A Question of Authority (Luke 20:1-18, Jeff Kliewer)

Sola Scriptura and the Protestant Reformation

Gracious Heavenly Father, how wonderful Your love is for us. We do not deserve Your love. We are rebels to Your cause. We are against Your throne, and yet You have come by Your love and rescued us and changed our hearts, given us the new birth, made us new creations in Christ that we would willingly be slaves to You.

God, this is a miracle that is owed to Your grace alone, and we thank You for that, God. We ask now, Lord, that we would be submitted to Your Word and the authority of Your Scripture, that we would understand Your Word.

God, make it clear and plain to us, Lord. We open Your Word not because we want to say something to You or confirm something we already believe, Lord, but we ask that You would speak to us. Conform us to the image of Your beloved Son.

Father, speak to us and change us from the inside out through Your Word. In Jesus' name, amen. The Reformation happened 500 years ago, and the anniversary of that is less than or about two months away.

October 31st of this year will be the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. If you were to go to Prague and go to a certain library in Prague, you would find that there are three medallions that represent the flame of the Reformation.

The first one represents John Wycliffe, the second John Hus, and the third Martin Luther. From the 1300s, the 1400s, and the 1500s, the first medallion is a man striking a stone with another stone to create a spark.

That represents Wycliffe. The second one is a man kindling that spark into a fire. That represents Hus. And the third and final medallion represents Luther. It's a man holding a torch, ablaze, displaying the light.

Three phases are demonstrated in that particular library, and sometimes we think that the Reformation began in 1517. In a sense, formerly it did, but in truth it began earlier than that. The sparks began, the kindling began, and Luther took what was stirring at that time and held up the torch.

Now the first person mentioned there is John Wycliffe. About 40 years after he died, his body was exhumed by the authorities, by the Roman Catholic Church, and they took his body and they burnt it to ashes, and they dumped the ashes in a river.

Wycliffe stood against the authority of the popes and cardinals, wherever they contradicted the scripture. And he said, even though there were a hundred popes, and though every mendicant monk were a cardinal, they would be entitled to no confidence except as far as they accorded with the Bible.

And so catch this. The formal principle of the Reformation is sola scriptura, scripture alone. Wycliffe held up the Bible as the authority. A hundred years or so after Wycliffe came, Huss in Bohemia. Wycliffe was in England, and he actually translated the Bible out of the Latin Vulgate into English and gave the Bible to the common people, which offended the Catholic Church at the time.

Well, after Wycliffe comes Huss, and Huss begins to preach a very similar message. And he is taken before the authorities. He's put on a three-legged stool and put a dunce cap on his head with pictures of devils all over the cap.

And he's threatened for what he's teaching and told that he must recant for putting the scripture alone as the authority over people and dismissing the authority of popes and cardinals, the church and tradition.

He said he would do so only if the statements could be proven by scripture. Scripture alone. They said, you are an obstinate heretic. He said to them, we take, they said to him, we take from you the cup of redemption.

To which Huss replied, I trust in the Lord God Almighty that he will not take away from me the cup of his redemption, but I firmly hope to drink of it today in his kingdom. And sure enough, they took Huss and they led him through the streets in a procession, and they tied him to a pole and put kindling beneath him and burned him at the stake.

Meanwhile, he had a peaceful look on his face. He was sure that he was standing on the Word of God alone. His cry, like Wycliffe, was sola scriptura. And so that brings us to the 1500s and the man that we're more familiar with, Martin Luther.

He had a similar cry, sola scriptura, and preached that the scriptures alone were the authority on which we stand. He, of course, was taken before the authorities at the famous Diet of Worms in the city of Worms, Germany.

And he was, a trial was held against him and all his books were presented as heresy. He was told that he needed to recant because he had rejected the authority of Popes. What did he say? Some of you are familiar with these words.

Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, I do not accept the authority of the Popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other. My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.

God help me, amen. Now there's some debate as to whether he said the last phrase, but it became famous in all the movies. Here I stand, I can do no other. He makes his stand upon sola scriptura, the scripture alone.

