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It was Tuesday.(1) Jesus had made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Sunday and had cleared out the temple on Monday. The leading priests, teachers and elders were all still stinging from His rebukes the day before. Indignant and combative, there was no question they were out for Jesus’ blood. Up until Monday, they had been fearful of what Jesus was doing and had viewed Him as a challenger to their authority. But His actions on Monday had completely undermined their authority. By shutting down their financial enterprise, Jesus had demonstrated a flagrant disregard for their position. Their fear was now overshadowed by unadulterated hatred. They were now singularly focused on His destruction, trailing Him like bloodhounds driven by hate.
A sticking point for them had always been that Jesus didn’t respect their official authority as the leaders and interpreters of Jewish law and practice. He had never once come to them seeking their prior approval for anything He had done. They had never delegated any authority to Him, and they felt He had been running roughshod over them for far too long. Of all of the things Jesus had said and done, this was His major offense. So, it’s no wonder that as He returned to the temple that morning, their first question—or should i say their first accusation—was a challenge to His authority. “Who gave You the right to do what You are doing?”(2)
Jesus did not demean Himself by directly answering their question. He knew their motive. He knew they did not desire to follow Him; they now sought to crucify Him. They were not seeking truth but were looking for anything they might use to destroy Him. Jesus never rebutted sincere questions from genuine seekers; He always provided genuine answers to sincere inquiries. However, there was nothing sincere about what these men were asking. It was just a part of their plot. Instead, Jesus deftly countered their question with another question, exposing their hypocrisy and their hard-heartedness.
He asked, “I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question. Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human? Answer Me!”(3)
Why did Jesus ask them about John the Baptist? Because John had been the forerunner that the Father had sent to speak His truth to His people. Remember, there had been silence for over 400 years. God had not spoken to His people during that time—until John arrived on the scene to prepare the way for Jesus. And the religious leaders rejected the truth that John spoke.
There is a principle here we need to grasp: God will not teach us new truth if we have rejected the truth He has already given us. The leaders would never accept the truth of Jesus because they had rejected God’s truth through John. If they had received God’s message through John, they would have submitted to the authority of Jesus and the accounts of the Gospels would have looked VERY different. But God knew how they would respond – long before He sent John!
Now the Pharisees had another dilemma. How should they respond to Jesus’ question? They weren’t considering “what is true?” or “what is right?” but rather, “what is safe?” The Pharisees knew that whichever way they answered Jesus, the crowd would turn on them, and their authority, position, and prestige would be lost. So, they refused to answer by pleading ignorance.
In an environment of ever-increasing political correctness, that has become an operative strategy in our day and time as well. Too often, we compromise “what is true” and “what is right” in favor of “what is safe.” How often do we follow the way of the Pharisee instead of following the way of our Master?
God has given us His Word, His gospel and His truth. We have a choice. Do we accept it, or do we reject it? And if we accept it, we cannot compromise it for what is “safe”. His truth is what sets sinners free.(4)Compromised truth is not truth; it has been distorted into a lie. That was true with the Pharisees, and it’s just as true today.
Jesus said, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations…. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.”(5) Jesus never required any authority from the religious leaders; He had been given all authority by the Father. The Father gave Jesus the right—it was His “birthright” as the eternal Son of God! And as His followers, we have “the right” as children of God. We have the right—and the mandate—to go and make disciples of all peoples.
We cannot step back. We must press forward under His authority—under His right. And we must proclaim His truth boldly and rightly, which, my friends, will probably not be “safely”. After all, He called us to take up the cross and follow Him, and there wasn’t anything safe about His journey.
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You can read about this interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees in the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of Mark.
This post is taken from chapter 5 of my book, Taking Up The Cross. For more information about the book, click here.
(1) Mark 11:27-33
(2) Mark 11:28 (CEV)
(3) Mark 11:29-30 (NLT)
(4) John 8:31-32
(5) Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT)
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