Unapologetic Authority

Please turn your Bible to Luke chapter 19, the very end of Luke 19. We'll be looking mostly at chapter 20 today. When you have that, please stand for the reading of God's Word. And he was teaching daily in the temple.

The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words. 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 will also 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 did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father, we ask for your blessing on the proclamation of your Word, that you would give us boldness and an understanding of the authority of Jesus Christ. In his name we pray, Amen. You may be seated.

Christ's Authority Is Challenged by the Religious Leaders

In this passage, Jesus' authority is challenged. He has enemies who are threatened by his message, threatened by his presence and the following that he has, and so they challenge his authority. Likewise, as you speak with the authority of Christ, not as one bringing a new message as he did, but as one bringing the message that he has already brought, that authority will be challenged.

People will ask you why it is that you can simply say these things and not instead bow down to the authorities that people would heed in this world, the opinions of man. And you must be prepared to answer in much the same way that Jesus did, acknowledging that that authority needs no apology.

What an apology is, is a defense. The authority of Christ needs no defense because it already has been manifestly demonstrated. And so instead, it needs to be shown that others have no authority. In verse 47, we see the situation laid out that he was teaching daily in the temple.

The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything that they could do for the people were hanging on his words. Now it says chief priests, scribes, principal men.

Principal men, you see in the very next verse, are described as elders, says the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up. So these are the elders of the people. These are basically those of prominence and of authority.

They are people who all want Jesus dead because he has threatened their senses of comfort. Those things that they like, they have a sense of status that is threatened by him. They have a comfort that is threatened by him.

They have traditions that are being threatened by him. Now, Jesus knows as he goes into Jerusalem, that this is what he will face. He's said this before in Luke 9, 21 through 22, he said, and he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one saying, the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.

This is the same threefold set of people, the elders, the chief priests and the scribes. Jesus knows that they will kill him. So you should read this passage, not as him avoiding death. He knows that he is going to death, but rather delaying it for God's purposes that the gospel might be proclaimed a little more until that moment.

In the next verse, it says, 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. So he is in the temple. He is preaching the gospel.

Now, I don't know if you've ever stopped to ask yourself what the gospel is when he is preaching it before the cross, right? What is it? What is the gospel that Jesus is proclaiming? If you were to proclaim the gospel, it might go to first Corinthians 15 to get a definition.

That's usually where I go, where Paul talks about Jesus having died and been buried, etc. But none of that has happened yet. So what is the, what is the gospel? Well, Matthew 10, it explains that's the message that the kingdom is at hand.

He is telling them without giving them all the details about how it is going to be there. Not all the details about how he is going to die, how he's going to be raised, etc. He is letting them know that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

And that is a statement of authority, that there is an authority that is coming and it is authority that he himself possesses. Now you see in the next verse that it also says, tell us by what authority you do these things.

That statement, do these things, suggests that what's in mind here is not merely preaching. Jesus may also be doing miracles, doing signs. And then on top of that, in the previous two verses before the passage that we read, he had entered the temple and cleansed it.

He had drove out those who were selling. By what authority does he just go into the temple and kick a bunch of people out? These are all, these are all things that they are offended by. That he has upset their traditions, he has upset their comfort, he has upset their sense of status.

And so he answers this way. He answers them, I also will you ask, I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? So he asked this question, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?

Now hopefully you can see why he is asking this question. It's a very good question because whatever the answer to that is, is the answer to the authority that he has. If the authority of John's baptism is from heaven, well what was John's whole role as a prophet?

John's role as a prophet was to prepare the way of the Lord. It was to endorse Jesus Christ. If John's authority was from heaven, then Jesus' authority is from heaven. And if John's authority is not from heaven, well then they have other problems.

Because the people will, because the people understand that John's authority is from heaven. And so their response is this. They discuss with one another, they say, if we say from heaven, he'll say, why did you not believe him?

