The Authority of Jesus (Part 1)

No Compromise Radio

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:02

No Compromise Radio Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author,

00:10

Dr. Mike Abendroth. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the

00:16

Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

00:22

Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the Scriptures, verse by verse with no compromise.

00:31

Jesus often brings out the worst in people. Jesus to many infuriates them.

00:39

Now it's an interesting thing because the law is good, the law is perfect, the law is holy, but it shows people their sin.

00:47

And so too Jesus being good and holy and righteous, when he confronts a sinful person who thinks that they have their own self -righteousness, the worst comes out of them.

01:01

I find it fascinating that Jesus preaches the same message and his followers, the saved ones, the redeemed ones, think that he's the kind Messiah.

01:11

What a friend we have in Jesus. And the exact same message is preached to unbelievers and they are aggravated by him, they are infuriated by him, they take umbrage with what he says, and they want to try to kill him.

01:27

How can that be? And what happened back in the days of the Bible happens today.

01:33

That is to say Jesus, the risen Savior, tells people that there is an exclusive gospel.

01:39

Jesus is the only Savior, the only Lord, the only King, the only Messiah, and that you can only have your sins forgiven by true repentance and faith in him alone, the exclusivity of Christ.

01:53

And in our day, just like back in those days, there's a pluralistic view to things.

01:59

Pluralism says Jesus is a way, but he's not the way. Pluralism pats our forehead and says, that's nice that Jesus is good for you,

02:09

I'm glad you're religious, I'm glad you're spiritual, if it works for you, hallelujah. Don't bother me, they're saying basically translation.

02:17

And pluralism says that if there's many saviors, then you don't have to believe in Jesus alone. Something called inclusivism says this,

02:25

Jesus is the only Savior, he's the only sin bearer, he was the only one raised from the dead, but you don't really have to have faith in him.

02:32

He can save you, but it's not through faith alone in him. And if you take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 20 this morning, as I deviate for one more week out of 1

02:41

Corinthians, I want to show you how Jesus deals with religious leaders and other people because Jesus is the one who has the only authority to forgive sins and people are divided by Christ.

03:01

Now most of you this morning I know are Christian people and you will say, I love Jesus, I love to see how he acts, how he talks, what he does.

03:10

But if you're not a Christian, this will be a good passage for you this morning because Jesus has authority alone to forgive sins.

03:18

You are a sinner and you need forgiveness and he alone is the one who can forgive your sins.

03:24

And so today we'll see from Luke, the great Dr. Luke who gives all kinds of precise details, this great picture of Jesus talking to people who are pluralistic, talking to people who are religious, talking to people who are self -righteous, and when you look and see

03:39

Jesus today, here's what I say, I will follow that King. I say when

03:44

I look at Jesus in Luke 20, he is a great Savior. Nobody taught like him, nobody acted like him, nobody did anything like Christ and I look at Luke 20 and I just think,

03:55

I will line up gladly underneath this King and follow him and I'll be glad to be in his kingdom.

04:02

That's what I want you to think this morning as well. Luke chapter 20 shows Jesus has great authority but people don't like that authority and they try to challenge him.

04:13

So this morning we'll see as we deviate from 1 Corinthians for just one more week who

04:18

Jesus is in Luke chapter 20. After all, if you're super under the weather and you're busy, you've got a time schedule change and you think it's midnight in Athens, what do you do?

04:31

What do you do if you're me? Well, here's what you do, you show people who Jesus is and you can all sit and go,

04:38

Jesus is great and if you're 12 years old, I hope you sit here and think today, Jesus is awesome.

04:44

Jesus is cool. Jesus is one of a kind and that's exactly the way

04:51

Luke portrays this Jesus who says things that just make the believer say,

04:58

I worship you and who says things that make the unbeliever say, you make me mad.

05:04

That's hate speech. How dare you talk that way and that's exactly the way these false teachers dealt with Jesus as well.

05:12

Nothing's new and so it shouldn't shock us that the world, that a Harvard, that cities, universities rather in Berlin don't bow down and say

05:22

Christians are wonderful, Christians are the best. Jesus, like it or not, is the only

05:28

God and he has made plain the only way of salvation. He's the only risen savior.

05:35

He's the only one who died a substitutionary death on Calvary. He's the only one who raised himself from the dead and he has an exclusive claim to say,

05:45

I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life and what?

05:52

No one comes to the father except through me. Just rubs me the wrong way, doesn't it?

