1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:04,600 Authority is everywhere. It's inescapable. 2 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:09,720 You can't get away from it. If you walk out your door and 3 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:13,320 continue on foot or get into your car, it will not be long 4 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,440 before you come to a stop sign or red light telling you to 5 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:22,280 cease your motion. By what authority can this sign 6 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,640 or light tell you to stop? Who put it there? 7 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,320 Another example of authority being everywhere. 8 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:31,800 I took my three daughters to a UNC women's soccer game this 9 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:34,480 last week in which they defeated Alabama 4 to 0. 10 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:37,760 We were looking for a parking spot along Stadium Rd. 11 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:39,800 Nothing there. All the parking spots are taken. 12 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,120 You know, we, we go on this little side Rd. that kind of 13 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:44,400 cuts toward the stadium. There's all these open spots, 14 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:49,080 but they all say parking restricted 24 hours for visitors 15 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:51,840 to the Sports Science Center or something or other. 16 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:56,200 All these open spots, but I can't take it because it is 17 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,360 restricted 24 hours. Thankfully, at the very bottom 18 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,560 of the hill, tucked away, there's this little spot for, 19 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:03,680 you know, a daytime service worker. 20 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:08,080 And it ended at 5:00 PM. And it was open so we could go 21 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:10,920 to the game. How can UNC do that to us? 22 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:12,560 Well, they own the land, they own the property. 23 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:14,800 They get to decide who parks there. 24 00:01:14,960 --> 00:01:17,320 I'm just a humble supplicant trying to get to a soccer game, 25 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:19,200 not knowing where to park. If you've got parking secrets 26 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,360 for Dorrance Field, let me know, because I won't be the last 27 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:28,600 soccer game I take my girls to. In those minor ways, authority 28 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:32,600 puts a stop to things you might want to do or plan to do. 29 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:41,560 It's that confrontation with your desire or effort or long 30 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:46,800 held ambition that when authority confronts you in some 31 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,600 more significant way, that's why you don't like it. 32 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:52,840 We don't like it when an authority tells us we don't want 33 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:55,480 to do something or we we can't do something we want to do. 34 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,640 We don't like it when an authority makes a claim on us to 35 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:03,440 make us do something we don't want to do, pay this amount in 36 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,760 taxes or pay this ticket that got snapped on your car when 37 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:11,800 you're on the freeway, etcetera. There's a clash between the 38 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,800 desires of our heart and the things that authorities often 39 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,320 require or forbid. And one of our most natural 40 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:22,680 responses then is to question the legitimacy of that 41 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,280 authority. Well, who says, are you really 42 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,200 in charge? Maybe this authority is 43 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:29,600 illegitimate. Maybe it's maybe it's overreach. 44 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:31,640 And of course, in some cases it is. 45 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,200 In some cases there are legitimate grounds to question 46 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,640 authority or lodge an appeal about a given authority. 47 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,320 But all that I'm trying to highlight right now is that 48 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:46,800 we're often motivated to question authority because of a 49 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:51,920 previous desire or commitment, something deeply rooted in our 50 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:54,520 hearts. In our passage this morning, 51 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:57,520 we're continuing our series in Mark's Gospel, Chapter 11, 52 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:03,040 verses 27 to 33, a whole gathering of religious leaders, 53 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,480 really representing all the main religious authorities of Israel 54 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:10,720 during Jesus time, headquartered in Jerusalem, get together and 55 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:15,400 challenge Jesus about the nature and source of his authority. 56 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:17,800 That's what our whole passage is about. 57 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:20,320 It's in response, as we'll see, to what Jesus did just 58 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:22,680 previously in the temple where he he brought everything to a 59 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:24,440 halt and called the whole show off. 60 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:27,560 So then actually come to him and say, where'd you get off doing 61 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:30,680 that? Who says you can do that? 62 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:35,200 This is what happens when Jesus's authority is challenged. 63 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:39,720 What does it reveal to us? Please follow along as I read 64 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:49,480 Mark 1127 to 33. And they came again to 65 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,280 Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the 66 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:56,920 temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came 67 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,480 to him. And they said to him, By what 68 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:02,600 authority are you doing these things? 69 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:05,240 Or who gave you this authority to do them? 70 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:10,400 Jesus said to them, I will ask you one question, Answer me, and 71 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,040 I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 72 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:18,000 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? 73 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,000 Answer me. And they discussed it with one 74 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:27,600 another, saying, If we say from heaven, he will say, Why then 75 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:33,400 did you not believe him? But shall we say from man? 76 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:40,160 They were afraid of the people, for they all held that John 77 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:47,040 really was a prophet. So they answered Jesus, We do 78 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:52,680 not know. And Jesus said to them, Neither 79 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:58,840 will I tell you by what authority I do these things. 80 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:06,000 Now that Jesus has entered Jerusalem, the last week of his 81 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,880 life has begun, and the Gospel of Mark is going to be dedicated 82 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:13,680 for about the next chapter to a series of conflicts between 83 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:15,400 Jesus and the religious authorities. 