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

Though his answer was implicit enough. It is ironic that the people here, because they care about the approval of the people and are trying to wrestle it back from Jesus, that has been turned on them so that they are scared of losing the approval of the people depending on how they answer.

And because they care about their own lives and they want Christ's life taken away, they are feared, they are fearful of their own life in the way that he has turned this around against them. So those things that they have idolized, the approval of man in their own lives, Jesus has turned around against them so that they are now on the defensive about the approval of man in their own life.

They are concerned that people will stone them because they are convinced that Jesus or because John was a prophet. Now blasphemy is authorized to be penalized by stoning in the Old Testament. However, it would not be something that could just happen by a mob.

So it shows these people are especially fearful. First takeaway from this passage is that Christ's authority invites challenges. Christ's authority invites challenges. People are motivated by all different kinds of things to challenge the authority of Jesus Christ.

As I mentioned before, they might be threatened in their traditions, the various things that they hold dear. There might be certain comforts that they have. For example, the order in the temple, they like it how it is and Jesus is coming and upsetting things, perhaps financial and economic, he's upsetting things.

They don't like that. They don't like having their own sense of self-righteousness being upset. These are the same things that upset people today when Christ's authority comes to bear on them, when his word comes to bear on them.

It primarily threatens their sense of self-righteousness. Most people will tell you that they are good people, that all mankind is generally good and they see themselves as slightly above average at least.

And so they're a righteous person, but if you point to Jesus Christ, if he becomes the standard, suddenly we're not so great anymore. And moreover, if you need him in order to be righteous, then it shows that your self-righteousness is worth nothing.

This upsets so many people to point to their sins and show them that they need Jesus Christ. They do not want to be, as we talked about in the catechism, they do not want to be sensible to their misery.

What do people say the first stage of grief is?

Denial.

That's what most people stay in. Most people just stay in denial for their whole life. They have been subject to death their whole life and they have been in denial about it their whole life because they don't know how else to deal with it.

Rather than becoming sensible to it, because they fear that they have no answer, they just remain in denial. Consider the way that people are threatened by Christ's authority when it comes to other kinds of comforts they would have.

Why is it that so many people are so upset about the Christian view of abortion, that it is murder? Why does that upset them so much? Well, because it upsets various comforts that they want to hold on to.

They want to hold on to the idea that they could live a certain kind of lifestyle without being burdened by a child or that others who want to live comfortable lifestyles would be burdened by a child.

These are the reasons that people hate the Christian view of abortion. Moreover, you even see people within the household of faith, so to speak, people at least ostensibly within the household of faith, offended by Christian positions when it demands that they give up some of their comforts.

The Bible has called Sunday the Lord's day. It is His day, and yet that is something that threatens a lot of people. Well, that would mean implications for their kids' sports. That means implications for what days they would get their errands done.

That would have implications for how they spend their weekend. And so they don't like hearing these kinds of things, and they will push back on that authority. By what authority do you really say these things?

Even people who are ostensibly followers of God, ostensibly followers of Christ, will push back on these things. Now, notice this is a very insincere pushback. It is not a sincere pushback. A sincere pushback would be one that is really concerned about truth, one that is really concerned about authority.

But the kind of pushback that comes to the authority of Christ is pretty much never a sincere pushback. It is always something that is motivated by something else. And you can hear this in the way that people talk about the authority of Christ.

They talk about the implications of Scripture. For example, if you take things about the Lord's day, or you take things about different ethics that Scripture gives us about money or wealth, both in generosity, both in prohibiting usury, usury is charging interest from the poor, people say, well, that would mean that, you know, this business I run can't be good.

That would mean this investment I have can't be good. That would mean that these activities, right, and so the objection has to do with implications practically for someone's comfort, not really with the truth of the matter.

Or a lot of times they'll appeal to people. I've seen a number of people object to statements about Christian ethics based on what their parents did. Well, my parents raised me this way. You know, they educated me this way.

