Mark 11:27-12:12, Who Is In Authority?, Dr. John B. Carpenter

Mark chapter 11 beginning from verse 27 to chapter 12 verse 12 hear the word of the

Lord 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 and they said to him

By what authority are you doing these things or who gave you this authority to do them? Jesus said to them

I Will ask you one question Answer me and I will tell you by what authority

I do these things Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man answer me and They discussed it with one another saying if we say from heaven, he will say why did you not believe him?

But shall we say from man? They were afraid of the people for they all held that John really was a prophet

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 and he began to speak to them in parables a man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower and Leased it to the tenants and went into another country when the season came he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard and they

Took him and beat him and sent him away empty -handed again he sent to them another servant and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully and He sent another and him they killed and so with many others some they beat and some they killed

He had still one other a beloved son Finally, he sent him to them saying they will respect my son, but those tenants said to one another this is the air

Come let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours and they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard

What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others

Have you not read the scripture the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone?

This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes and they were seeking to arrest him

But feared the people for they perceived that he had told them the parable against them. So they left him and went away

May the Lord have his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word What do you think of authorities?

Are you reflexively? Pro -authority so that if someone in the position of authority says something you just tend to believe him you give him the benefit of the doubt

Or are you reflexively suspicious of authority an authority? Skeptic, you know if they say first 15 days and then 30 days to slow the spread

We got to shut everything down stay home. No school to our church or business do you get behind it if you're a pro -authority person and When the 30 days is over and they make the lockdown indefinite

What do you do then? At what point do even you? Pro -authority people began to say wait

Wait, you're ordering churches to stay under 10 people But the Dollar General down the road with less than half our floor space at a quarter of our ceiling space gets to have 111 people

No, I'm not gonna do that On the other hand, what would it take for you authority skeptics to trust the authorities with extraordinary power?

If the pandemic actually had been killing millions of people around us would you have trusted them then at what?

Fatality rate. Do you say to the government? Okay, go ahead. You're gonna have all the authority you need to shut it all down Are you pro -authority?

Or like Timothy Leary the old hippie is your motto question authority Our attitudes can swing like a pendulum between both opinions respect or skepticism

Culture has something to do with it Asians tend to be more reflexively pro -authority Giving the benefit of the doubt to political leaders that they're doing what's best for the country

Americans tend to be authority skeptics Lin Yu Tong wrote that Americans tend to do trust their neighbors

But fear that the authorities in Washington are these faceless bureaucrats While Chinese are the other way around he said they tended to suspect their neighbors

While believing that they're faraway leaders We're probably doing what's best for the country

We Americans don't trust the government with the power to suppress different points of view But we let social media companies do it oddly enough

They were frequently censoring us for posting views about the pandemic or transsexuality

Transgenderism they call it that were not acceptable to them Mary once had something censored from her

Facebook page and I asked her what's it feel like to live in a country with rampant censorship if we're not going to trust the big tech companies

We'll have to trust some authority to stop them The libertarian dream that we can live in a world with no authorities

That's just a fantasy. It's unreal in the end. You will have to trust someone with authority

Who's it gonna be? Who are you gonna trust? with authority

Well, there are different authorities there are formal authorities with an organizational position or title

For instance a CEO has the authority to make decisions that affect the entire company about hiring and firing people all kinds of things

Our political leaders like governors president the president congressmen Secretaries of government departments they have institutional authority.

Do you trust them? Or do you tend to think yeah, they were just elected by silly people who were fooled into voting for them

Then there's expertise based authority like your doctor now you don't have to follow his or her orders to stop eating so much ice cream or To take these vaccines

But you assume that he or she knows what's best for you that they spent years studying and they have no reason

To lead you astray. They're not giving you that advice just because they want to make money on you Hope they're doing it what they think is best for you

And then there's relational authority that someone you know You can you trust the relationship you have with them?

And so he or she influences you rather than just orders you to do something Leaders can wield significant authority over those that they've inspired trust and loyalty from Well, who's your authority?