84 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,760 Conflicts over his authority, Conflicts over the nature of 85 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:23,440 what it means to be Messiah, conflicts over who has or has 86 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:26,640 not been a rightful steward of the leadership of the people of 87 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:29,920 Israel. This passage is kind of an 88 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:33,320 introduction, an entryway to this whole series of conflicts 89 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:35,480 that, Lord willing, we'll consider in our next few 90 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:41,000 sermons. Here, the point is simple to 91 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,200 kind of summarize the text in one sentence. 92 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:50,520 Jesus refuses to defend his authority on terms set by 93 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:55,000 unbelief. In other words, divine authority 94 00:05:55,960 --> 00:06:00,880 does not submit to human scrutiny, just like we saw a few 95 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,160 moments ago in that reading from Job 40. 96 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:06,760 So the question we can ask that will frame our study of the 97 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:12,360 whole passage is this. What happens when human unbelief 98 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:18,520 challenges divine authority? What happens when human unbelief 99 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,960 challenges divine authority? What's revealed? 100 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,160 What do we discover? What does it show us about 101 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:27,160 ourselves? What does it show us about the 102 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,960 right way to relate to God? So our outline's going to have 103 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:34,960 two parts, human unbelief and divine authority. 104 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:37,680 We're going to consider 3 aspects of each. 105 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:39,720 So if you are a note taker or you really want to keep the 106 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:41,600 outline clear in your head, two points. 107 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:46,680 Each will have 3 sub points point #1 human unbelief. 108 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:50,560 So in a sense, we're going to consider the question from the 109 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:52,920 religious authorities and kind of study all that that implies 110 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,240 from them and their response. We're going to focus on them in 111 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:58,200 the first half, then on Jesus in the second-half. 112 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:02,280 So human unbelief .1 The first aspect of it we see is human 113 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:07,760 dishonesty. Sub .1 human dishonesty. 114 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:13,400 Look again at verses 27 and 28. And they came again to 115 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:15,680 Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the 116 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,320 temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came 117 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,600 to him and they said to him, By what authority are you doing 118 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:25,800 these things or who gave you this authority to do them? 119 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:30,960 The context is likely Wednesday of the last week of Jesus life. 120 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:33,400 He's come back into Jerusalem, he's walking around, he's likely 121 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:35,720 teaching as he has been customarily kind of out in the 122 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:37,760 open in the temple to whoever wants to come. 123 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,040 And so he's accessible to the religious leaders. 124 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:44,120 We see that the chief priests, scribes and elders came to him. 125 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,200 This represents the full Sanhedrin, which is a technical 126 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,520 name for 71 religious authorities who sort of all 127 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,960 acting together had authoritative oversight of the 128 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,040 life of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. 129 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:58,360 So the chief priests in particular were over the temple 130 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,720 and its worship and sacrifices. Describes were kind of highly 131 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:04,200 trained religious experts that you would go to to understand a 132 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,040 matter of the law or kind of resolve a a dispute and 133 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,600 interpretation, maybe tell you if something was permitted or 134 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:10,920 not. Is it OK for me to do this or 135 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,120 not? The elders function kind of like 136 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:18,760 civic community leaders, sort of like informal magistrates, 137 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,000 judges, that kind of thing. You put it all together and this 138 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:25,800 is the entire combined official power of religious leadership in 139 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:27,800 Jerusalem. They're all together come and 140 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,960 ask Jesus or to 71 verses one this question about his 141 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:37,280 authority. So when they ask by what 142 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:39,799 authority are you doing these things or who gave you this 143 00:08:39,799 --> 00:08:42,799 authority to do them? The occasion of their question, 144 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,240 the grounds of their question, is Jesus's dramatic act from 145 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:49,040 just a couple days ago. When he goes into the temple, he 146 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:52,480 prohibits people from selling doves, from exchanging money. 147 00:08:52,680 --> 00:08:55,760 He pauses anybody from being able to carry vessels throughout 148 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:58,760 the temple, as we saw last week. That's to put a pause to the 149 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,320 whole sacrificial system, all the operation of the whole 150 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:05,000 temple in this hugely busy season when pilgrims have come 151 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,000 and they're offering sacrifice upon sacrifice as upon 152 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,120 sacrifice. Jesus stops it in its tracks. 153 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:13,000 It's a bold assertion of authority. 154 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:16,200 How can you come into the temple and stop it? 155 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:18,920 How can you come and just, you know, find the little pause 156 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:21,520 button that's going to turn off the whole temple and go dink, 157 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,640 and all religious activity ceases. 