About this sermon
During Passion Week the chief priests, scribes, and elders demand to know by what authority Jesus acts. Jesus answers with a question about John’s baptism, and they refuse to answer for fear of the crowd. Those leaders abused the very authority Christ had given them, and no church leader today stands beyond correction. Believers should search the Scriptures for themselves, and Christ invites every sinner to come to him and rest.
Sermon transcript
standing for the reading of God’s Word as we continue our study of the Gospel of Mark today. We are at the end of Mark chapter 11. My sermon text today, Mark 11, verses 27 through 33. Mark chapter 11, beginning at verse 27. Dear friends, let us hear with reverence and awe the Word of our God. 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 and began saying to him, by what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority to do these things? And Jesus said to them, I will ask you one question and you answer me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?
Answer me. They began reasoning among themselves, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, then why did you not believe him? But shall we say from men? They were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. Answering Jesus, they said, we do not know. And Jesus said to them, nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let’s pray for God’s blessing upon the preaching of his word. Our Lord and Father in heaven, we do thank you and praise you, O God, for the word, for the gospel. We thank you that you have given us the word as seed. We pray that by your spirit, the seed of your word would indeed take deep root in our hearts and bear much spiritual fruit in our lives.
Fruit that brings glory to your name and comfort to our souls. Be with us now and bless us and grant unto me, your unworthy servant, the grace to declare your word with wisdom, with effectiveness, and with relevance. We pray all of these things in Jesus name and all of God’s people said, amen. You may be seated. If you’re following along in your sermon outline, you’ll notice there’s quite a number of words that the children or children of all ages, if you will, can keep track of if you find that to be helpful. And I would especially encourage you to be listening for the words authority, word, gospel and truth. Well, dear ones, Mark’s gospel is a gospel of action. And in this section of the gospel, we see that events are building up to a dramatic climax.
In our passage for today, we find our savior in Jerusalem. He has finally arrived at Jerusalem. And and in our passage for today, Jesus is at the Jerusalem temple during the last week of his life, which is typically called Passion Week. The conversation that Jesus has with these religious leaders is here recorded that Jesus is here recorded to have had with them likely took place on Tuesday of Passion Week. So think about it very, very soon. Our Lord Jesus is going to be crucified outside of Jerusalem due to the wicked scheming of the Jewish religious authorities and in cooperation with the Roman authorities. But then three days after our Lord’s crucifixion, he will be miraculously, supernaturally raised from the dead. The New Covenant era will be brought in and the Christian church will begin its history.
In our passage for today, we find the Jewish religious authorities confronting Jesus and asking him by what authority he is doing these things, look at verse 28, it says, they began saying to him, by what authority are you doing these things? What things are they referring to? Well, in the context of this passage, such things would include, especially, I imagine, our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the back of a colt. which is recorded at the beginning of chapter 11. By this act, our Lord Jesus was openly and symbolically declaring himself to be the promised Messiah, since the scriptures predicted that this is what the Messiah would be. Perhaps also they had in mind things such as our Lord’s cleansing of the temple, which again is recorded in Mark chapter 11. By that act, our Lord Jesus was directly challenging the authority of the high priest who oversaw what was going on within the temple precincts.
Indeed, when they say, by what authority are you doing these things? They probably also had in mind all of the things that Jesus had done during his earthly ministry without their explicit approval or sanction. Things such as our Lord’s preaching and teaching of the good news of God’s kingdom, our Lord’s healing of the sick and raising of the dead, his casting out of demons and so forth. Now, within the flow of Mark’s narrative, the main thrust of our passage for this Lord’s Day morning is a vindication of our Lord’s authority in the face of challenges to that authority. So as we look into this passage of God’s word, let’s consider some of the truths that we can learn from this passage. And as we focus first on verses 27 and 28, I want us to consider, first of all, the religious leaders’ abuse of their God-given authority.
What we have here in this confrontation of Jesus in the Jerusalem temple is an instance of the religious authorities actually abusing their authority let me again read these verses it says in verse 27 they came again to Jerusalem and As he was walking in the temple here is Jesus. He’s walking in the temple in Jerusalem this beautiful temple in the city of Jerusalem God’s temple he’s walking in the temple and really it is his own temple Jesus is God in the flesh this is his temple that he is visiting but as he’s walking in the temple and A group of people confront him. Who are they? It says the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him and began saying to him, probably with a very stern voice, began saying to him, by what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority to do these things?