That's the issue here as Jesus walks in the temple compound that he just cleansed out the day before we see about authority and Authorities in two major parts first who who is the authority who gives authority and Second what what do they do?

What would be done to them? What's it mean? Well first who's the authority?

Well, it's Tuesday at the temple Jesus arrived Sunday evening after having been hailed in Jerusalem with Hosannas he arrived in the temple.

It just looked around He comes back Monday sets the place in order as if he were the authority there

Jesus is now walking in the temple when he's approached now the next day on Tuesday in verse 27 by the authorities the chief

Priest of the scribes and the elders came to him. These are the formal Institutional authorities they have titles and positions the chief priests are those who can trace their lineage back

To Aaron Moses's brother who was appointed as the first chief priest High -priest and so there are so these are not authorities of expertise

Like we might think we see the word chief like they had earned that title by out working other people

No, they were just born into it born into the position But that was God's law so they could claim that their authority came from God Second was the scribes who were the

Bible scholars. They were the authorities of expertise or like professors with their PhDs They were supposed to know the law and the traditions and all the learned opinions of the leading rabbis

Finally, the elders were men who should have relational authority

Men whose leadership had been recognized by the community and so they could be looked up to these are the authorities

They approached Jesus and they asked him about Authority and verse 28 by what authority are you doing these things or who gave you the authority to do them?

Notice their question is specifically about authority not power as we saw

Jesus was apparently a Physically powerful man. He had the power to overturn the tables of merchants and the money changers in the seats of the salesmen

With him with the men still in it and he was physically intimidating enough that he could just step in front of some guy

Trying to deliver a load through the temple and the delivery guy would look at him and think

I better not try it And so turn around and go back Jesus had the power to do what he did.

He could literally throw people out of the temple But did he have the authority? Authority refers to the legitimate right to make decisions or take actions to issue orders.

It's not the same as power power Just means the ability You literally can do something if the power whether you should do it.

It's the authority you all right now have the power To walk up here and start preaching but do you have the authority a

Policeman standing in the middle of the intersection directing traffic has the authority To stop you make you stop just with his hand, but he doesn't have the power

Right. I mean you could think as you're driving through these signals stop and you can think well, I don't want to stop

I'm just keep driving. I can't stop me. He's just a man standing in the middle of road He probably won't shoot you

But he might radio other police to go get you and those other police will have the authority and the power

To make you stop while authorities about legitimacy power is about capability Authority is about what you have the right to do not simply what you can do

So what the authorities are asking Jesus is, you know What makes you think that you have the right to come here and cleanse the place like you did after all we are the authorities

We made the decision to turn the court of the Gentiles into a farmer's market for the Israelites what gives you

Jesus the right to reverse our policy Jesus answers in verse 29.

I Will ask you one question They had asked him a double question by what authority and who gave you the authority

Jesus only demands one question single question But notice that he does demand it

He prefaces a single question with that order Answer me It's an imperative meaning a command and Then he asked the question was the baptism of John from heaven over man in verse 30

And then he concludes the question with another command another imperative Answer me

That's really peculiar, isn't it? Even in our authority skeptical culture here in America We don't usually address authorities like that like they can be just commanded

Even before Jesus answers the question he implies the answer They ask him who's the authority who gave you the authority and he answers first by treating them like he is the authority

He takes the authority. He shows authority It's like walking into a room full of soldiers and asking who's the commanding officer?

And then one man stands up and starts giving orders and you can assume well, he must be the one Here here they are asking hey

Jesus who has the authority Answer me Answer me

Guys, I think he just answered your question But in case they needed another hint he buries it in this counter question was the baptism of John from heaven

That's from God or from man Who gave John the authority to baptize?

Did he just make it up on his own? So that he really didn't have any authority was just a gimmick he thought of or did

God give him that authority by bringing this up Jesus is hinting that the some same one who gave him authority to cleanse the temple and stop the through traffic

Was the one who gave John? authority Jesus is counter question

Contains the answer To their question. It was also useful because it puts them in a dilemma

No matter how they answer it will be bad for them as they realize right away the authorities retreat to a little huddle of their own and Said to each other.

