophet."
The religious leaders took the cowardly route out of this situation. Allegiance to Christ will always put us in the position to shirk being cowards, and when we do, we will grow in our authority regarding His message and the platform by which we speak authoritatively.
In v.33 of today's passage we read, "So they answered Jesus, 'We don’t know.' Jesus said to them, 'Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things."
Pushed along by their cowardice disposition and narrow-minded ignorance, the religious leaders answered, “We don’t know.” And, in response to their answer, the Lord Jesus did not grant them more revelation which could have led them to repentance. This is the way truth is garnered by those who are committed to such eternal qualities as honesty, humility and obedience.
We must admit, there are times when we treat God as if He exists for us rather than us for He. In 1982, just after I became a believer in Christ, I took a job that I could not do. And, for the first time in my Christian existence, I felt like such a failure. I quickly realized that my problem was created by the fact that I did not seek God regarding whether I should take that job or not. I took the job because of the amount of money it paid. But, I could not physically do the job that I was hired to do.
To make a long story short, after praying about where I should work, I was offered another job within a week. And, I worked at that job on and off throughout my college years. It turned out to be one of the greatest blessings in my young walk with the Lord.
The reason we need God to call the shots in our lives is that He knows how to run our lives better than we do. The difference between these two jobs, other than about a fifty percent difference in pay, was I prayed regarding the second, and I have never regretted that choice. I'm still benefitting in my soul from that choice to ask God for His will to be done in my life because that day I formed a habit of talking with God regarding my decisions in life. I trust you have the wisdom to seek Him regarding your every decision that you will ever make in this life. You will not regret, I can guarantee it.