Or they did these things. You would be saying that my parents have done wrong. And so they pervert the commands of God, where honoring father and mother does not mean obeying them in the Lord, it ends up meaning denying the Lord, so that they can hold them up highly and not wrestle with the reality of Christ's authority.

So that challenge that is coming to the authority of Christ is an insincere challenge. And it almost always comes with an ad populum argument. So ad populum to the people. This is not what my parents say.

This is not what the majority says. This is not, et cetera, et cetera. You should expect that, and that should let you know, why are they appealing to the populace? Well, if they don't have the authority of God, who do they have to appeal to?

The authority of man. And it's really that simple. The more you understand these things, the easier it is to dismiss them the way that Jesus is dismissing them. If you see those things as legitimate, you will be inclined to treat them as legitimate.

You'll be inclined to submit to those demands for giving an apology for Christ's authority. You know the words apology and apologetics are related, right? Apologetics is a defense of the faith. Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't give a defense of the faith.

I'm saying that the defense of the faith should not be one that elevates man so that he can judge by his standards. You should be giving an unapologetic apologetic if that, I know that's a paradox or an oxymoron, but given the way we tend to use the word apologetic to mean saying sorry or bowing to other standards, that is not the way that you give a defense.

You give a defense by upholding that authority of Jesus Christ. This exposes the weakness, not just the insincerity of those who oppose Christ's authority, also exposes their weakness. What they expect Jesus to bow to, they expect Jesus to care about his own life, to be fearful that, to be fearful of losing the approval of the people.

They expect Jesus to care about their authority and their approval. So they are projecting all of these things.

What are they?

They are their own fears. They are the ones who think that, they are the ones who desire and idolize the approval.

Of man.

They are the ones who idolize their own lives. And so in as much as they are expecting you to bow down to those kinds of fears, in as much as they are expecting Jesus to bow down to those kinds of fears, they are exposing their own heart.

Their own heart is one that is fearful of losing the approval of man. Their own heart is one that is fearful of losing their own life. Once again, if you recognize these things, if you recognize that a lot of this is just projection, right, taking their fears and then expecting you to operate according to those fears, it becomes a lot easier to deal with, a lot easier to say, no, if I try to act reasonable according to their standards of what is reasonable, I'm actually just bowing down to their own weaknesses.

I'm just bowing down to their own fears. And that's why people respond the way that they respond. And they say, but that would mean this statement that's offensive to the world. That would mean this thing about my parents.

That would mean this thing about this group of people. That would mean this thing about this people that we are all supposed to respect, that we're all supposed to have their approval. Maybe it's even other people in the church.

Maybe it's relatively godly people in the church. A lot of times you will have someone put forward a truth that is a hard-hitting and rarely observed truth, and people will, instead of considering it seriously based on the merits of the Word, they will point to their heroes that didn't seem to follow that truth.

One common thing I've noticed, one example that comes to mind right now, Bible statements on joy, the Bible statements that joy is a fruit of the Spirit, that we should be cultivating joy through thanksgiving, etc.

If you point to these things, a lot of times the response that will be given is, well what didn't so-and-so, you know, name famous preacher like Spurgeon or others, didn't they struggle with depression?

Okay, sure, they did, but that doesn't mean that the things that are being said here about joy, etc. are invalid. You can't just point to man and expect that to undermine the authority of God. It doesn't matter if it's even a fairly righteous man.

Unless it is Jesus Christ Himself, it cannot undermine the authority of God. But people will point that out because they expect you to have their standards of authority,.

Right?

They expect you to work with a different standard of authority than the standard that God has set in Scripture. Be aware of these things so that you are able to respond appropriately, and by respond appropriately, I'm not just talking about with words, but with confidence, with a heart that really is not wavering when people are placing their fears on you and expecting you to deal with.

Them.

And what is the people's response then when Jesus asks this question? Their response is silence.

Why?

Because they are afraid. They're afraid of what the people will think. They are afraid of what the people will do. Because of that weakness that they have in their own fears, because of their own insincerity, they are cowardly.