Hey if we say What the crowd wants us to say what the crowd believes and we're trying to win this crowd

But if we say what they want to hear, well, it's definitely God God gave him authority Then Jesus will shoot back.

Well, why did you not believe him? Why didn't you go down to the Jordan and get baptized It's obvious question besides They don't really believe that Well, but notice here that the actual truth of what they believe what they think is the truth

Does it enter into their discussion? We can't say John baptized by God's authority because we don't believe that that's not our belief.

We think that's not true No matter how much the people want to say it we're people of integrity so we will not say that Because even if it'll win us popularity with them.

No, that's not the way they think That they think well, we can't say it We wish we could because it would help us win them over but we can't because everyone knows we didn't get baptized

He'll use that against us and then they're afraid to say what they really believe. Well John just made it up They come out with that because they want to manipulate these people against Jesus And if they say that he just made it up then they'll all turn against them.

So it's all political for them It's not about truth. So finally they break out of their little huddle and they say we do not know

In verse 33 notice how Jesus just ignores that and then Jesus doesn't say well, you don't know really

No, he just knows they're lying. So the truth is that they're just refusing to answer.

So he's gonna refuse to answer They don't want to tell Jesus what they think and since Jesus doesn't want to tell them what he knows about his own authority

Well, then he won't either So he declares neither will I tell you by what authority

I do these things Jesus flouts the institutional authorities

Because he's the real authority that's who He is second

What? What are the authorities what's expected of them what do they really do and What will be done to them and finally?

What's it mean? Well, he answers that in the parable of the tenants starting in chapter 12. The authorities had questioned him about authority

Jesus tells a parable that describes these Authorities he began a man planted a vineyard a vineyard is like a fig tree a common image in the

Old Testament for Israel Isaiah 5 is the song in the vineyard. Let me sing for my beloved

My love song concerning his vineyard. That's how it starts Just like in the parable the man planted a vineyard

He dug a pit he cleared the land of stones built a fence and a tower and Isaiah's song

Isaiah chapter 5 The man is the Lord and the vineyard is Israel. And so Jesus begins his parable almost

Identically as Isaiah chapter 5 begins so everyone will know that in his parable.

It's the same the man is the Lord and The vineyard is Israel right the vineyard is

God's people who've been growing fruit out of now notice how much work He did on the vineyard the owner slash the

Lord. He planted the vines. He put up a fence dug a pit built a tower He wasn't just some rich landowner who paid other guys to do this for him

He invested his sweat and his own exertion into this vineyard Just like the

Lord Saved Israel from Egypt and gave it the law. He worked himself for the salvation of Israel But then at the end of verse 1

Jesus introduces new characters not in the parable not in the song of the vineyard in Isaiah 5 the tenants

And this is different than Isaiah 5 what who are the tenants? What are the tenants? Well tenants are people with a right that is delegated to them

By the owner if they are tenants of an apartment or a rental house Well, they get the right to live there.

They get certain rights. They can let their property there It should be safeguarded the landlord can't come and take it all just because he wants to if they have rights

It's delegated to them as long as they keep a condition They get a key they get the authority to call it their home here.

These tenants are the authorities themselves Just question Jesus here the tenants are given the right to treat the vineyard like it's their own at least to a certain point

They could did To live there apparently eat or drink some of the fruit Even though they didn't plant it or dig it or put up the fence or the tower

They are renters people who out with only a temporary authority if they keep their responsibilities

If they pay the rent if they don't they lose the right to be tenants and here they would no longer be legitimate authorities

Then the owner would goes off to another country Leaving the tenants in the vineyard

What is expected of the tenants here? Well, it's just like the fig tree the previous chapter produced fruit

That's their rent If they don't pay it they get evicted and then they'll no longer be legitimate authorities

What did the tenants actually do? Well here in verse 2 when the event came to the harvest time

The owner sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard now the word servant

Would ring a bell also from the Old Testament Just like the word vineyard the prophets were the servants of the

Lord Obadiah what the name of it? I literally just means servant of the Lord and all the prophets were described as the

Lord's servants And so the Lord planted Israel planted his people saved it invested in it and expecting fruit from it

He gave over the management of it to tenants these authorities the chief priests the scribes elders

He sends servants Prophets to them like Isaiah Jeremiah Micah and others and the

Lord expected the tenants to produce the fruit of righteousness justice steadfast love walking humbly with your

God instead The tenants in verse 3 what they actually did

They took him they took the servant and beat him and sent him away empty -handed. No rent.

