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Sunnyside Baptist Church Michael Dirrim, Pastor
Resurrection Sunday, these special days, Lord, upon which we gather together to worship you and praise you for the most important things that have ever been done. We want to give you glory and we pray that you would grant to us in your mercy what we need, all we need, to worship you in spirit and in truth.
To rejoice in this good news of Jesus Christ. It's in his name that we pray. Amen. I invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to Luke chapter 20. Luke chapter 20 and we're going to read verses 1 through 8.
It seemed appropriate to take a brief pause from Acts and look at a passage having to do with Palm Sunday, with the week before Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. We need to reflect on the authority of Jesus Christ, the royal authority of Jesus Christ.
And Luke chapter 20, verses 1 through 8, helps us to do that, especially in reflection of what happened on Palm Sunday. So, Luke chapter 20, verses 1 through 8. And as you peer at the text, you can see in the first two verses that it has everything to do with what's just happened in chapter 19, because it was during one of those days, which days?
The days that we get to read about in chapter 19. And the religious authorities are all stirred up and questioning Jesus, who gave you the authority to do these things, it says in verse 2 of our text.
Well, what things? Well, the things in chapter 19. So, what happened that has got these religious authorities so upset, so stirred up? What kind of days were these? And what were the things that Jesus said and did?
In Luke 19, verses 1 through 10, we meet a publican, a tax collector, an IRS agent. Yes, I know, scum of the earth. Zacchaeus was a traitor to his own people. He was the one who would sic the Roman authorities upon his own people to have their properties confiscated, to have their whatever freedoms they did have taken away to destroy their lives if they didn't pay him enough.
Zacchaeus, a publican who was welcomed into the kingdom because he repented of his sins and trusted in Christ, and Jesus welcomes him into the kingdom. And the reason Jesus gives is that the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
He uses that royal title from Daniel chapter 7, the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which is lost. The Son of Man is the king of the kingdom, so he gets to say who's in and who's going to argue that the king has decided that even tax collectors can come into the kingdom.
In Luke 19, verses 11 through 27, Jesus then tells a parable to the crowd as they accompany Him down from Jericho heading towards Jerusalem, and Jesus emphasizes in this parable His position as king, His authority as king, that there's authority that He has even as He goes to a far country to receive for Himself a kingdom and to return, that even though He goes to a far country to receive for Himself a kingdom, that those who are left behind are still required to bow the knee and submit to His authority, though there were some in Jesus' parable who said, we will not have this man reign over us.
And in the parable, they end up being judged as rebels against the throne. And, of course, that's very much what's happening in our story, in the gospel of Luke and in the gospel of Acts. By the time we get to Acts that we've been going through for some time now, Jesus has ascended to heaven.
He's gone into a far country to receive for Himself a kingdom, and all of His reign and authority is in the light of His return. But there are some who are saying, we're not going to have this man reign over us.
So Jesus tells this parable to say all men are accountable to Him whether they like His reign or not. In Luke 19, verses 28 through 34, we see that a provision is made for Christ, that a donkey is given to Him to ride upon.
And when the owners of the donkey say, why are you taking my donkey? Why are you taking our donkey? The only reason given, and it's a satisfying reason, is the Lord has need of it. Oh, okay. Well, if the master needs it, then it's His.
Once again, underscoring the authority of Jesus Christ. In Luke 19, verses 35 through 40, we see a parade, a parade which features the singing of messianic praise from Psalm 118 as Jesus rides upon the cult in the fulfillment of prophecy.
And the crowds gather around and they lay out their own cloaks and palm branches to lay out the red carpet for the king. In Luke 19, 41 through 44, we hear about a prophecy in which Jesus pronounces judgment upon the city of Jerusalem.
Why? Because that city did not know the time of her visitation. The king himself had come and she was treating him as if he were a foreigner. In fact, it was worse. It was as if a bride gave her groom the brush off because she was too busy with other men.