Now, when Hus had made a similar stand, he had been granted safe passage to come stand trial. But, of course, that didn't work out the way he had expected, and even though he was granted safe passage, he was held captive, and he was burned at the stake.

You would expect a similar fate for Luther. In fact, after the Diet of Worms, he is declared a heretic and anybody is free to capture him and kill him. However, in God's providence, Frederick, the elector, is a protector for Luther.

He's a very powerful German, and as Luther is leaving the Diet of Worms, he is kidnapped by Frederick and his men, and he is taken to Wartburg Castle, where he takes on the persona of George, and he grows out a big beard, and he's no longer Martin Luther, he's in hiding.

But in Wartburg Castle, he translates the scriptures into the German language. The miracle here is that he does the New Testament in ten weeks. The Holy Spirit just giving him strength, he worked night and day, and the wisdom that came from God, he translates the scriptures.

The New Testament in ten weeks, the Old Testament takes him longer, but he produces the first Bible in the German language. And the cry of the Reformation, the formal principle, is Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone is our authority.

Now, we know the material principle of the Reformation is justification by faith alone, but that formal cry of authority is Sola Scriptura. Get that firmly fixed in your mind. We are of the heritage of Sola Scriptura.

Human Reason as a Competing Authority

Now, I was at a little cookout, somebody's house, a birthday party yesterday, and I was talking to a Catholic guy, and we talked about authority, and we talked about the scriptures, and he's a Catholic, but I would say he represents a majority of Catholics in our day.

He could take or leave what the Pope says, what Benedict says. Now, we have two living Popes, Benedict or Francis. He could take or leave it. He's a Catholic by choice, but ultimately, if you asked him what is his seat of authority, is it the scriptures, is it the Pope, is it tradition, that three-legged stool, he would say, no, it's whatever he thinks.

It's whatever he thinks is reasonable and makes sense to him, according to his experience and his rationality. So, he probably wouldn't use these terms, but in essence, he's saying that he is his own Pope.

He has authority to determine truth. That is a better picture of most Roman Catholics in America today, but guess what, guys? Even as Protestants, coming from the Sola Scriptura heritage, most Protestants who claim the Reformation as their heritage still have a Pope, and that Pope is them.

Their authority to form an opinion on any matter truly comes from their own human reasoning, and they'll listen to the scripture, and they'll listen to tradition, and they'll listen to what anybody and everybody has to say, but ultimately, they are their own Pope.

Sola Scriptura is a call not only to reject the authority of Popes and Cardinals, Sola Scriptura is a call to submit to the authority of the Word of God. This is the call, this is the challenge of the Reformation, and we might come from a heritage, but the question this morning is, are we submitted entirely to the Word of God?

The Authority Clash in Luke 20

This is the issue in Luke 20. Guys, we're back to Luke, we're going expository through Luke, and Luke 20 is a question of authority. That's what happens in this passage. Jesus comes into the temple. You remember from Luke 19, the triumphal procession, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

He comes down from the eastern mountain, the Mount of Olives, according to the prophecies of Ezekiel, and he enters the city, and as he comes into the temple, he makes a whip and drives out the commercializers, and he turns over tables.

He establishes his authority in the temple, and he goes on from there to begin to teach in the temple, claiming his authority by his actions. But Luke 20, then, we pick up where the temple authorities are.

They believe they have the right, they have the authority to speak there, so there is a clash. This is a confrontational passage, and the question really is, who has ultimate authority? Luke 20, we'll read it 1 through 18, and then we'll break it down a little bit.

One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority?

He answered them, I also will ask you a question, now tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? And they discussed it with one another, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, why did you not believe him?

But if we say from man, all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet. So they answered that they do not know where it came from, and Jesus said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Verse 9, and he began to tell the people this parable. A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard, but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

And he sent another servant, but they also beat and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent yet a third, this one also, they wounded and cast out. The owner of the vineyard said, what shall I do?

I will send my beloved son, perhaps they will respect him. But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, this is the heir, let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours. And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. When they heard this, they said, surely not! But he looked directly at them and said, what then is this that is written?