Jesus, who do you think you are? Who do you think you are? Well, dear ones, I’m almost reluctant to make this point because the professional clergy as a whole in our day have fallen on hard times. You see, there used to be a time in our culture when ministers of the gospel were highly esteemed and influential members of the community and of society. In fact, it used to be that in many communities, the most highly educated individual in the community was the local pastor. There was a time when Christendom was more intact, when even government leaders used to consult with Christian clergy for advice from the word of God. And it it used to be that when a minister of the word spoke, people would generally show a certain deference and respect, even if they were not churchgoers, even if they personally disagreed with the man.
But that is not really the case today, or it’s becoming increasingly less the case today. In our current post-modern, indeed, I would suggest post-Christian times in which we live, public respect for religious leaders and professional clergy is quickly shrinking. And so, as biblical Presbyterians who have a high view of church office, a high view of the ministry and the ordained government of the church, this is somewhat concerning to us. After all, we believe that God has ordained a government, an order for his visible church. And we confess that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is the king and head of his church, that he rules his church by the Holy Spirit through the word, but he has entrusted the responsibility for interpreting and applying that word to his under shepherds, namely the pastors and elders of his church.
And so when we read of Jesus upbraiding the religious authorities, we’re tempted perhaps to be a little squeamish about that, since we have a high view of religious authority in the church. However, friends, the fact that Christ has entrusted the rule and oversight of his church to church officers who are called and ordained to those responsibilities, that does not mean that those church officers are above criticism. After all, they too are to be subject to the Word of God as the only infallible rule for faith and practice. And furthermore, the fact that Christ has entrusted God-ordained authority to church officers does not thereby mean that church officers are never guilty of abusing their authority. Indeed, In our passage for today, we see this very thing happening, as I hope to show you. And so notice again who it is that was challenging our Lord’s authority in verses 27 and 28.
They are described here as the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, the chief priests. These chief priests would be of the Jewish sect of the Sadducees, most likely. Now the Sadducees, the Sadducean sect of Judaism was very popular amongst the aristocrats, amongst the elites, among the Jews, especially the family of the high priest, for example. And the Sadducees were sort of the, you know, they’re sort of the liberals of that day in a sense. They only believed in the authority of the first five books of the Old Testament, the books of Moses. I believe that the Sadducees rejected the resurrection of the dead. They rejected the existence of angels and so forth. And they focused, I believe they rejected as well, life after death. And so from their perspective, if you were prosperous, and of material wealth in this present life, that was a sign of God’s blessing.
That was a sign that you were righteous. On the other hand, we had the scribes. These scribes would likely be of the Pharisees. These were the Bible scholars of that time. the sect of the Pharisees among the Jews. Unlike the Sadducees, they accepted the whole of the Old Testament canon of scripture. They believed in the resurrection of the dead. They believed in the existence of angels and spirits and so forth. And then there are the elders of the people. So these priests, these chief priests, these scribes, these elders, who are these folks? What do they represent? Well, these are representatives of the highest authority among the Jews of those days. These were representatives of the high court of the Jews known as the Sanhedrin. And so those who are in charge, those who are the highest up among God’s people, they confront Jesus and they say, basically, Jesus, who do you think you are?
We’re the authorities here. What are you doing? By what authority are you doing these things? But I want you to consider the irony. Jesus’s authority here Who is it being questioned by? It’s being questioned here by the very ones who ought to have been the first to recognize and to submit to his authority. These were the religious leaders. These were the Bible scholars, the students of God’s word, the teachers of God’s word. They should have known from the scriptures that Jesus fulfills all the prophecies of what the Messiah was supposed to do and supposed to be. But they didn’t. The irony here is that the very one whose authority they questioned is the one who had given them the authority that they exercised among God’s covenant people in the first place. A couple of applications I’d like to make from what we’ve observed in this passage so far.