No fruit Like what they did to Jeremiah they threw him in a well They threatened and imprisoned him and instead of delivering to the prophets the fruit of righteousness

They abused the prophets So the owner like God sent another servant and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully still no fruit

The owner God had worked hard to get fruit handed it over to these tenets Who are these authorities whom

Jesus is dealing with here in this parable right now? Who were supposed to be stewards of God's people that is they are supposed to be managing them

Cultivating them for the sake of the true owner God to make them fruitful righteous and just and loyal walking humbly with God, but instead

What they were what were they giving to God's servants Just abuse

Yet he continued to send servants in verse 5 finally, they killed one others they beat and finally in verse 6 the owner had a beloved son notice the son is

Beloved not as like an extra son. I get a lot of signs even get rid of this get rid of this bad side

No, he's always expendable. No, he was beloved And so he sends his cherished son saying they will respect my son instead in verse 7 the tenants say to each other

This is the heir see that son. This is the heir Comlins kill him and the inheritance this vineyard will be all ours

We get rid of him Well, we'll be able to have this vineyard for ourselves Will no longer be just tenants owing something to a landlord no longer stewards acting for the owner

But now we will be owners ourselves Outright, that's what they thought.

So in verse 8 they took the son They killed him and they didn't just kill him.

They threw his body out of the vineyard like it was garbage They just dumped it out there What did the tenants do

They forgot that they were tenants. They thought they were or that they could be

Owners so when they saw the owners beloved son They thought well, he's the last obstacle to our owning the vineyard for ourselves

What did the authorities do here? Well, they thought they were the law and the lawgivers that they were the ultimate authority

That there was no authority beyond them to which they were accountable If God's Word God law said the temple will be a house of prayer for all nations

They thought well, that's what it says, but we can make it into a money -making venture for ourselves we can give it out to vendors make and keep the profit and And who's gonna say no to us?

Who's gonna stop us? They didn't manage Israel for God to produce fruit for God.

They managed it for themselves To get what they could out of it

Each of us are tenants or stewards of what

God has given us Our money our property our time our talents our body our authority

God gave us everything we have and he expects us to manage all of what we have for him and to return him

Good fruit to return him a profit He wants more out of us than he invested in us.

Your money is not yours to keep and maybe Maybe you think well if I have a little extra after I've had a good time with it bought everything

I want for myself Everything I fancy Then I'll give a little maybe No, it's

God's and you manage it for him So if you're not giving you're treating

God's money like you're an owner it exists all for yourself You're not a steward

Your time is the Lord's You you manage it to serve God your talents are for the service of the

Lord Your body is not your own you manage it for the Lord to return to him fruit

And if you have authority and each of us at least has some authority over ourselves We use that authority to serve the

Lord not to serve ourselves here the authorities like the tenants in the parable ruling for themselves and even eventually killing the beloved son

Another what? What will the owner do to those tenants in verse 9?

He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others for not producing fruit

For thinking Israel this temple this worship its religion God's promises That it all existed just for them for what we could get out of it.

The authorities will be judged They will be destroyed and he's already portrayed that with the fig tree

I'm very cursed the fig tree withered away and now he proclaims the sentence right in their hearing

Immediately after they had questioned Jesus about authority The verdict they will be destroyed but first Did you notice that Jesus predicted his own death?

