SHOW ME THE WAY: A MESSAGE

SHOW ME THE WAY
Mark 11:27-12:17

Please turn in your Bible to Mark 11. In the Bible in front of you, it page 877 or 895.

This article appeared in the USA TODAY on March 6, 2008: “Thousands may be infected by Vegas clinic. In a type of scandal more often associated with Third World countries, a Las Vegas clinic was found to be reusing syringes and vials of medication for nearly four years. The shoddy practices may have led to an outbreak of the potentially fatal hepatitis C virus and exposed patients to HIV, too.

The discovery led to the biggest public health notification operation in U.S. history, brought demands for investigations and caused scores of lawyers to seek out patients at risk for infections. Thousands of patients are being urged to be tested for the viruses. Six acute cases of hepatitis C have been confirmed. The surgical center and five affiliated clinics have been closed.

One of the infected patients is retired airplane mechanic Michael Washington, 67, who was the first to report his infection. Washington describes his virus as a “creeping death sentence” and worries that others will hear his story and think twice before getting preventive care they need.”

When I first read this story, I thought: how can this be true? The hospital is supposed to be the place that cares for sick people and helps them heal. In this case, it actually caused life threatening infections to occur because they cut corners and cared more about themselves than the people who came for medical treatment.
Unfortunately, this is what Jesus was dealing with in a far more life-threatening way: in spiritual life and death matters.

The religious leaders had set themselves up as the spiritual health authorities; but they were actually causing more damage to those who came to them for guidance. In fact, Jesus summed up the devastating affect they were having when He said:

Matthew 23:15 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”

Wow! The so-called spiritual authorities were actually leading people away from the God who could save them; and away from Jesus Christ, the One who was going to die for them very soon. Now, near the end of His earthly life, Jesus is re-claiming the authority on spiritual matters; and He is confronting the imposters with their deadly practices.

You actually have a decision to make as it relates to the authority for your spiritual life. You can trust in the religious tradition passed down over centuries, which includes trust in yourself; or you can trust in the person of Jesus Christ. This morning’s passages of Scripture challenge us to consider our real authority.

Follow God’s authority over man’s – every time

Mark 11:27, 28 – “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, and they said to him, By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?"

We need to remember what had just taken place before this. Jesus had come into Jerusalem and noted the religious façade and spiritual death that was all around Him. Worship had become about the worshipper, not about God; and the religious leaders were taking advantage of their spiritual positions. Jesus came into the temple courts, overturned the tables of those who had been extorting people in order to sell them things for sacrifice. He also turned over the benches of those selling the birds for sacrifice. Jesus had assumed the authority for how people were to be worshipping.

The next day, Jesus and His disciples were back in Jerusalem, back in the temple courts, and back in controversy. The religious leaders posed another question, in order to get Jesus in trouble, and to trap Him. There was no question that Jesus was being seen as one who had authority. From the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, people recognized that Jesus was the one speaking with God’s authority:

Mark 1:22 – “And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.”

The religious leaders felt they were the only authorized ones to speak God’s Word. They had the religious authority. Some people and churches still believe that today: that only certain men in certain positions have the authority to interpret God’s Word. So, the religious leaders decided to call Jesus out and question His authority for everything he was doing (including coming into the temple courts and throwing over tables and kicking everyone out) But, as usual, Jesus responds to criticism and traps with a question and trap of His own:

Mark 11:29-32 – “Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me. And they discussed it with one another, saying, If we say, From heaven, he will say, Why then did you not believe him? But shall we say, From man? They were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet.”

They were trapped. If they admitted John had authority from God, they would be admitting that they opposed God and His servant. If they said it was from man, they would be denying that John was sent from God. And this fact they knew: The people believed John was a prophet from God. They weren’t about to cause them to be upset. So:

Mark 11:33 – “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."

Jesus asked: Was John’s baptism, his entire ministry, from God, being given His authority, or not? The religious leaders were in a bind, as they explained. The point was that Jesus already had the authority. He didn’t need a license. He didn’t need permission; especially permission from the religious leaders. This incident would just raise the hostility level of the religious leaders and bring to a head what would result in Jesus’ trials and death a few days later. Don’t forget that the disciples were watching all of this take place.