158 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,120 It is an audacious act. It's natural they'd go. 159 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:34,560 Who does this guy think he is? It is, in one sense, a 160 00:09:34,560 --> 00:09:39,960 reasonable question. But what are they looking for? 161 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:44,960 What are they hoping to find? In asking him this question, 162 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:53,000 they hope to find something in Jesus's answer as a pretext for 163 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:57,960 arresting him. That's what we learn just a 164 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,440 little bit afterward in chapter 12, verse 13, some of the 165 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:05,400 Pharisees, some of the Herodians came to trap Him in his talk 166 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:11,040 1215 knowing their hypocrisy. So we we know, and I'll give you 167 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:12,680 one more detail that'll really lock it in. 168 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:14,760 But their question is not an honest one. 169 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:18,960 It's got ulterior motives. It's got a hidden agenda. 170 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:22,720 So they asked him about who gave you authority to do these 171 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:24,160 things. It's in the plural. 172 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,800 These things might refer to the kind of whole complex of actions 173 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:30,560 he performed in the temple, but it might also go back to his 174 00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:33,640 entering the city on a cult, a royal symbol, a messianic 175 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:35,280 symbol. It might even go back to his 176 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:37,400 other miracles, the things they've seen. 177 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:40,240 What's the source of Jesus authority that enables him to 178 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:44,720 cast out demons, to forgive sins, to raise the dead? 179 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:50,040 Who gave him that authority? So we know this is a trap just 180 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:53,480 from verse 28. And here's the decisive evidence 181 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:55,720 for that. If you go back to verse 18 of 182 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:59,800 this chapter, the immediate response of the chief priests 183 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:03,400 and the scribes, two of those three groups named here, Chapter 184 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,360 11, verse 18. And the chief priests and the 185 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:07,120 scribes heard it. They heard what Jesus was saying 186 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:12,680 and doing and were seeking a way to destroy Him, for they feared 187 00:11:12,680 --> 00:11:15,680 him because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 188 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:19,120 They were afraid of Jesus. They wanted to destroy Jesus. 189 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:24,640 They felt his powerful pull on the crowds and they didn't like 190 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:29,040 it. So we know this is envy over his 191 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,440 influence. We know they're already plotting 192 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:34,120 against him. The text just told us that. 193 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,760 So when we hear this question, this is not humbly seeking an 194 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,120 answer. This is not good faith trying to 195 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:43,640 remedy ignorance. They already have a plot and 196 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:47,080 they're looking for a kind of device to insert into the plot. 197 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,520 This sounds like an honest question, but it's not. 198 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:52,480 And I think actually Joe helped me see this in kind of studying 199 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:55,120 the passage this week. I think it kind of summarized it 200 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:58,760 nicely. Basically what they're after is 201 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,440 if he claims a kind of high enough authority that sort of 202 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:04,120 somehow puts him on a footing with God, well then they can 203 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:07,480 charge him with blasphemy. I think in particular, given the 204 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:10,800 huge nature of what he did in the temple, what's an authority 205 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:14,280 big enough to measure up to that if he somehow claims a divine 206 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,480 authority, they can go, aha, he's blaspheming, he's treading 207 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,360 on God's territory. He's claiming as a human being, 208 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,320 an authority that only God can have. 209 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:25,760 So I think the specific kind of target they have in their trap 210 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,080 is grounds for charging him with blasphemy, which is ultimately 211 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:34,080 what they will do in his trial. If he says his authority is from 212 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:37,640 heaven, poof, blasphemy. If he says, oh, I don't know, 213 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:39,800 just human messianic authority, something like that, well then 214 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:41,320 they can say, well, you don't have authority to do what you 215 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:42,880 did. You're you're trapped. 216 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,200 What right did you have to smash up the temple? 217 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,120 Zoom out a little bit. Think about how to apply this. 218 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:52,920 There is such a thing as an honest question for God. 219 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:59,680 There is such a thing as honest seeking for God, but it's more 220 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:04,640 rare than you might think. Some people sincerely think of 221 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:09,160 themselves as open minded, open to persuasion, willing to 222 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:13,440 believe if they get sufficient evidence, when actually deep 223 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,600 down in their heart of hearts they're committed to unbelief. 224 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:20,120 Not so much for intellectual reasons As for simply wanting to 225 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:23,760 keep living their own way, not wanting to give up being their 226 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:27,280 own master and Lord. If you aren't willing to give up 227 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:29,800 being your own master and Lord, there's no way to come to God as 228 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:31,560 an honest seeker. There's no way to ask God an 229 00:13:31,560 --> 00:13:35,600 honest question, because the presupposition, the basic step 230 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:40,080 one, is your willingness to submit to anything he reveals, 231 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:43,040 anything he says, anything he demands of you. 232 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:47,880 The Sanhedrin might have thought that they were suspending 233 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:55,160 judgement, keeping an open mind, as we say, but in reality they 234 00:13:55,160 --> 00:14:00,640 had some measure of skepticism, unbelief, and cowardice. 235 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:04,400 If you're not a believer in Jesus, what questions for God do 236 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:08,360 you have? Are those questions something 237 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:12,480 you're willing to ask and wait for his answer and consider it 238 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:16,080 changing your mind and heart and your fundamental commitments in 239 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:20,520 life? If you are that open, then I 240 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,160 really think those are honest questions. 241 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:31,320 When we think about verse 28, apart from their intent to trap 242 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:35,400 Him, who gave you this authority is a good question. 