AUTHORITY, ACCOUNTABILITY & ACTION Mk 11:26 –12:12
Mk 11: 1–10 Jesus Authority is to Hold Us Accountable to Act upon What We Know. We see this in His response to the PARC’s Question About His Authority
- The Politically Appointed Religious Crowd (PARC) asks Jesus’ from where does His Authority come?
- Jesus responds by showing us that He holds the PARC (and us)Accountable to respond appropriately to information God gives us.
- Purpose of Parables –Mk 12: & Mk 4: 10–12 Jesus once again decides to only speak publicly in the presence of critics in parables. So we’ll look at the.
- AppropriateAction is built on Christ, The Chief Cornerstone that God, the Master Architect has set.
JESUS IS ASKED ABOUT HIS AUTHORITY Christ continues tightening the tension between Him & the politically correct religious crowd. Mk 11: 27–33 In Mk 11: 15–19
He had confronted the establishment by cleansing the temple.
27 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, 28 and they said to him,“By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them,“I will ask you one question; answer me,and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying,“If we say,‘From heaven,’he will say,‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.”And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
- Jesus is walking in the temple He just had cleansed because He …
- a) has a lot of nerve
- b) owns the temple
- c) and God are one, so what’s God’s is His and vice versa (John 14:9 Jesus replied, “…The person who has seen me has seen the Father!”)
AUTHORITY = PERMISSION & POWER
By what authority = “exousia” which literally means the bullets below, but we’ll use a working definition that “Authority = Permission & Power”
- “it is lawful” or “by whose law” are you doing these things?
- who gave you “leave or permission,” to do these things?
- who “endued you with the ability or strength” to do these things?
- who gave you “the power of rule or government,” to do these things?
- who gave you “the ability to act as a spiritual potentate,” to do these things?
So the “Authority” Jesus exercised was because He had Divine “PERMISSION & POWER”
Remember in Mark 1:22 The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law. Exousia also can mean “power” of judicial decision”
From the perspective of Christ’s humanity, we could say Christ walked in complete permission with God .
Jesus exercised this authority, this exousia as “a spiritual potentate,” So we see that when Jesus dealt with had “the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience.”
Jesus’ authority is to hold us accountable to act on what we know.
The chief priests and the scribes and the elders …
a) as shepherds of God’s flock should determine if Jesus was from God.
b) said they did not know the source of John the Baptist’s ministry but opposed it anyway.
c) were afraid of losing control & support of the people who believed JtB’s ministry was from God.
Evil people in gov’t want us to think they are righteous. If we believed they’re sinful, we’d no support them.
Ambrose Bierce, an American Journalist, who lived June 24, 1842 –1914, said, “Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/ambrosebie107323.html
d) could not discern that John the Baptist & Jesus were from God, because they were in error, or cared more about their position than they did the truth.
Jesus referred the PARC back to John The Baptist because they had rejected him, and so God would not give them current revelation until they received and walked in previous revelation given. If we reject Jesus, we often do not get any other understanding of truth. Obedience is the Bedrock of Biblical understanding.
JESUS’ HOLDS US ACCOUNTABLE TO ACT APPROPRIATELY
Mk 11: 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
- Jesus chooses not to tell the chief priests and the scribes and the elders by what authority He accomplishes what He does. (The group were members of the Sanhedrin –the ruling council–of whom Nicodemus was member, probably as was Joseph of Arimethea, who buried Jesus with Nic’. The Sanhedrin of Jerusalem consisted of seventy members, of whom 24 were the top priests, 24 were heads of the tribes of Israel, and 22 were scribes learned in the law.
- Mk 11: 1–10 Jesus’ Holds Us accountable to Act upon What We Know. Thus He refers the PARC back to John The Baptist. If you don’t respond to God’s try
- He non–answers, feeling no obligation to appeal to the those, who in this case are members of the PARC who are not honest learners and seekers of God.
- They are “know it all’s.” What characterizes “know–it–alls”?
- they don’t know what they don’t know
- they are not learners or they can’t, don’t, nor won’t learn (because they think they already know)
- ignorance is bliss (You may be happy in it, but can it hurt you?)
PURPOSE OF PARABLES Mark 4: 10–12 & Mark 12: 1–12 Parable of the Tenants
Jesus once again decides to only speak publicly in the presence of critics in parables.
According to Mk 4: 10–12, the purpose of the parables 10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that “‘they may indeed see but NOT perceive, and may indeed hear but NOT understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”
After the politically appointed religious crowd (PARC) blasphemed the Holy Spirit, in Mk 3: 22–30, Jesus began speaking in parables.
What T/F conclusions can we draw from vs. 11?
a) Understanding the parables reveals God has given us grace to know the secret of His kingdom T/F
b) Not understanding the parables, means you have been left outside of knowing the God’s secret. T/F
THE VINEYARD—Isaiah 5: 1–7 God ordained Israel to be the caretaker of His vineyard to manifest the fruit of the Spirit and evangelize the world, but Israel failed and rejected God’s plan.
Isaiah 5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah…
In the Mark 12: 1–9, Parable of the Tenants/Vineyard we see the vineyard is going to be removed from Israel’s guardianship, as they are the tenants who reject the owner’s/God’s servants (prophets –those primarily listed in Hebrews Hall of Faith) and eventually kill the heir/Christ.
- The PARC reject God’s servants and Son, so “the inheritance will be ours.” You only get an inheritance upon death of the current rightful owner. This speaks of a real, negative intentional, premeditated motive of the ones doing the rejecting of God’s servants, so they can obtain and maintain their positions within these earthly kingdoms.
We Gentiles are the “other tenants” of Mark 12:9, who bear fruit for God during our “season.” (Pentecost Acts 2, Gal 3: 14, to the 1st rapture?)
Per Romans 9 & 11 God continues using Israel, which currently seems to be as the focal point to prove the world’s hatred of God. In the very near future, however, we see God will use the144k in Rev 7 & 14.
THE ANGLE STONE / CORNER STONE Mark 12:10 In Mark 12: 10 –Have you not read this Scripture: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone –or connecting; foundation 11 this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
“gonia” means: “an angle”, “an external angle,” as of the “corner” of a street, or of a building, as in Mark 12:10; Matt. 6:5 & 21:42; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Pet. 2:7, laid to give strength to the two walls it connected.
The builders are to follow the directives of the Great architect who is God. Thus the builders –those whom God wanted to use rejected the Master Plan, and built a shoddy, ineffective ministry/church based upon man’s reasoning that rejects the solid rock of the grace ——God’s Riches At Christ Expense —through Christ’s work on the Cross, which is the cornerstone of true Biblical salvation. .
In Eph. 2:20 we see Christ is the cornerstone uniting two walls of faith, the Jew and Gentile, though many Jews and Gentiles stumble over Him. (1 Pet. 2:6–8.)
To view the recorded service on YouTube, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6tUAc6bDas