The disciples were going to need this kind of confidence, this type of thinking. The real authority was God, not man. In the end, they would answer to God, not man, for how they lived their lives. They would need this example, for many situation s they would face in the future, once Jesus left. One example of this is when The Apostles were arrested for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were then released and re-arrested after they preached the same gospel. When asked why they continued to preach even though they had been threatened and commanded not to, Peter said:

Acts 5:29 – “…We must obey God rather than men. The God of our father raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Jesus was getting His disciples ready to face the challenge of living out the gospel and sharing the good news of Christ without His visible presence. Today, we face the same challenge: without the visible presence of Jesus, we are to live out the gospel message and share the good news of Christ with others.

The authority of God is challenged everywhere. It is challenged in the political arena, the courts of justice and in the classroom. It is challenged in the media, in our own families, and in our own hearts. Every day, you make decisions based on the authority that you are going to follow; and following God’s authority every time is not easy – but it is the challenge God has given you.
Is there some challenge in your life right now, that falls into this area of deciding whether or not you will follow the authority of God? What are you going to do?

The authority of God continued to be challenged; and Jesus tells a story that illustrates this important point:

Trust in Jesus Christ as your leader and Savior

Mark 12:1,2 – “And he began to speak to them in parables. A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower; and leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.”

He began to speak to “them” in parables. Who are the “them” that He is speaking to? Jesus is now in the mode of direct confrontation. And in this case, He uses a parable to confront the religious leaders for questioning His authority from God; confronting those who were strategizing to destroy Him. This story would illustrate what was about to happen in real life.

The situation Jesus chose in his story was a common arrangement in First Century Palestine, so Jesus’ this rang true with His audience. Those who were wealthy would hire people to stay on their farms and cultivate the crops (or vineyards) while they were away. At harvest time, they would send a representative to collect “rent”, so to speak – some of the fruit of the harvest. However, this would often times bring strife between the landlords that were never there and those who took care of the property. This strife led to the ultimate human tragedy in Jesus’ story:

Mark 12:3-5 – “And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.”

This is a judgment against these religious leaders. The Bible describes God’s people Israel as His vineyard. God had left His vineyard in the care of these religious leaders. They were to cultivate it with God’s Word, care for His people, and help them grow to bear fruit in God. But, instead, the religious leaders used God’s vineyard for their own purposes, and neglected the real reason for the vineyard.

And when God sent people (prophets) to challenge the renegade shepherds of Israel, these tenant religious leaders abused the prophets, rejected them, and in some cases killed them (John the Baptist). John the Baptist had been sent by God to see fruit produced. John had said this to the crowds listening to Him:

Luke 3:8 – “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance…”

This is not what had taken place under the care of the religious leaders. So Jesus had some harsh words for them:

Matthew 23:29,33,34 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you kill and crucify, and some you flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.”

In Jesus’ story, the owner had one more messenger he could send:

Mark 12:6-8 – “He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, They will respect my son. But those tenants said to one another, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours. And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.”

Let’s see: who else had been called a “beloved son” by God?

Mark 1:11 – “And a voice came from heaven, You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

They were looking at the one whom God, the vineyard owner, had sent: His beloved Son. And in just a few days from the time that Jesus told that story, they would take Jesus, try Him, flog Him, and put Him to death.

In that day, if there was no right-ful heir, those who cared for the property could receive it once the owner was dead. In Jesus’ story, the tenants kill the son, perhaps the only heir, claiming that this property and its fruit is all theirs. This is what the religious leaders were doing, as they questioned the authority of Jesus. Jesus was claiming the vineyard for God, and the religious leaders needed to destroy Him, so that they could have full control over God’s people; and reap the material benefits of such control.

Jesus then gives the consequences for what the religious leaders have done, in the climax of his story.

Mark 12:9 – “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

Very soon, the rejection by Israel and its leaders, of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, would bring the consequence of having the gospel given to the Gentiles, and Israel being set aside for a time of judgment. And those religious leaders would eventually answer for their sins against God and his people as well.
Jesus then makes the connection to Himself and the religious leaders listening to Him. He changes the illustration to fit the ongoing impact Jesus would have, even after He was killed:

Mark 12:10,11 – “Have you not read this Scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22,23, a text that the Bible recognizes as an allusion to the coming Messiah. Jesus was the stone that the builders (the Jewish religious leaders) rejected. This stone, Jesus, has become the cornerstone, the most important part of the building. The building, that would become the people of God: the church, was begun and would be forever held together by the one who was rejected by the people and religious leaders He came to save!