243 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:40,440 It shows us that the impression Jesus made on his contemporaries 244 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:45,160 was someone doing things that you can in no way account for on 245 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,880 normal human terms. He is not just good teacher 246 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:51,760 Jesus. He is not just radical prophet 247 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,120 Jesus. The impression he made on the 248 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,160 religious leaders who knew Israel's scriptures and 249 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:58,560 traditions inside and out, but their whole life studying them, 250 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:02,000 is there is no way to account for the things he's saying and 251 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:07,720 doing in normal human terms. So who gave Jesus this 252 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:09,160 authority? It's a good question. 253 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:11,840 If you're not committed to faith in Christ, how would you answer 254 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:13,640 it? What kind of things does he do? 255 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:18,640 What kind of things does he say? Where does he get his authority? 256 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,960 Do you think that Jesus has any real authority? 257 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,760 So that's their question. That's the setup, the trap 258 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:30,720 they're trying to lay for Jesus. Now when we look down, Jesus 259 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:32,520 refuses to answer their question. 260 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:35,680 We'll come back to that, but then they discuss basically 261 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:37,960 Jesus gives them this dilemma. This question they have to 262 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:39,800 answer. Was the baptism of John from 263 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:41,480 heaven or from man? You have to answer that. 264 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:45,560 Then I'll answer your question. So they discuss it verses 31 and 265 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,880 32. If we say from heaven, he will 266 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:51,400 say, why then did you not believe him? 267 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:55,760 But shall we say from man? They were afraid of the people, 268 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:59,160 for they all held that John really was a prophet. 269 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,880 Another word for their problem in verses 31 and 32 is 270 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,080 hypocrisy. They're pretending they're play 271 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:08,240 acting. Their outward words don't match 272 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,120 their inward thoughts and desires and intentions. 273 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:12,880 They're not motivated by the truth. 274 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:16,400 They're motivated by what's going to have a potential 275 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:19,960 backlash with the crowds that they need to keep on their side. 276 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,040 They didn't believe in John. I think it's important to 277 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:25,840 recognize that when they anticipate Jesus's question and 278 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:30,480 response, verse 31, he will say, why then did you not believe 279 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:34,200 him? Meaning they must not have 280 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:37,240 believed in John because the people who believed in John the 281 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:40,720 Baptist message got baptized by John And at the beginning of 282 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:43,360 Mark's gospel, we learned that virtually everybody in Judea and 283 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:45,720 around Jerusalem was going out and being baptized by John. 284 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,320 So the the Sanhedrin, all the members who made it up would 285 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:51,520 have known. Well, they didn't actually get 286 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:54,680 baptized by John. That'd be fairly sort of public 287 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:55,880 knowledge. Pretty obvious. 288 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:57,680 You kind of keep tabs on what the religious leaders are doing. 289 00:16:57,680 --> 00:16:58,800 Well, were they baptized by John? 290 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:00,680 No. Jesus could check. 291 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:04,000 Jesus could verify. If they say his authority is 292 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,000 from heaven, well, he can stick them. 293 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:08,720 Why didn't you get baptized by him? 294 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:14,240 So, kids in the congregation, I want you to notice something. 295 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,359 These religious authorities who were entrusted with the 296 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:20,280 knowledge of God and teaching the people and leading the 297 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:23,079 people, they rejected the prophet that God sent them to 298 00:17:23,079 --> 00:17:26,160 prepare for Jesus. They didn't accept it, and their 299 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:30,640 rejection of this earlier revelation made it harder for 300 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,200 them to accept Jesus. When he came, they had already 301 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:37,160 rejected the revelation God had given them, so they were not 302 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:39,560 motivated to accept this further revelation. 303 00:17:40,120 --> 00:17:42,120 What your parents are trying to do when they're teaching you, 304 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:45,040 training you, having family devotions, helping you memorize 305 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,360 Scripture, is put revelation from God into your mind and 306 00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:52,200 heart as early as they can. The more of that you accept now, 307 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:54,960 the better off you'll be when you get more and more and more 308 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:57,880 later. The less of it you accept now, 309 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:00,560 the more you reject God's teaching you through your 310 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,080 parents, more spiritually dangerous it'll be for you 311 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,880 later. A second point here of human 312 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:11,760 unbelief. Human disordered desire. 313 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:16,800 Human disordered desire, underneath their unbelief is a 314 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:20,440 disordered desire. We see that in verses 31 and 32. 315 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:25,040 They were afraid of the people. They desired to preserve their 316 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:28,600 position more than to submit to the truth. 317 00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:31,640 They desired to save face more than to serve God. 318 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,960 They prioritized politics over truth, power over goodness, 319 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:39,040 staying in charge over faithfully stewarding their 320 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:41,440 charge. Their only legitimacy is leaders 321 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:43,960 derived from their faithful stewardship of God's word. 322 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:46,200 And they failed at this. They failed to receive God's 323 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,160 prophets. They failed to receive God's 324 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:52,160 Messiah. And in terms of substance, 325 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:54,520 whatever happened politically, whatever happened with their, 326 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,840 their kind of followers and the common people, their inability 327 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,720 to discern spiritual matters with reference to John 328 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:05,760 invalidated their standing as spiritual leaders of Israel. 