A Question of Authority - Mark 11:27-33
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Copyright August 27, 2023 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche
We have all met people who just don’t like us. It may have been because of a childhood envy, a misunderstanding from a long time ago, a difference in personalities or they just seem to be unable to grasp just how truly charming we are!
Jesus and the religious leaders of his day did not like each other very much. Jesus called the leaders hypocrites, and the leaders called Jesus a blasphemer and in essence, the spawn of Satan. The religious leaders saw Jesus as undermining all the years of ministry they had devoted to the people. Jesus saw the religious leaders as men burdening the people with loads of laws that were impossible for them to obey. He saw them as keeping the people dependent on them rather than on the Lord.
Here in Mark 11, we are in the last week of the life of Jesus. The tension between Jesus and religious leaders has been festering for three years. The religious leaders were present the day before when Jesus called those in the temple courts selling animals for sacrifice, a bunch of thieves and robbers. He turned over their tables and made quite a mess in the courtyard. That night Jesus and the disciples likely returned to Bethany to stay with their friends, Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Meanwhile, the leaders were fuming about what Jesus had done in Jerusalem. Let’s head back to Mark 11:27.
27 Again they [Jesus and the disciples] entered Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking through the Temple area, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. 28 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right to do them?”
29 “I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied. 30 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human? Answer me!”
31 They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. 32 But do we dare say it was merely human?” For they were afraid of what the people would do, because everyone believed that John was a prophet. 33 So they finally replied, “We don’t know.”
And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”
An Attack on the Authority of Jesus
It appears the teachers of the Law had all night to think about their response to Jesus and the best they can come up with is, “Who do you think you are? What authority do you have to say the things you said?”
It is key here to realize that Jesus knows they are not actually asking a question. They are making an accusation in the form of a question! The charge is: “you have NO authority to say what you said yesterday (or any other day).” I believe if this had been an honest question, Jesus would have answered it. These guys weren’t looking for the truth, they were looking to back Jesus into a corner.
If you have ever watched boxing (or a boxing movie, in my case), you have undoubtedly seen a time when one boxer backs another into a corner but then with a slick move the cornered boxer switches places with the charging boxer and the aggressor ends up being the one in trouble. This is what Jesus does to these teachers of the law.
With one question, Jesus silences these guys. The question was, “Did John’s authority to baptize come from Heaven, or was it merely human?” In other words, “Do you think John the Baptist was God’s messenger or simply a fraud?”
This put the teachers on the defensive. They are stuck. There is no good answer. If they say John spoke from God, they know Jesus will respond, “Why didn’t you listen to him?” Jesus could even take it further by saying, “Why didn’t you listen to what John said about me?” John was the one who pointed at Jesus and said, “He is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
On the other hand, if they have the audacity to say John the Baptist was just some weirdo crack-pot, all those who revered John will come unglued. The leaders didn’t like John either (because he, too, called them names) but they were shrewd. They knew they could not lose the support of the people, so they couldn’t say anything bad about John (who had died a martyr’s death at the hand of Herod and his conniving wife, Herodias).
These leaders took their only way out and said, “We don’t know.” Jesus knew that it wasn’t they didn’t have an opinion, they were merely unwilling to reveal their opinion of John the Baptist. They were more concerned about power than truth. That is why Jesus said, “Then I won’t answer your question either.”
The Question of Truth
The thing is that this question from the religious leaders is exactly the right question people should ask of any teacher or belief system: What is your authority?
I once had a discussion with a guy who fashioned himself a student of the Scriptures. This guy was convinced that he was a Christian. He had some pretty strange (and unbiblical) ideas, however. I asked him what his authority was for his ideas and he said he got it from “The Urantia Book” which is said to “reveal the mysteries of the universe, world history, Jesus and Ourselves.” It is a book supposedly delivered to earth by aliens. This dubious book was this man’s foundation for faith! It is a very unsteady foundation!
However, before we can talk about authority, we need to ask the preliminary question: What is truth? Truth should be the basis for authority. You have probably heard the saying, “Truth is relative!” I don’t think there is anything relative about truth.
There can only be one truth.
In Paris there is a place called the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. It presents true standards of measurement (a foot, a yard, a meter etc.) and weights a cup a gallon, a liter etc.) If these standards of measurement were constantly changing (or relative), you might go into a grocery store, ask for 3 pounds of hamburger, and be handed hamburger the size of a meatball. If you dared to complain, you might hear: “My truth says this is what constitutes 3 lbs of hamburger!” If truth is determined by each person there is nothing that is true truth.