Human Rebellion Against the Authority of God

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. In the first verse of the 20th chapter, Jesus is teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel.

Notice the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders come up, three groups, together in a gang, trying to find out who is this itinerant rabbi who's come storming into the temple and driven out the money changers.

Who is this guy and who does he think he is? And how is it that he set up shop in the temple and set himself up as the teacher? Notice it's the chief priests of the religious system, the sacrificial system.

These aren't just ordinary Levites, these are the chief priests. These are the authorities, the ones most in charge. Notice also the group includes scribes. These are the intellectual elite, the leaders who translate the Bible and put it in, they copy down and make new texts to pass out to all the synagogues.

And also notice it's the elders, these men who have authority as rulers of the people. So we get from the first verse that these are the important people. These are the authorities. These are the guys who are in charge of the temple.

And here's this itinerant rabbi setting up shop in the temple. See what's happening? A clash of authority. And so the question in verse 2 makes sense. He said to him, they say to Jesus, tell us by what authority do you do these things?

Or who it is that gave you this authority? Who is standing in the judgment seat in this verse? Who is the arbiter of truth? Who is putting who on trial? It's mere men standing in the presence of the creator of the universe, the God who made them, and questioning him.

And you say, well that's their jurisdiction, right? I mean they're in charge of the temple. They need to make sure that everything's okay. To a degree, that's right. They're exercising their authority.

But look a couple verses up. In 1947, the very end of chapter 19, Jesus is teaching daily in the temple. These chief priests, these scribes, and the principal men, so these are the leaders, the authorities, are seeking to destroy him.

So this is not a faithful or right handling of authority. Rather, this is men in rebellion against their creator. They already have it in their heart to rebel against his authority. They're already in rebellion.

Brothers and sisters, what would you do if you were a scribe and Jesus came marching into your temple? If you were the chief priest, if you were the principal man, if you were the elder, I tell you, you would do exactly what these men did.

Unless you have the miracle of rebirth. Romans chapter 1 teaches us that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth in wickedness. For what can be seen and known about God is evident to them, God having made it evident through the things that are made.

So that everybody is without excuse. In other words, the general revelation that we have is enough to confirm to us by looking out at the the created thing that there is an eternal power with divine nature.

But nobody submits to that revelation of God. Rather, people rebel against the authority of God, suppressing the truth. And what do we do as we suppress the truth? Each one of us, we hold the truth down.

It's like taking a beach ball and trying to hold it underwater in your pool. It takes active force to suppress that, and yet the natural state is for it to come up. You're suppressing something. So, Romans 1 goes on to tell us that people, all people, exchange the glory of God for created things, and begin to worship and serve created things rather than the eternal God who is forever blessed.

The natural state of the human heart is to suppress the truth and exchange the glory of God for a lie, to rebel against the authority of God. And so what we have in this picture of the authorities of Israel is not something that we should look down on and say, you know what, these are just some particularly wicked people.

No, Romans 2 goes on to say, at whatever point you judge others, this is speaking particularly to the Jews at that point, you're guilty of the very same thing. Here's what I'm trying to say. We are born captive to sin, exchanging the glory of God, suppressing truth, and rebelling against the authority of our Creator.

And so what we see here in the first two verses is the natural state of the human heart. Rebels to his authority. And when they see him, they don't recognize him. They rebel against him. Verses 1 and 2.

The Prophetic Witness of John the Baptist and the Sent Servants

Now Jesus speaks in answer to them as they challenge his authority. What does he appeal to? John the Baptist. But John the Baptist as a prophet. The last of the Old Testament prophets. So the authority that Jesus is claiming is the prophetic witness of the Word of God, culminating in John, who said, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, who declared Jesus to be the Messiah.

Verses 3 to 8. Follow this. He answered them, I also will ask you a question. So now Jesus takes that position of authority, which is rightfully his. Now tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?

And they discussed it with one another. They say, if we say heaven, then he's gonna say, why don't you believe him? And if we say from man, then we're in trouble with the people. They're gonna stone us because they believe he's a prophet.