329 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:13,520 What are you tempted to choose over truth? 330 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:19,040 What are you tempted to prefer before truth? 331 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:23,960 Whether you're a a believer or not, you know, it's common 332 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:26,120 today. I think because we have a 333 00:19:26,120 --> 00:19:30,360 relatively affluent society, modern medicine can have all 334 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:34,360 kinds of marvels to buffer us from death, advance teams that 335 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:37,520 it sends out through illness, through sickness. 336 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:40,600 It's tempting to just kind of go through life and think, you know 337 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,360 what, it doesn't really matter what I think about God. 338 00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:46,280 Doesn't really matter what I think about is there a life 339 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:50,080 after this or not. A lot of people are not so much 340 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:53,000 opposed to God. That's just indifferent. 341 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,320 Yeah, I don't really know. Not really concerned about what 342 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,280 happens after I die. It doesn't really seem to matter 343 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:03,400 very much to me. I would just want to point out 344 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:08,160 that life is short and life is uncertain. 345 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:13,080 I would want to point out that the intuition you have deep in 346 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:16,640 your heart that some things are really right and really wrong 347 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:20,640 for everybody, doesn't just point out there to other people 348 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,360 about how they should change or how the world should be fixed. 349 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:27,440 It points in here. To convict you of things you've 350 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:29,760 done wrong. And if you follow that down, 351 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:32,720 you'll see you haven't just done wrong, you are wrong. 352 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:38,000 I'd want to suggest to you that it's folly not to care about 353 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:39,880 ultimate questions like is there a God? 354 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,400 What happens when you die? Are you in a good spiritual 355 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:47,720 position before the God of the universe? 356 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:55,120 A third element of unbelief that we see in this passage is human 357 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:59,120 fear. Human fear again, verse 32, it's 358 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:02,760 a distorted desire, specifically because they're afraid. 359 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:04,760 Verse 32, What are they afraid of? 360 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:12,720 They were afraid of the people, for they all held that John 361 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:17,400 really was a prophet. In this case, popular opinion 362 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,480 was correct. John really was a prophet. 363 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:25,360 Jesus knew that, the common people knew that. 364 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:29,120 And so Jesus's countermeasure, which we'll talk about more in 365 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:33,560 the next point, is he's putting them into a place where they 366 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,520 know what the people think and they know there's going to be a 367 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:38,560 consequence if they go against that. 368 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:40,400 They're going to lose standings, they're going to lose faith, 369 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:42,680 they might lose favor. It's a delicate and highly 370 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:46,800 charged time politically, because Judea exists under Roman 371 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:48,960 governance and there's always tensions. 372 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:50,640 They resent that. They don't want to be under 373 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:52,440 Roman governance. They want to have full autonomy 374 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:54,880 in their own land. Rome is always a little bit 375 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:57,000 uneasy. What are these strange people 376 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,640 who have these strange customs and worship only one God and 377 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:01,160 refuse to sacrifice to the other gods? 378 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,120 There's a weird, tense relationship between Rome and 379 00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:06,480 Judea. And so there's a weird tense 380 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,400 relationship between the Jewish governing authorities always 381 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:11,880 have an answer to Rome and trying to stay in good touch 382 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:13,920 with the people. They're always caught between a 383 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:17,520 rock and a hard place. So what is Jesus pushing on? 384 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:22,880 Jesus pushing on their fear. They fear losing power. 385 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:26,520 Why? Because they love it too much. 386 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:33,000 We fear losing what we love. They should have had a higher 387 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:38,520 allegiance to God and His truth, but instead they feared losing 388 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:43,280 favor with the people. What you love, you'll fear to 389 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:46,240 lose. What you'll love you'll fear to 390 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,440 have damaged. And of course, a healthy, 391 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,960 rightly ordered love will lead you to care for that person you 392 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:53,800 love. It'll lead you to seek to 393 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,400 preserve that good you love. You will work to see good come 394 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:01,680 to a, a school or a family or a church that you love and you 395 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:03,920 care for. And so there's a kind of natural 396 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:06,880 anxiety over its well-being and what you can do about it that 397 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:08,600 leads you to pray, it leads you to act. 398 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,360 It leads you to to mobilize resources to protect and 399 00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:14,200 preserve well. That's a healthy way that love 400 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:17,320 leads to fear within limits, that can then lead to good 401 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,360 action. But there's an unhealthy way. 402 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:25,320 If you love it absolutely, your fear will take over. 403 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,240 Your fear will distort your loyalties. 404 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:34,120 If you love this child so much, you're willing to say, well, you 405 00:23:34,120 --> 00:23:37,280 know, I used to thank God, thought that was a sin. 406 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:43,120 But now, well, I don't know. I've evolved what's happening. 