It is the same way with all truth. Francis Schaeffer, I believe, coined the term “true truth.” It is another way of saying, “unchanging truth.” It is the standard by which everything else is measured. It is, if you will, the unchanging authority. The idea going around now that “everyone can have their own truth” is just nonsense! What happens when our truths conflicts? What is the standard that we can appeal to?
Followers of Christ say that authority is the unchanging Word of God. In the end, this will the standard applied to our lives.
Common “Authorities”
People answer the question “By What authority do you believe what you believe?” in a number of different ways. We need to be able to recognize this thinking.
Perhaps the most popular now, as I said is people who look to themselves as the unchanging source of truth. You will hear this in conversations all the time. If you ask why someone believes something to be true, they will respond, “because it is what makes sense to me.” Or, “It is just obvious.” The measurement for authority then is what the individual thinks about a given issue. This is the “truth is relative” notion.
Sadly, you can sometimes hear this even in Bible Studies. A group reads a passage of Scripture and then everyone shares “what it means to them!” And as everyone shares their opinion the group nods. Maybe they even feel compelled to join one of the people in their view. The first question in a Bible Study always needs to be: What did this teaching or situation mean to those who were there? What was the intent of what was said in context? We must continually check our interpretation by asking, “What does the Bible actually say?” It is OK to make various applications of a text . . . once you have first understood what it is teaching.
A second authority often appeal to is: It is Legal. This is a written standard but not an unchanging standard. Laws tell us what is legal . . . not necessarily what it true. Laws are passed by majorities. The idea is: if you can convince enough people that your way is “right” then it becomes the law.
Another way of saying this is when people say, “the majority of the people are with me”. This is is NOT an unchanging standard! Public opinion changes. How many times have you heard people say, “Everybody believes abortion (or gay marriage, gender surgeries for minors, or LBGTQ+ rights, or the right to bear arms) should be protected because everyone believes this? First, everyone is not agreement on anything. Second, even if everyone believed it, that does not mean it is true. It is just popular. Let me say it again, “True Truth” does not change.
Does a majority opinion ever change? Of course, it does! In years past many people felt blacks were supposed to be subjugated, women should not vote, rulers should have absolute authority and so forth. The law changed when public opinion changed. Right and wrong did not change . . . popular opinion changes all the time and so does the law.
A Third authority says, I trust the science. This is popular today. Science draws conclusions from data. All Scientists all have the same data. How that data is interpreted can leave sincere people with very different conclusions. Good Scientists should always be open to revising their conclusions based on new data.
This is powerfully illustrated in the Creation Museum. There is a replica skull from “Lucy,” an archaeological find that is shown in many text books, to prove we are likely descended from apes. Around this skull, various ways of using the same skull to imagine what the being looked like. It went from an ape to a person you might see walking down the street. Our bias will greatly impact the conclusions from our scientific data.
My Religion Says this is true. This is a tough one. Everyone has a right to believe what they want to believe. That is a core value in our country. However, religions declare truth that contradicts other truths. Only one can be “true truth.” Is there life after death or are we only absorbed into Nirvana (Buddhism)? Are we reincarnated or do we die only once? Is Jesus God or isn’t He? Logic dictates contradictory things cannot both be true.
A corollary to this is those who say, “believing this has changed my life.” AS Christians, we tell people how Jesus changed our lives. It is hard to argue with someone’s experience. We still must examine those experiences to see if we building on truth or an experience we once had. Let me give. You two examples of how we search for “true truth.”
· The Koran (the Muslim authority) says the Koran is a flawless book. It declares that Jesus was a prophet (inferior to Mohammed) and he never died on the cross. However, there are secular authorities (including the former Saul of Tarsus), and eyewitnesses who wrote within 25 years of the event saying Jesus did die on the cross and in Saul’s case, that he rose from the dead!” Saul (who became Paul) changed sides in the debate and became a believer. He said “Christ has risen from the dead and if you don’t believe me, there are still people alive who saw Him and talked to Him.” If you were on a jury, which testimony would you be more likely to believe: the eyewitnesses or a man writing 600 years later?