So they did not answer him. They didn't say. They had nothing to reply to. Listen. The authority of Jesus is communicated to us through the prophets. John the Baptist came in the New Testament. That's where we read about him.

But his ministry was before the cross. He was the last of the Old Testament prophets, declaring the coming Messiah and introducing him to the world. The authority of Jesus is grounded on sola scriptura, the Word of God.

And so now the parable that follows will make sense. Follow this with me. Verse 9 and following. And he began to tell the people this parable. A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long time.

When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants. That first servant represents an early prophet. A prophet coming, speaking, thus saith the Lord, giving not just general revelation, but special revelation.

This is what God himself says. Moses brings us Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Moses is a prophet who speaks for God. But the people don't listen to Moses, do they? They bicker and complain and reject him.

And ultimately that whole generation dies in the wilderness. Verse 10. When the time came, he sends a servant to the tenants so that they would give him some of the vineyard, but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

Rebellion against God is rebellion to his Word. It's the failure to submit to the Word of God. The prophet speaks, but the people don't listen. Verse 11. And he sent another servant, another prophet, but they also beat and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed.

And he sent yet a third. This one also, they wounded and cast out. So the parable is catching this idea of a succession of prophets, one after another. God sends the prophetic Word, and each time they're rejected.

Isaiah rejected. Jeremiah rejected and thrown in a dungeon. Haggai and the last one, Malachi. And then 400 years of silence. Verse 13. The owner says, the owner of the vineyard says, what shall I do? I will send my beloved son.

Of course, that is Jesus. Still a prophet, still speaking for God, but this is more than a prophet. This is the very Son of God, the Beloved Son, the heir, the one who has been with the Father from eternity past.

I will send my son. Perhaps they will respect him. But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, this is the heir. Let us kill him. And even as Jesus is telling this parable, the leading people of Israel, the chief priests, the scribes, they have it in their heart to destroy him, according to the end of chapter 19.

They have that wickedness in their heart. Let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours. Verse 15. And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?

He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Now notice, all the way back in verse 6, all the people will stone us. They know that they can't say anything, and in verse 7, they close their mouths.

They won't even answer him. But this parable is so sharp and so directed, they can't keep quiet. They were kind of giving him the silent treatment, like, well, we don't need to answer this guy. We don't have to say.

We don't have to. We can say, I don't know. But now, at the end of the parable, they blurt out, verse 16, when they heard this, they said, surely not. They yell back at Jesus, surely not. They know he's speaking to them.

Christ the Cornerstone and the Judgment of Rejection

And finally, the last two verses of our text today, Jesus looks directly at them and said, what then is this that is written? The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. For those of us who trust in Christ, we build our lives, we take our stand on Christ alone.

He is our cornerstone. But notice that in this text, the cornerstone speaks to final, irreversible, devastating judgment. This speaks to God's wrath against those who are rejecting his authority. Look at verse 18.

So, in verse 17, you have a quote directly from Psalm 118, verse 22. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Then Jesus draws some language from Isaiah chapter 8. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces.

And when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. Here today, we have the story of authority, a challenge to Jesus's authority. But the end result of challenges, of challenging his authority, is to be crushed.

That is stored up and finally delivered. The scariest thing in the world is to be given over, to be your own authority. Scariest thing in the world. Romans 1 uses that phrase three times, repeating it.

Since they did not think it wise to uphold the knowledge of God, he gave them over to do what ought not be done. Given over to be your own authority. Here, the chief priests, the scribes, the leaders, the principal men, elders, are given over.

When they're challenging him and asking for a reason, and they won't listen to his word, what does it say in verse 8? Jesus said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. There comes a point where Jesus withdraws his striving, and he gives them over to judgment, ultimately to be crushed.

The wrath of God to fall upon them. In closing, this passage is about authority, and it leaves us vulnerable. It should leave us squirming in our seat, because it raises a question. Have I, or have I not, submitted to Jesus Christ, as his will is revealed in the Scriptures?