First of all, beloved. Let us never view any religious leader, any preacher, any teacher of the word, no matter how revered and respected, no matter how gifted, no matter how wonderful as a public speaker. Let us not regard any religious leader as somehow infallible or beyond criticism. There are numerous examples in the Bible itself of religious leaders falling under justified criticism. Think about, for example, think back in the Old Testament, think about Moses’s brother Aaron. Remember Aaron? God had raised up Aaron to be the high priest among the people of God during the wilderness generation, right? Aaron was Moses’ right-hand man. Not only was Aaron Moses’ brother. Remember, Moses had trouble speaking, so Aaron was Moses’ spokesman. But what happened when Moses was taking his time up on Mount Sinai? The people of God got restless.
They started complaining to Aaron. And Aaron said, well, bring me all your gold. And he fashioned the golden calf. And the high priest, called by God, Moses’ very own brother, Aaron led the people of Israel astray into gross idolatry and broke the covenant. And God was ready to kill Aaron for his sin, but Moses intervened and interceded for Aaron. God was merciful and gracious to Aaron. But Aaron showed very poor leadership. He led the people of God astray and he was subject to scathing criticism, even though God had called him and raised him up to be the high priest over the people of Israel at that time. Or think of the apostle Peter, Peter. I love Peter. He’s always putting his foot in his mouth and that comforts me because sometimes I do that. But here’s Peter, Peter, the rock.
Peter was so earnest. He loved the Lord. Remember, Peter was the one who, when Jesus said, Who do men say that I am? Peter said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus commended him. He says, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona. Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. My Father in heaven has revealed this to you. So this is Peter, the one who had faithfully confessed Christ as the Son of God. Peter, the one who was the spokesman for the other apostles. Peter the Rock. But we read in Galatians chapter two that there was a time after the resurrection, the time when the Apostle Paul was active in his apostolic ministry. There was a time when Peter started behaving in a manner in public. that was not in conformity to the gospel.
And again, you can read about this in Galatians chapter 2. And Paul recounts a time when he, Paul, had to publicly rebuke, publicly confront the Apostle Peter himself because Peter was not behaving in line with the gospel. If it is the case that even leaders that the scriptures reveal to be raised up by God, called by God, can be criticized and rebuked for not behaving in line with God’s will. Certainly it is the case today that those who hold positions of leadership in the church are not above criticism. You know, sometimes you hear in some Christian circles this idea that, you know, if a man, if a man of God is called to be a preacher or teacher of God’s word, then you dare not question that man of God. You dare not criticize that man of God.
Touch not the Lord’s anointed. Well, friends, that is a twisting of what the Scriptures teach. And because none of us is above criticism, not even those in positions of leadership in the church, you and I have a responsibility to be good Bereans. Remember the Bereans in the book of Acts? They are described as being noble because when Paul preached the gospel to them, what did they do? They went back to the scriptures to check it out, to make sure that these things were so that were in line with the word. We need to be good Bereans by seeking to know the scriptures for ourselves. We should indeed learn from church leaders whom God has gifted with preaching and teaching gifts. We should certainly respect that and learn from them. But we are also responsible before God to study the word for ourselves.
Friends, don’t let a human teacher, no matter how godly, no matter how respected, don’t let such a teacher or preacher spoon feed you. That is to say, don’t just believe everything the preacher says just because the preacher says, oh, my pastor says this, so it must be true. Well, maybe it’s true. Hopefully the pastor is being faithful to the word, but check it out for yourself and consult other resources as well. Consult the testimony of the historic church. Consult the confessions and catechisms of the church, which were which were crafted by Bible scholars and pastors over the centuries who who were in the word and consulted with one another. Test everything by the word. Be a good Berean. Even godly ministers of the word can sometimes get it wrong. So you are responsible to measure everything that you hear by the infallible standard of God’s word.
So don’t just be spoon fed. And by the way, spoon feeding is for infants, right? If you let some religious teacher spoon feed you without question, then it may indicate that you are in need of some significant spiritual growth. So, friends, let us strive to be in the word and to know the word. But let us also, as another takeaway from our passage, let us also recognize that the Lord Jesus Christ is the ultimate authority in every area of life. Indeed, the religious leaders ask him by what authority he is doing these things. But friends, as God the Son incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ is the author of all legitimate authority. Have you submitted to Christ’s authority? Is He your Lord? May God in His mercy turn you to Christ today that you might receive and rest upon Him and trust Him as your Lord and Savior.