06:02

That's what one man said. He said this. This is the verse John 14 6 that is frequently quoted to defend the idea of the exclusivity of Christ, namely that all who do not consciously and decisively accept

06:18

Jesus as their personal savior will burn in hell forever. This particular man said, that phrase raises concerns for me because based on the scriptures,

06:29

I believe Jesus primarily came not to proclaim a way out of hell for some after death, but rather a way into a better life for all before death.

06:42

This writer said, if Jesus is the only way, is

06:48

Jesus the only way? It depends where you're trying to go. Jesus' words seem too intolerant.

06:57

He seems to have some kind of authority that supersedes everything. You know,

07:02

Jesus, the way he talks, he acts like he's actually God incarnate and there is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

07:13

Acts chapter what? 4 verse what? 12. Let's dive into this passage.

07:21

We'll try to get through Luke 20 verses 1 through 19 this morning and I want to show you basically the greatness of Christ, how he had authority and they challenged his authority and then he gives a parable to back up why he has great authority and today it will cause two things to happen,

07:39

I hope. One for the believer, most of you today to say, I love to look at Christ.

07:44

I love it that when he says, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I'll give you rest. I like that part of Jesus, the gentle meek lamb, but I also like Jesus when he makes plain the way of salvation to these people that would try to silence him, they would try to gag him, they would try to mute him and if you're an unbeliever,

08:05

I hope you see this Jesus today as the one who has authority as the eternal God alone to forgive sins.

08:12

They challenged his authority then, they challenge his authority today. That's the Bible, that's written by men and you'll begin to see all these things take place.

08:21

Let's look at Luke chapter 20 verse 1 and set to the scene please. Luke 20 verse 1,

08:27

English Standard Version. One day as Jesus, now don't miss that, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, here comes this triad, this trifecta of works righteousness teachers.

08:46

The chief priests show up and the scribes and the elders came up and said to him, rudely interrupting,

08:53

I might add, tell us by what authority you do these things or who is it that gave you this authority?

09:03

Can I see your papers? Can I see your ordination? What school did you go to?

09:09

What rabbi taught you? Just who do you think you are? And what they're trying to do is they're going to try to silence him because Jesus is great

09:17

Messiah since he was the religious Messiah, he showed up to attack false worship in the temple.

09:24

If he was a political Messiah, a military Messiah, what would have Jesus done? He probably would have marched right over to where the leaders of the

09:31

Roman Imperial Guard were and he would deal with those in the Imperial Guard. But since religion was the issue, that is how can

09:39

I have my sins forgiven? That is the issue, he goes straight to the temple and he's going to teach at the temple and then deal with this issue.

09:47

These three classes of the Sanhedrin were not very happy. They try to pounce on Jesus, they try to show up and they're going to try to discredit him because they have a power base, they have a money base and they don't like what he's going to say.

10:02

For your information, the chief priests could have included Caiaphas and Annas, they were high priests.

10:09

Scribes were mostly Pharisees and they wrote things down, yes, as you would think a scribe, but they studied the law, they interpreted the law, they taught the law.

10:19

So we've got the chief priests, the scribes, and what does the text say the other group was? The elders.

10:25

Maybe they were the lay leaders of the land, as most commentators would say. But these were the big shots, the ripples had gone out to cause big waves now and the big shots have to come in and deal with Jesus.

10:39

I think they knew that Jesus was going to give the death blow to self -righteousness, to works righteousness, and they didn't like it.

10:47

Show us your credentials, show us your authorization. They wanted to embarrass Jesus.

10:53

Don't upset the apple cart. Jesus, so far in Luke chapters 1 through 19, has said, or has been said of him, he's the son of the most high, chapter 1.

11:05

He's the Messiah, chapter 2. He's the holy one of God, chapter 4. He's the son of man, chapter 5.

11:13

He's the son of David, chapter 18. He's Israel's king, chapter 19. Who do you think you are talking like that?

11:22

You've probably got, you're probably self -ordained. You probably got your degree through the mail order, some www .hokeyordination

11:32

.com kind of thing. Jesus is attacking worship.

11:39

Jesus is attacking what these people are saying would be the way to God, the way to have forgiveness, the way to have a justification with God, to be in a right standing with God.

11:52

They don't like that. They don't like it when he has said to maybe some of them or some of their other comrades, you are of your father, the devil.

12:05

And they came, looking back at chapter 20, verse 1, excuse me, verse 2, tell us by what authority you do these things, plural, like purge the temple, like forgive sins, like do things on a

12:20

Sabbath, like the triumphal entry. Tell us, what are you doing with these things? If you go back to verse 45 of chapter 19, it says,

12:28

And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.

12:40

Mark says he drove out those who were buying and selling in the temple, overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.

12:51

And just like back in John chapter 2, the first time Jesus drove people out of the temple, it says the zeal of God drove him to do this.

