ON YOUR MARK: WEEK 11 DAY 2
Mark 11:27-33
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?”29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet.33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
People, as a whole, seem to struggle with the concept of authority. Maybe it’s your boss, or a friendly policeman who has pulled you over for speeding. It is our human tendency to justify why we did what we did. To us, our ways seem wiser and, if we are being honest, it is uncomfortable to fall under someone else’s authority. We have a strong desire to be right and to want to do things our own way. The Pharisees were the same way. They were uncomfortable with how Jesus was acting, how He cleared out the temple, what He was preaching, and when and whom He was healing; they wanted to know by whose authority He was doing these things. If they admitted that John the Baptist’s authority was from Heaven, then they would have to admit that they did not believe what John was proclaiming. If they admitted to Heaven being John’s authority, then they would have to believe what Jesus was saying was true, and the Pharisees would then have to fall under His authority.
Do you believe in the authority of Christ? How has your life changed as a result of that authority?
Do we recognize Jesus' life, death, and resurrection as being the price that He paid so that we might have life everlasting with Him? How has that changed how you live?