407 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:45,960 Yes, it's good to love your child. 408 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,720 No, it's not good to love your child more than you love God. 409 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,760 And if you compromise something God says out of a kind of what 410 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:59,640 you think is a loving accommodation to a child, you're 411 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:04,840 showing that your love is disordered, Your fear is 412 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:08,920 disordered. The scribes, the Sanhedrin, 413 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:10,920 we're not willing to believe in Jesus because it would mean 414 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:17,960 losing control. They feared giving up control. 415 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:25,760 So dishonesty, disordered desire, and fear, all these 416 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:29,240 things motivate their unbelief. Their unbelief is not some sort 417 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,680 of neutral, pure scientist, scientific skepticism, just 418 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,120 going into a lab and weighing up evidence and doing experiments. 419 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:41,960 Dishonesty, disordered desire, fear, those are all underneath. 420 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:46,160 Those are all under the hood. Those are all motivating their 421 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:53,200 rejection of Jesus's authority. Their rejection was a spiritual 422 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:59,200 blindness both to Jesus and to John and Lord willing, as we'll 423 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,720 see next week, to the whole series of prophets God sent to 424 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,920 His people to bring them to repentance. 425 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:06,960 What's the evidence of their unbelief that it comes from 426 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,400 spiritual blindness? Again, it's back in verse 18. 427 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:13,640 They've already formed a plot to destroy him. 428 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:22,240 From one angle, the essence of unbelief is rejecting God's 429 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,240 authority. What are some of the realms in 430 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:28,800 which we do that? One is rejecting the authority 431 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:32,360 of Scripture. Scripture is breathed out by 432 00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:35,040 God. What Scripture says, God says. 433 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:39,240 Every word of it is true. And yet we're often tempted to 434 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,000 reject its total claim on us to think, well, maybe I could 435 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,480 believe most of it. I would carve out these little 436 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,800 pieces here that would be convenient for my pre-existing 437 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:49,360 scientific beliefs or moral commitments. 438 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:54,560 But in and of itself, a partial rejection of the authority of 439 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:57,240 God's word is actually a total rejection of the authority of 440 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,200 God's word because you're putting yourself in authority 441 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:02,760 over it. If you say I'll keep these 442 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:07,800 pieces and I'll get rid of these, your own reason becomes a 443 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:09,680 higher authority than God's word. 444 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,480 We're tempted to reject God's claims on us in terms of our 445 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:15,480 ethics, our morality, our way of life. 446 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:19,400 It's tempting to push back on God's reign over your 447 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,400 conscience, to try to kind of put up boundaries, put up 448 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:26,120 defenses, put up a firewall. If you're hearing from 449 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:29,360 Scripture, if you're hearing from someone godly, if you're 450 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:31,440 hearing from someone where you really should be thinking, yes, 451 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:34,000 I, I know that's what God says. I know that's what God wants. 452 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,160 I know that's what I should do or shouldn't do. 453 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,880 Any effort you make to build up a wall against that is a 454 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:46,080 rejection of God's authority. And of course, there's the most 455 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:49,960 fundamental decision. Will you repent and turn from 456 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:55,320 sin and believe in Jesus or not? A right relationship with God, 457 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:58,000 made possible through the sacrifice of his Son, begins on 458 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:03,120 our part with repentance, submission, total surrender. 459 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,400 But why should we submit to God's authority? 460 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:10,720 We've considered a detailed human unbelief. 461 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:17,200 Now we turn to divine authority .2 Divine authority. 462 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,480 As with our first point, there's going to be 3 sub points. 463 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,800 The first one is divine testing. Divine testing. 464 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:29,440 That's one expression of divine authority. 465 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:33,160 Again, they come to him. They ask by what authority you 466 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:35,440 do these things. Now we'll focus on Jesus 467 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:40,040 response, verses 29 and 30. Jesus said to them, I will ask 468 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:42,720 you one question, answer me, I will tell you. 469 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,880 Answer me and I will tell you by what authority I do these 470 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,600 things. Was the baptism of John from 471 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,920 heaven or from man? Answer me. 472 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:58,280 So we want to consider first the fact that Jesus doesn't answer 473 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:02,640 but poses another question, the fact of his counter question. 474 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:07,480 Even in doing that, he's asserting his authority rather 475 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:09,920 than submitting to theirs. Now in rabbinic debate of the 476 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,920 time, it was understood as a legitimate debating move. 477 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:15,320 It was a card you could play. If someone asks you a question, 478 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:16,840 you can ask them a question in return. 479 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:19,520 So it's understood as kind of Fair play in an argument like 480 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:21,840 this. But at the same time, given that 481 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:25,560 the question is about Jesus very legitimacy, kind of the whole 482 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:30,480 basis of his teaching, his refusal to answer is a kind of 483 00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:35,480 deliberate sidestep. He's not going to do this on 484 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,960 their terms. He has an authority that is 485 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:42,160 unique, that's not on the same playing field as theirs. 