In Luke 19, verses 45 through 46, there's a purification of the temple. Jesus acts on His own to simply cleanse the temple, to cast out all the money changers and livestock merchants from the temple grounds, saying, this is what my father's house is intended for and you're not doing it correctly.
In Luke 19, verses 47 through 48, we hear of a plot as the religious leaders have had enough and they are planning to murder Jesus if they only could figure out a way to do it so they don't get the blame from the crowds because they're scared of the multitudes.
Well, that's chapter 19. It's an exciting chapter in the gospel of Luke. Now, we come to our passage as those plotting His death confront Christ with a tricky question, hoping to ensure a big enough loss to His popularity by His answer that they can finally make their murderous move.
You would stand with me as we read this morning's passage, Luke 20, verses 1 through 8. This is the word of the Lord. Now, it happened on one of those days as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him saying, "'Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things?'.
Or, "'Who is He who gave you this authority?'. But He answered and said to them, "'I also will ask you one thing and answer Me.'". The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? And they reasoned among themselves saying, "'If we say from heaven, He will say, why then did you not believe Him?
But if we say from men, all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.'. So they answered that they did not know where it was from. And Jesus said to them, "'Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.'".
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Part of my childhood included swimming in farm ponds, complete with a nibbling perch, slimy rocks, and a thick barrier of warm floating green algae.
In the middle of the pond, it appeared rather dark and deep. And yet, as my brother and I threw sticks and rocks and ourselves into the pond, the water that appeared dark then became the color of well-doctored coffee.
Just stir up the water a little bit, and you'll find what really is at the bottom. Sometimes we disturbed a snake or two. Christ has been throwing rocks into the pond. All through chapter 19, and of course, all the way prior to that, throughout His ministry, He just keeps throwing rocks into the pond.
He's stirring things up. And as He's on His way to Jerusalem at this critical moment, matters are getting very stirred up. And the religious leaders recognize that they have a huge problem on their hands.
They cannot simply stand by and let this continue. Christ is undercutting their authority, their authority. Authority is really the key term, the key concern in this passage. Who has the authority? What does that look like?
Why does this person or persons have the authority? The manifestation of Jesus' authority agitates minds and reveals hearts, clarifies what's in the heart. And this kind of thing happens just about every year during the holy season, as it's called.
Whether it's in the lead up to Christmas or the lead up to Easter, people get stirred up. They get stirred up to think Jesus' thoughts. They get stirred up to think about what if this is true. Many people who dislike the message of the Scriptures, dislike Christianity, begin to release all manner of extra information and media and YouTube videos and begin to share links about how all of this is just nonsense.
And people get stirred up. Why? Because the authority of Jesus Christ gets put on parade. There He is on display in the nativity scene at Christmas. This riles people up. They just hate the scene being displayed publicly.
There's the idea of Jesus being on parade publicly, put on display. Everyone's talking about Easter and the resurrection. This gets people stirred up. It brings to mind, what do we do with the authority claims of Jesus Christ?
What do we do with the authority claims of Jesus Christ? Our mindset should be one of heartfelt welcome towards Jesus' authority. But we often find that His authority is not the controlling desire, the controlling thought of our lives.
Sometimes we find fears that are born of sin to be more compelling than the glory of God in Christ. Fears that seem nearer to us, more dire. Fears forge values. You remember 2020? You remember? Did you see how fears forged values?
Do you see how fears inform plans? Fears change the way we talk, they season our speech. Fears marinate our minds. The Bible teaches us that our fears expose our fidelities. You know who you're loyal to by whom you fear, by what you fear.
So that's why the Bible continually compels us to fear the Lord. Fear the Lord. Fear of man is a snare. Fear of death is slavery. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, understanding, knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is to depart from evil. The fear of the Lord is health and life to the bones. In verses 1 through 6, we find that recognizing the authority of Jesus ignites questions, ignites questions that confront.
And in verses 1 and 2, we find a kind of question that is both rebellious and entrapping. Verse 1, now, it happened on one of those days as he taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel that the chief priests and the scribes together with the elders confronted him and spoke to him saying, tell us by what authority are you doing these things?