They have exposed the weakness that Jesus takes advantage of, and He makes them silent because they are not willing to speak to those things. We, likewise, should recognize that people who challenge the authority of Jesus Christ, that they have fears that they are exposing in the way that they are appealing to other authorities that will render them silent should they ever have those things turned on them.

It's not always obvious how to turn those things on them, but here Jesus gives an excellent example of asking, was this authority from heaven or was it from man? These people's fears are, they are weaknesses that they have.

So Jesus' authority needs no apologetic. This authority that Christ speaks with is an authority that you possess. Now let me qualify that. Jesus is doing new things. He is cleansing the temple. He is speaking things that people have not heard before.

And He is doing signs and wonders to confirm those things. Now you do not have the authority to say new things that have not been taught before. You don't have the authority to reorganize the whole temple.

But inasmuch as Christ has already done these things, inasmuch as He has proclaimed what is true, you are welcome and commanded to speak those things with that authority, with the authority that Christ Himself has said this to be true.

And so it is true. A lot of times when you describe something as sin, people will say, well, who made you the judge? You know, you don't have authority to judge me and only God can judge me. A good response to that is, yes, only God can judge whether or not that is sin and He already has right here in His Word.

That's what I almost always say when someone says, only God can judge me. I'll say, that's true and He has right here where it says that no fornicators will stand before Him, et cetera, whatever the case may be.

Just simply point to what God has spoken. It is important that we do not answer people in a way that legitimizes the authorities that they think are real, that legitimizes the importance of having approval of man, that legitimizes various kinds of, various standards.

Proverbs chapter 26 speaks to this in a way that I think is very helpful, although it may not be obviously helpful. A lot of times people will be very confused by this because it sounds contradictory.

It's said in a very shock value kind of way. Shock value might not be right, but paradoxical, something that makes you think. Proverbs 26, four through five, answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him, lest you be like him yourself.

Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. So it says on one hand, you don't answer a fool according to his folly. On the other hand, you do answer a fool according to his folly.

So what way are you supposed to not answer a fool according to his folly? Well, you're not supposed to be like him. You're not supposed to use his same standards, but you are supposed to expose the folly of his standards.

Do not bow down to the standards that someone would have you approve of, say, well, what about these people? Can't you reframe what you are saying in a way that would agree with these other people? Can you not reframe your whole presentation of the gospel message, Jesus Christ having died for sinners in a way that wouldn't suggest that people are evil at heart because that's just so offensive?

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him, rather answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. You can ask people about their standards. You can undermine the standards they have given.

Now there are a couple of ways of doing that. One, you can expose it by questions like Jesus is doing. Another way is simply by stating the truth as being the truth because it is something that is clearly the truth.

When these people are rejecting Christ's authority, you notice the way that they're answering this question. They're treating truth as something utilitarian, right? The matter is not true because they don't even ask themselves the question of whether or not John's authority came from man or from heaven.

They are asking themselves, what will people say if we say one or the other, right? They are just, they already know the right answer. They are just asking what are going to be the implications of that right answer.

That's how a lot of people treat truth. It's just a utility to, it's good to embrace if it gives us good things. If it doesn't give us good things, we shouldn't embrace it. This is how people are, what's the word I'm looking for?

This is how people are approaching, that's it, approaching the truth as a matter of utility. Something that is only for getting some kind of benefit out of it. Romans 1 makes it clear that this is the case.

It says that people in their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Verse 19, for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made.

So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.

This is what is going on in the hearts of others. And if you recognize that, then you can stand with confidence and proclaim the word confidently. When people ask you to abandon the word of God as your standard and instead argue for things on the basis of other truths, you can know that they are not doing so sincerely, but rather insincerely.

Now, you may say, well, I was once an atheist. I think I was sincere. Do you believe the words of Scripture? Romans 1 says that it was not sincere. It says everyone in their heart of hearts, deep, deep down, the way that God has created him, know of his goodness and they are suppressing it, their unrighteousness.