486 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:49,880 Instead of allowing them to test him, he tests them. 487 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:54,760 Instead of him being on trial, he puts them on trial. 488 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:58,840 A faint analogy of this is a story by my wife Kristen, just 489 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:00,800 reminded me of from her college days this week. 490 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:02,920 She was in a high level anthropology class as an 491 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:04,840 undergrad. They had to take turns preparing 492 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:07,640 A lecture based on a signed reading that the whole class 493 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:09,680 had. So everybody reads the book. 494 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:12,080 One person gives a lecture and leads a discussion. 495 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,040 Kristen, I don't know, just want to kind of hunch A Spidey sense. 496 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,640 Before she began her lecture, she just asked everybody in the 497 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:19,160 class who have you actually read the book? 498 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:25,120 And very few hands went up. And her classmates were not 499 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:27,960 entirely pleased with her because then they're not 500 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:29,560 reading. The book was exposed to their 501 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:33,160 teacher who adjusted their grades accordingly. 502 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:39,360 Their refusal to do the assignment was exposed in a way 503 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,960 that it would not have been otherwise. 504 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:47,880 The Sanhedrin was putting Jesus to the test, but actually it 505 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,920 turned out he instead would put them to the test. 506 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,000 Just like we saw in the reading from Job 40. 507 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:58,320 When we put God to the test, we might think we're testing him, 508 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,120 but he's actually testing us. And the very fact that you're 509 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:04,560 putting him to the test means that you're failing. 510 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:06,520 What does it mean to put God to the test? 511 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:11,320 Practically, I would say it's any approach to God that takes 512 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:16,560 the form of God. If you do X for me, I will do Y 513 00:30:16,560 --> 00:30:19,960 for you. Now, there's a sense in which 514 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,280 and some of the Old Testament context, you know, somebody 515 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:23,800 could make a vow. They could say, Lord, if you 516 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:25,120 deliver me, I'll offer you the sacrifice. 517 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:26,840 That's not putting God to the test. 518 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:28,840 That's just saying there'll be a kind of expression of 519 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,600 Thanksgiving and outpouring of recognizing God's deliverance. 520 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,880 So I don't mean in the sort of Old Testament sense of making a 521 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:37,440 vow and following up on it. I mean more in the sense of 522 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:43,440 putting a condition on God where he has to do something for you 523 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:49,280 first before you will agree to trust him, believe in him, obey 524 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:52,600 him, submit to him. Again, this could be something 525 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:54,280 you would do as a non believer if you're really thinking 526 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:57,800 seriously about following Jesus. It also could be something where 527 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:01,120 you sort of bargain with God in your heart, where if you're 528 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:03,920 convicted, if you're aware of something you really need to 529 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:08,600 change, you kind of put a condition on God first. 530 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:14,320 So that's the fact of Jesus. Counter question, He's testing 531 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:16,560 them. God tests us. 532 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:18,760 We don't test him. We just want to consider the 533 00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:23,920 content of Jesus. Counter question, was the 534 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,760 baptism of John from heaven or from man? 535 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:30,240 Answer me. When Jesus refers to the baptism 536 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:31,680 of John, he means his whole ministry. 537 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:33,800 John was preaching, John was baptizing. 538 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:36,320 If you agreed with John's preaching, you'd get baptized by 539 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:37,920 him. It's a it's a package deal. 540 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:44,040 So to understand what Jesus is getting at, I think the key we 541 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:49,000 need to keep in mind is that John's whole ministry pointed to 542 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:52,440 Jesus as its fulfillment. John was the forerunner. 543 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:54,560 John was the voice of one crying in the wilderness. 544 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:57,720 John is the one saying make way of prepare the way of the Lord, 545 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:01,520 make his path straight. John is a giant pointer finger. 546 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:04,720 That's his whole ministry. That's how he gets represented 547 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:06,520 in Christian art throughout the centuries. 548 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:10,520 He is a finger pointing. That's the nature of his 549 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:12,760 ministry. So you go back really quick to 550 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:16,160 the very beginning of Mark's Gospel chapter 1, verses 7 and 551 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:18,960 8. This is about John the Baptist 552 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:23,240 and he preached saying after me comes he who is mightier than I, 553 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:25,880 the strap of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and 554 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:28,840 untie. I have baptized you with water, 555 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,600 but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. 556 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:36,920 In a nutshell, Jesus point is if you believed John's message, you 557 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:40,480 would believe Jesus authority. John pointed to one who's so 558 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:43,600 much greater than him he's not even worthy of stooping down and 559 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:46,080 untying A sandal. John pointed to one who's so 560 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:47,880 much greater than him, he's going to baptize with the Holy 561 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:49,840 Spirit. Not just water. 562 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:51,800 Only God can pour out the Spirit. 563 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:53,800 Only God can baptize with the Spirit. 564 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:56,440 If you paid attention to John, if you heard him, if you 565 00:32:56,440 --> 00:32:58,600 accepted him, you would accept me. 566 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:02,760 I'm the whole point of John's ministry is what Jesus is 567 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:07,080 saying. A decision about John is a 568 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:09,840 decision about Jesus. That's the dilemma. 