13:00

We're making a mockery of the tabernacle, excuse me, the temple. Money changers,

13:07

Jesus drives them out according to chapter 19. And then these men show up and say, just who do you think you are?

13:13

I was trying to think of all the stuff that was going on near the temple or by the temple. You'd have three kinds of money.

13:19

You'd have Roman money, Greek money, Jewish money. You'd have to buy the right kind of animal to slay the animal, the right kind of lamb, the right kind of dove, the right kind of everything else.

13:29

They're using it as a throughway, as a thoroughfare, as a cut through. And I thought, can you imagine showing up to a worship service today and getting about 55 different sections of the church all playing bingo?

13:44

That's exactly what it would be like, but maybe a hundred times worse. Going to a worship service and having the

13:53

Sterling Fair break out with all the cows. How can you do these things,

14:00

Jesus? By who, what authority do you go to the temple, cast everybody out and say, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations, but you've made it a robber's den.

14:12

By what authority do you do that? And what does Jesus say? What does Jesus say?

14:18

And you almost don't want to know. He answered them. You'll notice here that he doesn't seem scared.

14:26

He doesn't seem intimidated. He doesn't seem like some kind of weak, emaciated little Jesus who's so effeminate he can't say anything to anyone.

14:36

He answered them. I also will ask you a question. Now, if you're them,

14:42

I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm thinking if I was them, this is bad. This is kind of a gulp moment.

14:48

Okay. And then Jesus says, what does it say in verse three? Now tell me, I'm going to ask you a word, literally in the

14:57

Greek, I've got a word for you. Here's the word. Verse four was the baptism of John, John the

15:06

Baptist from heaven. That's option one. John had been martyred by now.

15:13

Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Two options.

15:20

And if they can answer this question, they'll know the answer to their own question to Jesus.

15:27

This will give them the right answer. John comes along and he's pointing to Jesus. He has authority by God to point to Jesus.

15:35

And if you know where John's coming from and to whom he points, you'll know everything you need to know. John testified that Jesus was the

15:42

Messiah. John proclaimed that even as a national hero for Israel, there was one to whom he was pointing.

15:51

It wasn't himself. John had no credentials, no mail order degrees, no rabbi saying,

15:59

I anoint you with this kind of thing. John was a messenger from God. No priest -like credentials, acting only on the behalf of God.

16:09

And so what does Jesus do? People call this being put on the horns of a dilemma.

16:16

Isn't that good language? You're actually put on the horns of a dilemma. And if they say the baptism of John was from heaven, then why didn't you believe him?

16:26

Why didn't you be baptized? Why didn't you show fruits of repentance? Why did you just keep on doing this works righteousness system?

16:32

You've contorted the original plan of the Old Testament. Mark 11 says that Jesus said to these men, answer me.

16:43

Here the superior tone of Jesus places them between a rock and a hard place. They're rejecting

16:50

John. They're rejecting Jesus. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?

16:59

Now if it's from heaven, why'd you kill John? If it's from men, these guys are thinking, now if I say it's from men, that'll be false witness, that'll be false testimony, it'll go against the crowd, the crowd might be mad at us.

17:15

Was God behind John's mission? If the answer is yes, he's behind my mission. Verse 5, they discussed it with one another,

17:23

I think we'd say in the Midwest. They were hemming and what, hawing. If we say from heaven, he'll say, why did you not believe him?

17:37

But if we say from man, all the people will stone us to death for they're convinced that John was a prophet.

17:46

So when all else fails, play the stupid card. So they answered,

17:54

I mean, if you want to show who you are really, why play ignorant?

18:02

Because they knew, this is just insincerity, this is hypocrisy, so they answered they did not know where it came from.

18:12

I think they were discredited before Jesus, before all the people listening. You might want to mark this down in your theological lessons cap, because there is a lesson to be learned here, that unbelief is a moral problem.

18:27

People can't believe because they won't believe. The fool has said in his heart, there is no

18:34

God. They saw the evidence, they saw the miracles, they heard the teaching, but they refused to believe.

18:40

It's a volitional issue. They failed to see the truth because they hardened their hearts against that very

18:47

Messiah. They would not submit to his will. So what do they say?

18:54

You can hear the bureaucracy, can't you? This has got the echo of the government in it.

19:00

No comment. They have no comment. They can't comment because they won't comment, they will not.

19:11

And so what does Jesus say? Neither will I tell you, verse 8, by what authority

19:19

I do these things. You see the official state of Judaism that had moved away from the true grace that was found in the

19:37

Old Testament. It's now been torqued, it's been perverted, it's been turned to works righteousness.