I may know the phrase, Sola Scriptura, but have I submitted to his authority in all things? It was ultimately the Word of God that the leaders, the scribes who should know it best, they were ultimately rejecting the Word of God.

The prophets that had come, one after another, telling of the Messiah, telling of Christ, Jesus, and the final one, John the Baptist, they rejected that authority. Have you bowed the knee to the authority of Jesus Christ as revealed in his Word?

Or do you remain the final arbiter of truth? We can take this to any issue, whether it's political or personal, any opinion that you hold. My question to you is, is it formed by your own human reasoning, or in submission to the authority of the Word of God?

The actions that we choose to do, where we choose to go. I had a missions professor that said that you should have a blank check that you give to God, that he can fill it out however he wants. Your life is not your own.

You should give to God a blank check, that he tells you where to go. God, are you sending me to China to preach the gospel to the Chinese? I'll go. As Ryan's in India now on a short-term trip, are you sending me to India, to Africa?

My life is not my own. I don't choose where I go, or what I do. Have you bowed the knee to the authority of Jesus Christ? Or are you still the final arbiter over your own life? Hus, burned at the stake, willing to give his own life.

Wycliffe, Luther, he went to the Diet of Worms, expecting to die the way Husted, but God rescued him from that. If you have come to submit to Jesus Christ in your life, consider what a miracle that is.

You were born a rebel to his throne. You were born a Pope over your own life, your own authority. But if something has changed in you, where you would say to God, I am your slave. I will go anywhere that you send me.

I will do anything that you tell me to do. I'll talk to my neighbor. I'll do whatever it is. My life is not my own. If you have come to that place, that is a miracle to be celebrated. This last song that Michael's gonna lead us in was written by Sovereign Grace Music.

It's called All I Have is Christ. The words say, I once was lost in darkest night, yet thought I knew the way. Those who are given over think that they're obeying the will of God because their human reasoning confirms that what they think is right.

They do what they think is best and often they they think it's the most moral thing, the right thing. Thought I knew the way. The sin that promised joy in life had led me to the grave. I had no hope that you would own a rebel to your will.

And if you had not loved me first, I would refuse you still. We are slaves to Jesus Christ, willing slaves, joyful slaves. Paul identifies himself in Philippians and Romans over and over again, an apostle and a slave, a doulos.

If you have come to submit to the Word of God as your final authority, that is entirely owed to his grace. To take a rebel to his will and transform you to one who submits to the authority of the Word of God.

And so in closing, we'll ask Michael and the worship team to come up. I want you to take a minute and consider your life. Are you on the throne or have you submitted to his authority? These leaders challenge the authority of the Sovereign, of the Lord, but they're not different than us.

So often in our lives we refuse to come under the authority of the Word of God. This morning, just take a moment before we sing, just let's bow our hearts, bow our heads, close our eyes. I want you to take an inventory of your life and ask yourself the question, who are you in the story of Luke 20?

Is there an area in your life where you are refusing to submit to his authority over you? Is there a persistent sin, a stronghold in your life that you continue to do because you think you can do what you want to do?

Would you right now in your heart beg for mercy, for forgiveness, for a new heart? Ask him to bring you under his authority. So counterintuitive that the place of joy is the place of submission, of surrender.

But it's true. Ask him now to change your heart. Surrender now to his Lordship so you can say that all you have is Christ. Bow the knee to Jesus. The proclamation of the gospel is not begging people to submit to a king.

Ask him to give you the boldness of one who commands all people everywhere to repent and believe the good news, like Paul did and said in Acts 17 30. Ask him to make you a bold herald of the truth, that you would go forth and proclaim the Lordship of Christ and call for repentance and faith.

We can't lead somebody else to something we don't have. Be sure this morning that you have submitted to the Scriptures, to Jesus Christ and his will as revealed in the Scriptures. Humble yourself before him.

Say, Lord, take my life. I'm no longer a rebel. From this day forward, I submit to you. You have the authority over me and everything that you say in your Scriptures is true. I will not rebel against your Scriptures, even in the smallest thing.

I bring myself now to you and ask you to conform me and change me. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand and sing.