Yes, in your former years, you may have suppressed the truth and unrighteousness, but you did not, it was not that you did not know these things. And so it is perfectly appropriate for you to simply state the truth on the authority of God's word.

If you realize that that's the case, if you realize that everyone is coming who is not coming sincerely, actually submitting to the teaching, anyone who is not submitting to the teaching of God's word is doing so insincerely, it gives you the freedom to answer directly without trying to reword it in a way that is very acceptable to people or unoffensive.

This is what a lot of people are very anxious about when they speak to their friends, when they speak to others about the gospel. They feel that they have to say it in a persuasive way that others are going to find palatable.

When the Bible says that we need to honor Christ in our hearts and be prepared to give a defense of the hope that is within us, it's not saying that we need to be prepared to give something palatable to others.

It's saying if we're going to honor Christ in our hearts, we need to be able to declare that thing that is true as something that has been given by God, not as something that has been given by man. If you have, if you are appealing to the authority of man and the way that you are presenting the truth, you are undermining the authority of God.

Have you ever considered that? The whole message is being undermined if you give it in a different way. There are a lot of people who do this, too. A lot of political commentators will speak in a way that just appeals to natural revelation or just appeals to man's standards and not according to God's standards, even though they have some kind of religious belief, because they want it to be more palatable to people.

Now, there is a place for political discussion like that, but I would encourage you not to undermine your profession by appealing to just things that are commonly agreed upon.

Only.

You must appeal to the authority of Jesus Christ. You know, I don't know if you've noticed how frequent that is, but there are a lot of political commentators who are either Jewish or Christian, and they either believe in the Old Testament or both Testaments, and they refuse to appeal to these things as real authorities because they know that people aren't going to believe those things.

Do not, do not approach Scripture that way. Do not approach people that way, where you would not give them the words of life that they need. They need those things. And moreover, other people are watching.

It is important that you speak confidently, not just for the sake of the person directly that you are speaking to, but likewise for others who are watching to see that authority. The more that you proclaim God's Word in a way that demonstrates it doesn't need to be apologized for, it doesn't need some kind of accounting for authority for someone who isn't going to submit to the authority of God, the more you can encourage others in the faith, encourage in the literal sense of giving courage, so that they can do the same, so that they can proclaim the same message without necessarily having to figure out how to make it palatable to other people, because making it palatable to other people is going to take a lot of work.

Not everybody has the mental capacity for figuring out ways of making things palatable to other people even, but God has given us a Word that even the least educated should be able to proclaim to others.

Even the least educated should be able to give it with confidence. When you go to the Word of God, when you are faced with the authority of Christ as the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders are here, submit to it.

Submit to it. Receive it without going to the authority of man, without thinking about, well, what would other people say, et cetera. Now, you can certainly ask yourself about the implications, et cetera, but not in a way that submits to those as the authority.

Rather, submit to God as the authority. And do not take things personally or emotionally when the Bible confronts your idols. When the Bible confronts your idols and it shows you your inner sin, your lack of righteousness, do not respond in a way that feels threatened.

Respond in a way that knows that there's hope. There's two sets of people here. There's all the people who are crowding around Jesus, and they are eager to hear His words because many of them are believing, and they know that from Him comes life.

Why are they not threatened by His exposing of their sin? Because He is giving them life so that they have an answer to their misery. They do not have to take it as a personal offense because He is giving them an answer.

If you know that Christ gives forgiveness, that gives you the freedom to come to the Word without fear. You don't have to come to the Word with fear. Rather, you can come to it with a, or sorry, with a fear of man anyway, but with a fear of God, just like the song Amazing Grace says, "'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.".

It is through God's grace that you can fear God the way that you want and not man, and then have those fears wiped away because perfect love casts out fear, and God's perfect love for you through Jesus Christ guarantees that there's no penalty for those who are in Christ Jesus.