19:43

And Jesus is going to go after those leaders of Judaism. They're hostile towards Jesus.

19:51

They cannot tolerate Jesus. And so Jesus now gives a parable, verses 9 through 18, then a comment to wrap up in verse 19.

20:01

Jesus gives a parable. And Jesus is going to warn people about false teachers.

20:07

He's specifically going to be warning against Israel's false teachers, but this would apply to many.

20:14

And he will also answer this question, how does Jesus have the authority to say what he says, does what he does?

20:22

To do what he does, rather. How does he have authority? How can he criticize the temple? How can he go and clear out the temple?

20:30

How can he call down these people? So this parable has a context, and you can never get a parable right unless you know why it is given.

20:38

What is the occasion? What is the situation? What's the circumstance? The circumstance is this, they challenge

20:44

Jesus' authority, and Jesus says, now I'll tell you why I have authority to do this. The challenge is by false teachers who are in a work system, a righteousness system, and by the way, aren't we all born with an idea in our brain that the way you get to heaven is you be good?

20:59

You do good. To put it theologically, you are born a Pelagian. You are born a person that says, if I just do more good than bad,

21:08

I'll be okay. If I just do extra good things and maybe have everything confess just before I go to bed, just before I fall asleep, it's going to be okay.

21:17

I'm going to please God, I'm going to pacify God, I'm going to do whatever I want to do. You're born that way.

21:22

We are all born that way because of Adam. We don't become semi -Pelagians until we're born again.

21:29

We thought somehow we cooperated with God. I allowed him to believe, I allowed him into my heart, I said, please,

21:34

Jesus, you're knocking on my door in my heart, and then I let you in. I mean, we're born Pelagians, and when we're born again, we're pretty much semi -Pelagians.

21:43

You're all looking at me saying, I thought the IBS class was Friday night or Thursday night.

21:50

It's not until later that we realize from God that we had nothing to do with our salvation except sin.

21:55

God did it all. Jesus is the Savior. He's the Alpha and the Omega of our salvation, and He did everything.

22:01

But here are these people, this false, show me a false religious system, and I don't care if it starts with a

22:07

B, or it starts with an M, or it starts with an I, or it starts with a C, or it starts with an H, you find one of the major religious influences of the world today, religious groups, and I'll tell you that they all have this in common, works righteousness.

22:23

And Jesus will not tolerate works righteousness. And so He gives a parable, and if you haven't read this parable yet, you better buckle up, because it is something.

22:39

It is God, the Son, talking about the triune

22:44

God's work with Israel. Verse 9, and He began to tell the people this parable.

22:56

I would have loved to have been there. You know, there's something about standing in Corinth, thinking about 1

23:02

Corinthians, standing on Mars Hill reading through Acts chapter 17, there's just something about it, but how would

23:08

I like to be there? Basically we get to be there as we listen to these words.

23:14

A man planted a vineyard, let it out to tents, and went into another country for a long while.

23:23

It doesn't sound kind of so nice, and so sweet, and you know, let's just tell me a story. I just remember going to my grandfather's room, and he was dying of prostate cancer, and he'd say, he'd say,

23:35

Mike, hop up on the bed, and I'm going to tell you a story. And then I, he'd start off the story, and then

23:41

I could change the story whenever I wanted to. And he'd say, we're going down, you and me, into this cave, and we need some kind of weapon.

23:48

And he'd say, grandson, what kind of weapon do you want? I want some kind of knife. Okay, and then Mike took the knife, you know, and down, and you just think, this is just a nice story, grandpa.

24:01

That's part of the pungency of parables, because he draws you in, and you go along, and you think,

24:07

I agree, I agree, I'm there, I'm with you, I agree, I agree, gah! You're like,

24:15

I should have disagreed five steps before! Now, once he starts doing all this vineyard talk,

24:22

I'm telling you, these people began to think of their only Bible, and that was the Old Testament, and they were thinking

24:27

Jeremiah, and they're thinking specifically Isaiah 5, where it says, and Israel was the vineyard.

24:35

You say vineyard back in those days, they would say, yes, we got grapes, but if it's some kind of religious context, religious discussion, religious atmosphere,

24:43

Israel is the vineyard. Mark chapter 12, it says a man planted a vineyard, put a wall around it, dug a vat under the winepress, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine growers, and went on a journey.

25:02

In other words, here God is the great vineyard owner, and He does everything for Israel.

25:10

He nourishes Israel, He plants Israel, He originates Israel, He does everything, protects Israel. That's where we're going here.

25:20

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

25:26

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible -teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

25:36

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

25:43

You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

25:51

The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff, or management.