Mark 11:27-33 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. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?” 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 from men? Tell me!” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’. . . .” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
In a short period of time, the people have seen Jesus in a number of powerful situations. He entered the city riding on a donkey with the crowd shouting, “Hosanna in the highest!” Then He cursed a fig tree because it had nothing but leaves and was not bearing fruit out of season. The next day they discovered it had withered from the roots. After cursing the tree, He drives out those who were buying and selling in the temple area, declaring, they had made God's house a den of robbers. Is it any wonder the chief priests and teachers of the law looked for a way to kill him and wanted to trick him with their questions. They wanted to prove that Jesus received his power from Satan. Earlier when He cast out demons, they said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” Jesus had rightly answered, “How can Satan drive out Satan?" (Mark 3:22-23) Again, we see these wicked men questioning the authenticity of the Son of God, asking him by whose authority He performs his deeds. Jesus responds with his own question: Before I tell you, I want you to tell us whether John received his authority from heaven or from men. This caused them great consternation because either answer would create problems for them. If John was authorized from Heaven, then they should have believed in his baptism. If he rose up from the people, then surely he was a prophet sent to lead the people, and they should have followed him. They had one answer for Jesus: We don't know. This nebulous response gave Jesus permission to reply, Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
We might wonder why our Lord did not welcome this opportunity to declare his authority from his Father God as He did on so many other occasions: Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. (John 14:10-11) However, Jesus knew these false teachers did not want to believe in the Son of Man as a gift from the God who loved his creation enough to send his only begotten Son. He knew these men were there to destroy God's works and to sow disbelief and unrest. He was not going to play their game, according to their rules. He let his life stand as an open book for all to read. They had all seen the miracles and heard the stories of the healings, the changed lives, the shouts of joy. Jesus was saying to those around him that He did not have to declare God's authority because that authority was with him every day. The Spirit of God breathed life into all that He said and did, and He did nothing to please himself but all to please the Father. Jesus said, I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid. (John 5:30-32) Jesus did not need to defend his authority to the religious leaders that day. If they had been in the Spirit, listening to God's voice, they would have praised Jesus and listened to his words of life. They would have humbled themselves before him and called the people to repentance and a life of freedom and joy in the Lord.
This scene makes us think of how we react to the Lord. Do we accept him for who He is, the creator of the universe who came to Earth to live and die to pay the price for our salvation? Or do we question his credentials, wondering if He is truly the Savior of the world, a personal Redeemer who could love us as individuals, save us from our many sins? The Bible says, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) We cannot see, touch, or smell faith; yet we know what it is to experience faith when we have faith in God. When our sins are washed away, and we are made whiter than snow, we understand faith. Job said, I know that my Redeemer lives. (Job 19:25) We know by faith that God can move mountains; tear down prison walls; heal sick bodies; set captives free; restore broken relationships; and undo, redo, or outdo anything the enemy has tried to do in our lives. Our God is an awesome God, and He does not have to prove himself to the devil. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, and Satan took his best shots to try to defeat the Lord, Jesus overcame by using the Word of God. He set an example for us by saying: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Then following Satan's next enticement, Jesus said, It is also written: "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." Finally, the Lord said, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: "Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only." (See Matthew 4) Every word Jesus spoke lifted up his Father God. God was his authority, his protector, his shield, and his defender. He did not come in his own power or his own ability, not even with his own ideas. When Jesus prayed at the cross, He prayed the same words He uttered in the Lord's prayer, not my will, but thine, be done. (Luke 22:42) Every day we have opportunities to do the Father's will. We have his Spirit, his power, his authority. He is in us to do his will. May we yield wholeheartedly to him today.
Missed you last week. We enjoyed attending family camp at Cannon Beach Conference Center.
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