Or who is he who gave you this authority? I love Luke, the historian. Now, it happened on one of those days. Those were days of saving sinners. Those were days of salvation stories. Those were days of a prince's parade and a prophet's pity.
Those were days of religious zeal and political schemes. These were hope-filled days. They were exciting days. They were dangerous days. And on one of those days, the Jewish leaders, who were the most recognized authority, they confronted Jesus and they did so in mass.
They did so completely together, all of them at once, the best of the best. Jesus was teaching the truth of God to the people there. He was using the scripture to describe what the temple was meant for.
He's preaching the good news of the kingdom, the gospel to the people. And as he's doing this, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders confront him. They interrupt him. They stop him. And they come together.
And when the people see the religious leaders together, what are they looking at except those who hold the authority of the temple, the authority of the Torah, the authority of all the scriptures, the authority of the Holy City itself, and they bring it all together and they bear it all together upon Christ and they confront Him.
It's quite the showdown. They confront Christ with their consolidated credentials. They have a bold challenge that is underscored by their unified front. Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things?
Who is He who gave you this authority? They're all stirred up, but their message is very clear. Their hearts are being revealed here. They're saying, we're only asking this because we're the authority around here and we haven't authorized you.
By what authority are you throwing rocks into our pond? Notice that this question is not driven by curiosity. They don't find Jesus compelling. They don't find themselves intrigued by Jesus. They are incensed by Jesus.
They don't want to know more about the Messiah. They're not curious. They're insecure. Their desire is to showcase their authority and therefore their disapproval of Jesus, and they want to delegitimize His words and His deeds.
In other words, they say something along the lines of this, Jesus, studies show you're wrong. Argument over, I guess. Science is settled and you're wrong. All of the most respected and legitimized authorities say you're wrong.
Jesus, so you're wrong. Having approved of one another's credentials for a long time now, we alone get to say who has authority, and you, Jesus of Nazareth, definitely are not recognized. We haven't credentialed you.
Careful lest we end you. Canceling people today is weak soft compared to back then. When they canceled you, they crucified you. The main problem for these religious leaders is the multitudes. They fear men.
They fear the multitudes. They fear public opinion. They don't want to lose what good opinion they have from the masses. And the people in general were rather favorable concerning Jesus. I mean, they had just given Him a parade into town wherein they used palm branches, which was a symbol of the Maccabean Revolution.
They're looking for a new political Messiah. They think Jesus of Nazareth is the guy. And so the religious leaders are thinking, we're losing control of the narrative here. We need to shift the Overton window and make this about how Jesus is not allowed to speak because He has no credentials and no authorization.
He has no authority in and of Himself. Perhaps, they think, it's not just the crowds that give Him His boldness. Perhaps it's somebody else that we're just not aware of. Who is it who's given you this authority?
What will you say? Authority. That's the question. It's been the question ever since Genesis 3. Authority. In a pagan world where each idol offers their potion in the market of devotion, who has the authority?
Which idol is best? Which god is best? In an ancient Jewish setting where the schools of Hillel and Shammai and the guilds of the Sadducees and the Pharisees and the societies of the Hellenists and the Essenes and the politics of the Herodians and the Zealots all vie for attention, which one is right?
Who has the authority? Who gets to say? In our world today, the question is one of authority, isn't it? Elitist versus populist, liberal versus conservative, authoritarian versus libertarian, deconstructionist versus realist, centralization versus decentralization, Austrian versus Keynesian, Darwin versus design, East versus West.
Who gets to say? Who has the authority to say? Is it a collective of experts who authenticate each other? And how wide must their echo chamber be for them to be considered legitimate? What grants an authoritative figure authority?
Is it the standard of wealth? Is it force of arms? Is it the control of the media? If you have enough guns and enough money and enough bullhorns, does that mean that you own the truth? Is that where truth comes from?
The issue is authority. What happened on Palm Sunday was a loud declaration to everybody who was paying attention that Jesus has the authority. That's why everyone got stirred up. How dare you? How dare you say you have authority?