So Jesus is confronted with this very sharp A question by what authority are you doing these things? Notice next, our Lord’s masterful reply to the religious leaders questioning of his authority, our Lord’s masterful reply to the religious leaders questioning of his authority. Look at verses twenty nine and thirty. Jesus said to them, I will ask you one question and you answer me and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John, that’s John the Baptist, or as I prefer to call him, John the Baptizer. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? John the Baptist. Did he go out and baptize and preach by his own authority? Or did he receive his commission from God? As was typical of the rabbis in Christ’s day, Jesus responds to this question by posing a counter question.
And through this counter question, Jesus puts his finger on the real spiritual condition of these religious leaders. By implication, our Lord turns the tables on them and he confronts them with their own impenitence. and unbelief. You see, John the Baptist was a prophet that God had raised up to be the forerunner and herald of Jesus, the Messiah. And so think about it. Jesus says, I’ll answer your question, but first you got to answer my question. The baptism of John, is that from from heaven or from men? Was it sanctioned and authorized by God? Was John sent from God or did he simply speak on his own authority? If the leaders affirm that John’s ministry was from heaven, in other words, authorized by God, then what question would Jesus next ask them? Well, he would ask them, well, if you say that John the Baptist’s baptism was from God, authorized by God, then why did you not believe John’s testimony about me?
What did John the Baptist say about Jesus, remember, in the Gospel of John, chapter one? John is recorded to have said of Jesus, behold, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. That was John’s testimony. John not only called the people to repentance, he also called the people to believe in the promised Messiah. He heralded the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. And so Jesus would have confronted these religious authorities with that question. If you if you say John’s baptism was from God, why didn’t you believe his testimony about me? But if they answered our Lord’s question by saying that Jesus authority was of only of human origin, their popularity level among the common people would go way, way down. In fact, they were worried that people might even stone them for denying that John was a genuine prophet of God.
Look at how they reasoned amongst themselves in verse 31. It says they began reasoning among themselves, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, then why did you not believe him? But shall we say from men? They were afraid of the people for everyone considered John. to have been a real prophet. They were afraid of how their reputation might shake out in the midst of the people if they denied John as a genuine prophet of God. As Dr. William Barclay says in his commentary in this question, Christ had impaled them, the religious leaders, on the horns of a dilemma. Friends, consider how very hard it is to suppress what you know in your heart of hearts to be the truth. It’s easy, it seems easy sometimes to lie to ourselves, to rationalize. But if something is blatantly obvious and you just are lying to yourself and holding down the truth, it becomes psychologically very uncomfortable to do that.
That’s what these religious leaders were doing. These religious leaders knew in their heart of hearts that John the Baptist’s message was true. that they needed to repent and to confess Jesus to be the promised Messiah. They knew that in their heart of hearts. But since doing this would mean giving up their idols of pride and greed and power and influence over the people, it would make them lose face, if you will, in the presence of others. And they can’t have that, right? We don’t want to lose our reputations. We don’t want to lose our power. We don’t want to lose our influence over the people. So we can’t say that John’s authority comes from heaven, John the Baptist. They desperately try to suppress the truth and unrighteousness to the harm of their own souls. Dear listener, what idols of the heart are you clinging to today to the harm of your own soul?
We all have idols of the heart. John Calvin was correct when he said that the human heart is a factory of idols. An idol is anything that you set up and prioritize above your relationship with God. We all are guilty of heart idolatry. But instead of clinging to those idols, we need to loosen our grip. We need to let them go. What idols are you clinging to? To the harm of your own soul. May God, in His mercy, give you the grace to turn from those idols to Christ and to look to Christ alone as your Lord and Savior. But finally, beloved, as we consider verses 31 to 33, the closing section of our passage for today, notice how prejudice against the truth leads to dishonesty and equivocation. Notice how prejudice against the truth leads to dishonesty and equivocation.