So therefore, why would you have to approach His Word with that kind of hesitation? You can boldly have yourself examined by God, have your inner evil exposed so that it can.

Be dealt with.

Submit to His Word. Part of that submission is also, like I said, confident speech. Speak confidently about it. Does the one who speaks unconfidently, has he really submitted to the authority of Christ?

I'd argue that he hasn't. Someone who speaks unconfidently about God's Word, words that are clear, that means that he fears man rather than fearing God. You should fear God rather than man. Next, be ready to identify insincere objections to Christ's authority.

All objections to Christ's authority are insincere, but what I'm saying is that people will, as you discuss the faith with people, as you should be doing, if you are not, that's another boldness I would commend you to, is be speaking about the faith to people, be telling people the gospel, be telling people of their misery and their need for salvation.

As you are speaking those things, be ready to identify those who are engaging with you insincerely. This is not that hard to identify. When someone is approaching the Word unsubmissively, when they are trying to expose you, especially if you're in some kind of public forum, if you're in a public place or at work, someone's trying to get you to say something that they know everybody else is going to see as offensive, right?

Sometimes things like that happen. Be ready to identify those who are insincere. We're supposed to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves. This kind of thing happens all the time. I don't know if you all realize this, but a lot of, back when, soon after Prop 8, a common thing, this only has happened maybe two or three times since I've been at the.

Church.

Josh had told me about it, but I know this happened to a lot of churches. A lot of churches would get called up from a gay couple to perform a wedding because they thought that they could expose churches and get them in trouble, either with the government or just with the public, if they would not perform a gay wedding.

And so our answer has always just been, well, we don't perform weddings for the public.

Bye.

So be ready to identify the insincere who are just trying to expose you to others in ways that are not sincere. They're not actually trying to learn more about the faith. But then, as you choose not to answer them, do it for the right motives.

Notice Jesus' motives. Jesus is not trying to avoid shame. He's not trying to avoid persecution. He is not trying to avoid having to speak to people. He is doing this so that he can speak to people for longer, for a little longer before his time comes.

He's doing it to delay the shame a little bit. He's doing it to delay the persecution a little bit. And it is to show the shame of the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. He has a purpose with what he's doing.

He's not trying to avoid persecution for the sake of the kingdom. He's trying to make his persecution for the sake of the kingdom more glorious as he gathers more to himself. So do so with the right motives.

But you do not have to answer those who are insincere. You don't have to give an apology, as it were, for the authority of Christ. There is one street evangelist who is controversial. I kind of like him.

But he will often say when people try to… a lot of times when you're sharing the gospel, people will point to Bible contradictions as a way of showing that the Bible is false, you know, Bible contradictions, right?

Oh, well, here in Acts, it said that people didn't see any light, but here it said that they did see a light. There's a lot of things that, depending on how it's written, can look like contradictions, but really aren't, especially within a book.

You know, the author knows what he said a chapter ago. He's not going to say something totally different. But people will point to Bible contradictions, quote-unquote, in order to try to undermine.

Scripture.

Now, one thing the street apologist always does is he always says, I don't do Bible studies with atheists. Now, I don't think people always understand what he's doing there, so that might not be the best way of saying it.

But what he's saying is that he's not going to submit God's Word to other people's standards of judgment. He's going to approach it in a Christian way. He's going to approach it in a Christian way by going to it knowing that it is God's.

Word.

And so, people can do this to you. People can bring up things in Scripture that you haven't seen before. Now, you should be able to give an answer for many of those, hopefully, Lord willing, if you're a student of Scripture, but you're not going to be able to give an answer on the spot for every single one of those.

And so, it's not necessary to be able to answer those things on the spot. You can just say, you know, I'd be able to if you gave me time. But the only reason that you're going there is not because you want to seriously engage with this, but because you want to dismiss it.

Now, there are things that I have pointed out to you that still need to be answered. And this is what you should do as you are choosing not to answer. Instead, you should give questions. Okay, questions are going on the offensive.