How dare you ride into Jerusalem like your king? How dare you come into the temple like you're the high priest? How dare you teach us what the Word of God means like you're some prophet? How dare you?
The issue was authority. There are many different issues in Christianity that might contend for the gut punch of Christianity, why people turn away, hate it, and even campaign against it. Maybe it's the idea that God created everything and owns everything.
That's pretty hard to swallow for a lot of people. Maybe it's that people who are born and live and die and the gospel is never preached to them die outside of Christ as sinners before their Creator and they go to hell.
That's ended a lot of people's faith and they just turn away. I think the real gut punch of Christianity, of the Bible, is the totalizing claims of authority. God gets to say. God gets to say, we don't.
He's Creator, we're creation. And that all of His authority is manifest in the Son, in Jesus Christ. And so on Palm Sunday, when Jesus goes parading into Jerusalem, we have to recognize that that parade began a long time ago.
Its origin point wasn't Jericho, it was Genesis. He's the seed. He's the victor. He's the God-man. He's the answer. That's why when Jesus was raised from the dead and He talked to His disciples, He said, all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
So while the Scriptures say He has a name which is above every name, everybody should bow the knee and worship Him. Hebrews 1 says He's the heir of all things. He owns it all. Psalm 2 says He's enthroned on God's holy mountain at the highest throne and that all the nations belong to Him.
That is the essence of Christianity and it's the most offensive thing about it. It's authority. To answer the combative question from the religious authorities, by what authority do you do these things?
Very clearly, Jesus should answer, by the authority of God Almighty. That's how Christ does and says all these things. But I don't think that they really wanted to know the answer. They were asking questions to combat.
They weren't asking questions to learn. Many times when people say, here's my objection to Christianity, here are my questions, they don't want answers. They want to obfuscate and hide behind questions that they don't think can possibly be answered to their satisfaction.
And they're probably right. Given the condition of their heart and given the nature of the questions that they're asking, that they're not trying to learn and to know Christ, but they're trying to hide from Him, their questions will never be answered to their satisfaction.
The religious leaders pushing Jesus back basically are saying, this is our job, not yours. Stay in your own lane. Leave us alone. Stop stirring things up. Stop throwing rocks into our pond. Now, how does Jesus answer?
He does so very wisely. Verse 3, he answered and said to them, I also will ask you one thing and answer me. The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? And they reason among themselves saying, if we say from heaven, he'll say, why did you not believe him?
But if we say from men, all the people will stone us for they are persuaded that John was a prophet. This is a really great question because the reasons why they were against John the Baptist were the same reasons they are against Jesus Christ.
John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ and in his ministry of baptism as he was calling everyone in Judea and in Galilee and so forth to repent of their sins and to be prepared for the Messiah, he was baptizing them as a sign that they were converting from a perverted Second Temple Judaism and getting ready for the real Messiah.
That was offensive to those who were running the Second Temple Judaism show, clown show. And they were like, no, you don't get to say that. Who gives you the authority? Now, the people thought that John was a prophet.
They were correct that his authority was from heaven. The Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, they thought that John got his authority from men. I mean, it's just the crowds giving him encouragement to continue doing this, but they're not going to say that.
They're not going to say that because they feared men. Isn't it interesting that the religious elites got their authority from men by the good graces of men? What good is having all these titles unless you have people to genuflect before you and believe you because you're the experts?
So they feared men. They got their power from men and they're unwilling to say that they thought that's how John got his power as well, because they're ensnared by the fear of man. So in Jesus's question, He's exposing the fact that they are unwilling to answer the question that they themselves are ruled by men, that they themselves are ruled by the fear of men.
So Jesus exposes them. He throws a big rock into their pond and exposes them. They appear to be deep pools of water in their credentialed and cumulative confrontation, but with a mid-sized rock, Jesus exposes them as the dirty back 40 farm pond complete with slime and snakes.
Jesus is the Word become flesh. Having come into the world as the light of the world, He lights up every man. Meaning that when you come face to face with the authority of Jesus Christ, you get exposed for who you really are.