And I must give credit for this point to the great evangelical Anglican Bishop J.C. Ryle and his expository thoughts on Mark as he brings out this point. In verse 33, when these religious leaders answer our Lord’s question by claiming that they don’t know whether the baptism of John is from heaven or from men, they’re not being forthright. In fact, they’re lying. Again, verse 33, answering Jesus, they said, we do not know. We don’t know if if John’s baptism was from heaven or from men. That’s a lie. They give this answer not because it’s what they really believed or because they were sincerely undecided, but because of cynical political expediency that’s made very clear. as they converse amongst themselves in verse 31. Well, if we say this, then this is how they’re going to respond. If we say that, that’s how it’s going to that’s how it’s going to turn out.
And so they’re scheming, they’re plotting, they’re not being forthright, they’re not being honest with the Lord. Jesus knew that this was the case. So Jesus responds to their dishonest answer to his question by refusing to answer their question. If they will not deal honestly and transparently with him, he has nothing to say to them. It’s as if our Lord is saying, fine, you refuse to be open and forthright in answering my question. Then you have no right to receive an answer to your own question. And in doing this, Jesus turns the table. And by the way, he shows his own divine authority in the way that he deals with these religious leaders. Dear ones, we often meet non-believers who would claim to be sincere, open-minded seekers of God. But actually, the Bible teaches that that’s not the case.
See, if an unbeliever were truly to seek after God, then he would no longer be an unbeliever. The Bible says in, for example, in Hebrews 11, verse six, that God is the rewarder of those who seek him. And Jesus said, seek and you shall find. Only those who believe truly seek for God, as it says in Romans chapter three, verse eleven, where the apostle Paul is talking about the condition of those who are apart from a saving union with Christ. Those who are under the law, those who are apart from Christ, he says, quoting from the Old Testament, there is none who seeks God apart from God’s grace. There is no God seeker. Now, people seek the benefits that come from knowing God. Everybody seeks peace of mind, right? Everybody seeks happiness, joy, contentment, peace of mind, and so forth, peace of conscience, and so forth.
But seeking the benefits that come from knowing the true and living God is not the same thing as seeking God himself. Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, in working in grace in your soul, there is none of us who would seek for God. Apart from a work of God’s grace in our hearts, none of us seeks for God. Apart from God’s grace, there are no sincere, honest God seekers. The religious authorities that Jesus confronts here in this passage are evidence of that. Apart from the grace of God, all of us would harden ourselves against the truth like these religious leaders who confronted Jesus. If you’re a believer and thus a God seeker today, then don’t pat yourself on the shoulder. Aren’t I good? Don’t I have it all together? Aren’t I just crushing it in the Christian life?
No. If you’re a believer and a God seeker, then praise God for his amazing work of grace in your heart. because it is only by grace that you have come to believe in Christ for your salvation. It’s only by grace that the Spirit has implanted within your soul a desire to seek after and pursue your Creator, the true and living God. But if you’re here today and you’re not a God-seeker or you’re not sure, then may God give you the grace to cry out to Him for mercy, that He would grant you the gift of faith so that you may truly seek Him. Here’s the good news of Jesus Christ. Christ died for sinners, for people who are rebels against him. Romans 5 verse 8, for God demonstrates or manifests his love for us in this, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
And Jesus welcomes all who are burdened and weary and heavy laden with their sins. Jesus says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. And I will give you rest. Jesus welcomes you. He invites you come to Christ. Rest in him. Believe that in Jesus Christ, true God and true man, the son of God incarnate in Christ. You have a merciful, forgiving God, for he was crucified to atone for sin and raised from the dead so that we who believe in him might not perish, but have the gift of everlasting life. Repent and believe in Christ today and you can know the joy of the Lord in your heart and life. And then seek after God, the God who has sought you in grace and mercy and brought you to himself. Amen.
Let us pray. Our Lord and Father in heaven, sovereign and eternal God, We do thank you for the good news of Jesus, and we thank you that Jesus is indeed Lord, that all authority in heaven and on earth have been given unto Jesus. May we, O Lord, submit to his authority out of gratitude for your wonderful gift of salvation, and may we live lives that bear testimony to the Lordship of Christ. We pray all of these things in Jesus name and all of God’s people said, Amen. Dear friends, let us respond to what we’ve heard from the scriptures by rising and we’ll sing our closing hymn or closing hymn. Let me just turn to it is all hail the power of Jesus name. Number 374 will rise and sing together. Number 374.
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