Peter would later preach:
Acts 4:11,12 – “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation is no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
This is a question of authority. Jesus was sent to set men free; and they killed Him. They were set in their religious ways; and even when the truth was embodied in a person, they could not see it; they could not accept it.

In 1996, more people died on Mount Everest than any year before or since. It could have been a lot worse. A Russian climber named Anatoli Boukereev was working as a guide on a commercial expedition. On May 10th, he helped prepare the final stretch of trail to the summit. He reached the top ahead of his clients, and noticed that the weather was getting bad. He wanted to tell them to turn around, but he didn’t have the authority—the expedition was led by Scott Fischer.

Anatoli raced down to camp, hurrying past clients that were still on their way up the mountain. He reached the camp ahead of the storm; he climbed into his sleeping bag and starting drinking lots of hot tea. By that time, everybody saw the weather was about to get bad, and some people accused Anatoli of abandoning his clients to save himself. Anatoli knew what he was doing, even though nobody else in the camp did. He was recharging so that he could respond to the inevitable tragedy.

Anatoli didn’t care about the critics; he cared about his clients. The weather got terrible; it closed in on many climbers who were coming down the mountain, stranding them far away from the safety of their camp. Soon it was night, the wind was deafening, and the blowing snow made flashlights useless. That’s when Anatoli went into action. He hiked up and down the mountain—by himself—searching for lost climbers. He found every lost climber that belonged to his team—and even saved some from other expeditions. Scott Fischer, the team leader, was still high on the mountain. By the time Anatoli reached him, the sun was coming up—and Scott was dead.

Anatoli’s effort has been called the most amazing high-altitude rescue in the history of Himalayan climbing. He knew the alpine rules, and he followed them perfectly. When he saw tragedy approaching, he got himself into condition so that he could respond effectively.

This is the owner of all things (God) – His Son (Jesus Christ), who knew our situation; and unlike the religious leaders of His day, was able and willing to come and do something about it: He died for us and became the cornerstone that holds our faith together. Unlike the majority of people 2,000 years ago; and unlike the majority of people today, we must decide to respond by trusting in Him for salvation and making Him the leader of our lives today.

Where are you with this? Have you made the commitment of your heart and life to the one who made the commitment to you? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ for your salvation? Have you turned over the leadership of your life to Him?

Testimony: Brian Malion

Well, how did the religious leaders respond to this story about God’s authority?

Mark 12:12 – “And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.”

They wanted to arrest Him, and destroy Him as soon as possible. But, they couldn’t do that yet, as Jesus’ story was obviously about them. They feared an uprising of the people who were listening to Jesus and who lauded Him as the one who had the real religious authority.

But, this didn’t stop these that were wanting to rid themselves of Jesus. They continued the pursuit of trapping Him, turning people against Him, and hopefully doing away with Him - just like Jesus had warned in His story.

Mark 12:13- “And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk.”

Let’s be reminded here who we are talking about. The Pharisees were the most influential religious party of Jesus’ day, there in Palestine. They were devoted to the Law of Moses, laying down extra rules and laws, passed down by the traditions of religious leaders who had come before. They believed they were the righteous ones before God, because of all the extra rules they kept and made binding for everyone else as well.

The Herodians were the political supports of Herod Antipas. They were also seeking to destroy Jesus, because just like John the Baptist, who needed to be done away with, Jesus claimed authority over people’s lives; and the Herodians believed the authority rested with their government official: Herod Antipas. According to them, Jesus was a trouble-maker and had to be dealt with – severely.

These two groups actually hated one another with a passion; but they hated Jesus more; and so they became strange allies in this war to destroy Jesus Christ.

Mark 12:14- “And they came and said to him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar; or not? Should we pay them, or should we not’?”