He's the beloved son He just told a story in which he is killed and his body dumped on the ground like garbage

This is not put out there. It's just up. Well, this could happen guys if you don't straighten out If you you know, it's just a road

You could go down if you don't repent at all, but it all depends on your choices. No Jesus predicts his death at the hands of these tenants with the authorities as if it is already done

Because he is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world So their choices to kill him although free

They're not forced on them against their will They were already determined there was no other possibility and in the parable it's already done

Even as Jesus tells it in history in time Before it had been done

Jesus's death is set Also set is

The judgment on the tenants the authorities of Israel the chief priests ascribed to the elders Who's so smugly came to Jesus demanding you tell us what authority you have where'd your authority come from yet cleanse the temple

And he says they will be destroyed That came in less than a generation By 8070 when

Roman army surrounded Jerusalem and they besieged it and they cut down every tree for miles around Jerusalem to use it for crosses so that they could crucify

Thousands of those who hadn't heeded Jesus's warning that when you see the abomination coming the

Gentile King Desecrating the temple when you see that's about to happen flee as fast as you can

Don't even go back in your house to get anything Thousands who didn't heed Jesus's warning because they didn't believe it

Will be crucified they were crucified destruction is

Coming it's set then finally the vineyard will be given to others notice at the end of verse 9 he will

Give the vineyard to others No longer will these authorities be authorities

They will be replaced Jesus says they're soon to be replaced They'll lose their right to manage

God's vineyard the Israel of God the church. It will be given to other authorities Authorities in the church and This is what in theology is called

Supercessionism that the church supersedes Israel it takes over its rights as stewards of God's promises

Now this is commonly widely denied today even among Christians as if almost they're almost implying the old authorities will come back and it's often put if You believe this then you don't really believe

The Bible is literally God's Word But what you're not believing is if you don't believe that these people lose their authority and that they are replaced

You're not believing Jesus here. They will not come back. They are destroyed

They were destroyed and their authority has been given to others to us finally

What's it all mean? Well for that he changes his metaphor Quoting from Psalm 118

Asking the people standing around listening to this After he's just been questioned by these authorities

Have you not read? The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes haven't you read that and Suddenly all the pieces start to come together.

Oh the builders in Psalm 118 the builders are the tenants in the parable

Who are the authorities turning the Lord's house into a den of robbers for themselves the stone?

From Psalm 118 the stone is the beloved son in the parable sent to the tenants to get fruit from the vineyard that the

Lord built But they think they own it for themselves that it exists for them to enrich themselves with like Some people today think the church exists for them

For them to be comfortable in for their kind of people for their race or for their family reunions or for their politics or for Their socializing or for their careers

Now the stone the Sun becomes the cornerstone the fundamental building block Place at the corner of a new building is is being built setting its foundations and its walls the base of strength and stability for the building establishing the in line alignment

For the entire building the stone was rejected by the builders They didn't want it get rid of it, but the

Lord builds on it. The stone was rejected just like the tenants killed the beloved son But then

Jesus hints at something Not in the parable now the parable the conclusion of the parable is just about judgment

Judgment will come on the authorities who had had ample opportunity to repent and deliver fruit to the Lord But they will be destroyed and they will be replaced

But we know they won't repent they will kill the Beloved Son so judgment is coming on them and then

Jesus hence In this quote from Psalm 118, it's something not in the parable

The parable pronounces judgment on the old authorities for killing the Beloved Son the stone that the builders rejected

But by interpreting that in light of Psalm 118 Jesus says that somehow the

Beloved Son Though killed Becomes the cornerstone the stone that sets the foundation

How is that possible How is it possible for a dead son?

to become the cornerstone unless He rises from the dead

This is the Lord's doing and it's marvelous in our eyes

The authorities understood that Jesus was talking about them and so wanted to arrest him but being cowards They were afraid of using their power

You Have authority at least over your own time your money your thoughts and your things

Don't be too worried about the authorities at the county office or the state house or at Washington What about you?

How have you used your authority over what God has given you

That will be judged Have you been a good tenant? steward

Over what God has given you? He's coming for fruit

What do you have to give him Have you built your life on the cornerstone the

Beloved Son? on Christ alone if so He's expecting fruit