That's uncomfortable. That's uncomfortable. But how necessary? How necessary that we, unlike these religious experts, how essential that we give up on trying to save ourselves, trying to save our own lives and make our own way and give ourselves up to Christ and Christ alone?
It was a question that Jesus asked His disciples one time when they were complaining. They thought they had a pretty legitimate complaint against Christ. They were in a boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, and they were drowning.
They thought that this was His fault somehow. They complain. Don't you care? I mean, they actually indict His character. Don't you care that we're drowning? How can you be asleep? Jesus answered their complaint with a question.
Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? And the light just shines right on the heart. How often do we complain? Complain. I'm drowning here. I'm overwhelmed here. Why won't you help? O ye of little faith, why are you afraid?
Why are you afraid? In submitting to Christ and fearing God's authority, that's when the peace comes. That's when the peace comes. Just like with the disciples, the winds went away, the waves went away.
Rejecting Jesus' authority invites answers that condemn. And it's not only that Jesus' answer condemns them, it's their own answer condemns them, verse 7. So they answered, and they answered that they did not know where it was from.
They didn't know where the authority of John the Baptist came from. That's what they said, but they lied. They lied because they rejected any notion out of hand that would mean giving up their own elevated status.
They're protecting themselves, so they lie. They lie. What did they actually believe? They believe that John got his authority from men, that he came up with some crazy notion of his own importance because he was the so-called miracle child of Zacharias and Elizabeth, and people kept on encouraging them with their attentions, and so the movement grew out of proportion.
That's what they thought, but they're not going to say that because they feared men, they tried to save themselves, and so they lied. They exposed themselves. They seek to save their lives when, in fact, they put themselves in the judgment of God.
They seek to avoid being held accountable by the crowds they fear so much, and they also don't want to answer from heaven because that would expose them to the authority of heaven that they did not fear enough.
Verse 8, here's an answer from Jesus that affirms God's authority. Jesus said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Jesus recognized the nature of their question, and so He answers with a question, and they don't answer His question, so He doesn't answer theirs.
Now, when you think about it, that might seem like an unsatisfactory way to handle the questions of somebody who needs Jesus, but we are not required to answer the questions of skeptics and critics to their satisfaction.
We're required to answer their questions according to God's satisfaction, and in this case, what Jesus did was expose their need in a way that any other answer would not have done. They are devoted to the praises of men, so they cannot speak freely, and so Christ demonstrates that.
You know, 1 Peter 3 tells us that we need to sanctify the Lord in our hearts and be ready to give an answer, to give a defense for the faith that we have when people question us, but that defense means showing that Jesus Christ is Lord.
In Colossians 4, 5 through 6, Paul commends the Colossians to answer those who are outside with grace, particularly so that you know how to answer each one. That doesn't mean that you're going to satisfy all of their objections.
Far from it, but you're going to answer them in the way that brings them face to face with their Creator, with the King of the universe, Jesus Christ. Easter season puts Jesus Christ on parade. His crucifixion, His resurrection, His saving work, His perfect person, the reliability and the power of the holy scriptures themselves, and when all these things are put on parade, many object long and loud.
Why? Because these are authority claims, and people are being compelled just by the revelation of these things, just by the talking of these things, just because people are going to church a little more often in these days is enough to make people all riled up and stirred up, and it clarifies that they have an authority issue in their life.
But don't fear, man. Keep tossing the gospel into the middle of that water to see what kind of pond it is. Why? Because God delights in stirring waters. God delights in saving sinners. God delights in exalting His Son.
Let's pray. Father, we thank You for the time You've given us in Your Word. We thank You that it is Palm Sunday. We thank You for the praises of the children and the people who sang Hosanna to the Son of David and waved their palm branches.
And Lord, we know that they didn't know the fullness of what was going on that day, but You do, and You did. And You remind us of the authority of Your Son that we may rejoice in Him. And I pray that You would help us to do that with freedom, boldness, that we would make our boast in the Lord.
Help us to boast in Christ this season. We pray these things in His name. Amen.