These deceivers freely spilled out flattery and said things they didn’t mean, in order to set the trap. If you have ever had someone who obviously hates you talk to you like this, then you know how deceptive and evil it is. These guys called Jesus teacher and addressed him as though they believed that He taught with wisdom and knowledge (even though they actually opposed most of what Jesus said). They pour out the flattery and then follow up with the trap question:

Is it right, or not, to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them, or not? According to Josephus, the First Century historian, the taxes referred to here was the annual poll tax demanded by the Roman emperor from all Jews, ever since Judea became a Roman province. The tax money went right into the treasury of the Emperor, and was a continual reminder of the Jewish people’s submission to Roman rule.

The Herodians were huge political supporters of the tax. The Pharisees were opposed to the tax, believing it demonstrated unfaithfulness to God. The people, of course, hated it. This question was to put Jesus in a no-win situation. If he opposed the tax, then hopefully Rome would get upset and retaliate against him. If he supported the tax, then hopefully the general populace would rebel against him. Not only did they hate the tax, but how could a so-called Messiah agree with the forced submission to these pagan rulers? He couldn’t!

Mark 12:15-17 – “But, knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it. And they brought one. And he said to them, Whose likeness and inscription is this? They said to him, Caesar’s . Jesus said to them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marveled at him.”

Jesus knew exactly what they were doing; so he did not fall into the trap. Instead, he used it as a teaching opportunity. He calls them on it: Why put me to the test?, and then asks for a visual teaching aid: bring me a denarius. This small silver coin was the only coin accepted for the taxes.

On the coin was the portrait of Caesar and the inscription, in Latin, which read: “Tiberius Caesar Augustus, Son of the Divine Augustus”, and on the reverse side: “Chief Priest.” These words came from the worship of the Emperor as though he were a god. And this really upset the Jewish people.

But, to use the coins showed that you were under the authority of that ruler; and part of that authority included receiving taxes for the “benefits” received from having rulers in government. Jesus said they were to “give” or really “give back” to Caesar what belonged to him. Yes, he said: you should pay your taxes. It is your obligation, regardless of how you feel about Roman rule.

Commentator Jerry Vines wrote: “It is the right of government to impose certain requirements on its citizens. The Bible makes clear that Christians are to be good citizens. We are to pay our bills. We are to obey the laws of the land. We are to pay a stipulated portion of taxes. The word of God recognizes that Government has certain authorities over life. If we didn’t have the state, if we didn’t have government, society would be chaotic. Some guidelines are necessary for a society to function the way it ought to function. You and I cannot provide our own water supply, our own road system, our own police protection. We do receive certain privileges, certain benefits, from government. So our Lord said, if you are going to receive the benefits, you must assume certain responsibilities.”

But, Jesus’ main point was not about paying the toll tax. It was revealed, when he added: “And give back to God the things that are God’s.” Jesus was not talking, necessarily, about paying the temple tax or giving more in the offering. Instead, He was referring to the fact that true honor and worship belong only to God: that is what is due him for who He is and what He has done. His image, the Bible says, is stamped on us. We were all made in His (God’s) image:

Genesis 1:27 – “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

And since we bear the image of God, we owe Him our lives – that is what is due Him – our continual, daily worship.

Give God what is due Him – your continual life worship

The year was 1928 and a would-be mechanic was working on his Ford automobile.He couldn’t get it to run. About then a new Ford pulled up, and out stepped a well-dressed gentleman in a derby hat with a cane. He looked at the engine and confidently suggested, "If you’ll adjust this screw here, your car will run."Well, the would-be mechanic stared at the stranger and thought, "he doesn’t look like a mechanic!"
B
ut then he’d already tried everything he knew to do. So he adjusted that screw, kicked the starter, and lo and behold, his car sprang to life. In amazement the man turned to the helpful stranger and said, "Just who are you anyway?" And the man stuck out his hand and said, "The name’s Ford, my boy. Henry Ford! I made that car! I ought to know what makes it run."

And so it is with each of our lives. Your maker, your creator, God, knows what this life and eternal life are all about. He knows what is best for you. He is THE AUTHORITY on life; and you have the opportunity to learn of Him and follow Him. He will show you the way. And by the way, this is a daily choice.

Will you re-commit yourself, today, to give to Him what He is due? Will you give Him EVERY AREA of your life? Take a moment and tell Him what it is you are willing to do, in response to His Word this morning.

Prayer

“Show Me The Way”