· It is the same with the Book of Mormon. It begins by telling us that the American Indians were descended from a tribe in Israel. Geneticists tell us there are no Jewish markers in the blood in the Indians. The book of Mormon also teaches that we will all become gods if we follow the Mormon ways. The book of Mormon had a dubious beginning. It was said to have been delivered to Joseph Smith on golden plates that he interpreted by looking through a decoder stone. After Joseph wrote down what was on the golden plates those plates disappeared. The Book of Mormon says it does not contradict the Bible (when it is translated correctly) yet the book of Mormon clearly teaches Jesus was just a man who became God in the same way all of us can become gods. Nowhere does the Bible even hint as such a thing.
Contrast this with The Bible, which we claim as our authority. It was written over a span of at least 1500 years by numerous writers and their works have a clear unity in teaching that has been passed on to the church and believers everywhere. Thousands of manuscripts show that the Bible has not changed over the years. Archaeology is continually verifying the teaching of the Bible. The message of the Bible does not change even though many are trying to revise it to be more “woke”. The ultimate proof of the authority of Scripture is Jesus. He said the Bible is The Word of God! He rose from the dead (a historical fact) that proves He was who He said He was . . .God become man. The Bible gives logical answers to life’s deepest questions (Where did all of this come from? What is our purpose? What happens when we die? Is there a standard by which we can live our lives? It gives us true truth. The fact that people may not like what the Bible says, does not change its authority.
Practical Applications
There are two practical applications:
WE must build our lives on the True Authority. Why is all this important? Why should we care about true truth? Without truth, what do we base our lives and our society on? Where do we get our sense of right and wrong?
Have you gone to one of those carnival fun houses? There is general a bunch of mirrors that distort what we look like. You may be tall and thin in one and look like an elf in Santa’s worship in anther. The lens you look through in life will determine what you see.
Truth is based on the historical reality of Jesus. His life, His death, His resurrection. It was testified to by eyewitnesses. It was attested by signs of many different kinds. (2 Peter 1:16-18) The Bibles’ teaching is unchanging, because God is unchanging.
This is why we hold to the value of all lives (even those in the womb), two genders, God’s design for marriage and family, the reality of judgment, and the availability of grace to anyone who will receive it. Our loyalty is not to the government, or some political party, it is (and always must be) to the Lord. This truth may not be popular or even what our laws teach, but God’s laws and instructions are true truth. They should always take priority in our lives.
We must carefully study the Word of God. We must do so daily. We may have to work a little to understand the Bible in its context, because we are removed from that context by many years. However, the Bible is written clear. It is not a code to unravel, but the clear truth we must know.
We must learn to recognize departures from True wisdom even if it is coming a Pastor, teacher or from someone you know is very popular.
Let’s take on example: It is common to hear people say, “I cannot accept a God who punishes sinners . . . I believe in a God of love.” Martyn Lloyd Jones said,
They are basing their whole position upon what they think, upon what they can and cannot believe.“ I cannot believe that God . . . ‘ On what grounds? No grounds at all. Do they know God? Have they ever discussed it with him? Do they know the mind of God? Of course not! All they are doing is stating that they cannot possibly believe that. And because they assert it, we are expected to believe it! But it is nothing but human opinion.” It tells me nothing about truth itself.
A very popular Pastor named Rob Bell wrote a book saying there is no such thing as Hell because God will save everyone! This directly contradicts what the Bible clearly says about Judgment. Just because someone is a “Christian” teacher does not mean they can contradict the Word of God. And that is just one example!
The church has become so concerned about being “relevant” to the world, that we are in the process of losing all sense of relevance in the world. Our job is to hold out the truth of God’s Word to a lost world. We are to be the anchor for a world adrift. The late Charles Colson in THE BODY (p. 246) wrote,
To stand for right and wrong, to defend truth in today’s culture is admittedly a trying task. Daily, in a hundred different ways, by little things we scarcely notice, we are subtly enticed to accommodate the culture.
Of course, our fellowship must be loving and attract those who hunger and thirst. But we must never forget that the early church did not explode because it was a comfortable haven for those weary of life’s pressures or because it accommodated the culture’s values. The early church turned the world upside down because the believers confess that Jesus, not Caesar, was Lord. They didn’t embrace the culture, they scandalized it.
This is perhaps the most important issue of our lives. On what authority do we believe the things we believe? This isn’t about who can speak the loudest, it is about what is true. Jesus said, “The truth will set you free.” If you want to be “free” it is time for you to dust off your Bible and submit to its authority in your life.