569 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:14,720 Jesus is forcing back on them, and so he denies them standing 570 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:16,880 to ask their question. He's saying, oh, this is kind of 571 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:20,720 a prerequisite to enter into this particular court case, this 572 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:24,320 particular trial. If you are not on record about 573 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:26,960 John the Baptist, you do not have the standing to come into 574 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:30,600 my court and ask me about my authority, because John has 575 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:33,880 already told you all you need to know. 576 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,920 So Jesus turns the tables and tests them. 577 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:43,200 He exposes their unbelief. He exposes their rejection of 578 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:45,160 God's prophet. They come trying to expose 579 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:47,400 Jesus. He turns it around and exposes 580 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:49,440 them. What are some of the ways in 581 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:54,200 which God tests us throughout our lives as believers? 582 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:59,480 1 is through hard truths in Scripture that make us work. 583 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:02,840 They make us pray. They make us rack our minds and 584 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:05,760 hearts to understand them. And sometimes then even when we 585 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,120 understand them, there's still more work to do emotionally, to 586 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:14,560 embrace them, to submit to them. You can say all things work 587 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:16,400 together for good for those who love God and are called 588 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:19,320 according to His purpose. But do you know it? 589 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:23,480 Do you rely on it? Do you feel it when you most 590 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:26,320 need it? There are hard truths in 591 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:29,239 Scripture. Another way God tests us is 592 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:32,400 through providential appointments in which He inserts 593 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,360 us between a rock and a hard place. 594 00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:40,440 In Psalm 139, verse 6, David says, you hem me in behind and 595 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:43,239 before you lay your hand upon me. 596 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:46,920 If you've not suffered very much, you might just think 597 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:51,159 that's God's care, His provision, His presence, His 598 00:34:51,159 --> 00:34:54,040 guidance. He's before and behind us. 599 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:59,320 He's holding us, but the language of being hemmed in is 600 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:01,640 like God putting you between a rock and a hard place. 601 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,800 Being hemmed in means there's nowhere for you to go. 602 00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:08,720 There's nowhere for you to move. Go forward. 603 00:35:08,720 --> 00:35:11,160 You get scraped by a rock as sharp as a knife? 604 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:13,120 Go back. You fall off a Cliff. 605 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:18,440 God sometimes double parks us by his Providence. 606 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:23,720 He puts you in somewhere, then He comes and shuts you in, and 607 00:35:23,720 --> 00:35:26,720 then you're stuck and all you can do is submit. 608 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:31,080 All you can do is trust. The only thing you can apply any 609 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:34,280 strength or effort to is endurance. 610 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:37,320 He's testing you. What do you do when you can't 611 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:40,160 move? What do you do when the Lord of 612 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:47,800 Heaven double parks you in? God also tests us by requiring 613 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:54,160 us to continue to ask and ask and ask in prayer for an answer. 614 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,080 It's a test. He's strengthening our faith. 615 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:00,640 He's withholding for good reason. 616 00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:04,680 We don't know why. We trust He has his reasons. 617 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:09,840 He tests us through suffering. He tests us through a sense of 618 00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:13,720 his absence or his silence or his distance. 619 00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:16,360 Believers have very different experiences of this. 620 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:19,120 Some live most of their days with a sense of kind of God's 621 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:21,840 love, smiling down on them like sunshine. 622 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:29,360 Some genuine believers feel abandoned by God, deserted by 623 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:35,360 God, convinced that God has set his face against them. 624 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:44,280 In what ways has God tested you? What has he revealed to you 625 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:47,280 about yourself through that testing? 626 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:50,760 That's a good topic to discuss over lunch. 627 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:55,960 Divine testing Another element of divine authority we see in 628 00:36:55,960 --> 00:37:00,240 Jesus response back to Mark 11 is divine hiddenness. 629 00:37:01,240 --> 00:37:05,680 Divine hiddenness. Here we come to the the sort of 630 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:09,920 payoff and punchline of our passage, verse 33. 631 00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:14,360 So they answered Jesus. We do not know. 632 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:19,120 And Jesus said to them, Neither will I tell you by what 633 00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:24,360 authority I do these things. They won't commit themselves to 634 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:27,680 an answer, so Jesus won't commit himself to them. 635 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:33,840 Those who cannot be honest with themselves will not be honest 636 00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:39,520 with Jesus or about Jesus. They haven't been travelling 637 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:41,880 with Jesus. They haven't been learning from 638 00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:43,600 him. They haven't sought him 639 00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:45,400 honestly. They're not seeking to engage on 640 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:47,320 fair terms. So Jesus cuts them off. 641 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:52,880 Jesus refuses to reveal himself as God. 642 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:58,800 He does not owe them an answer. He's invoking a kind of divine 643 00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:03,800 prerogative and divine privilege not to answer, not to reveal 644 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:07,160 himself to those who are set against him. 645 00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:15,320 Jesus answer would be, and we'll explore this more soon, that his 646 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:21,560 authority is from God and even in a way from himself because he 647 00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:25,920 is the divine Son Incarnate. But he doesn't give him an 648 00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:27,600 answer here. He hides himself. 649 00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:33,520 He drops the veil and keeps it between him and them. 650 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:37,840 Now sometimes this is obviously a kind of confrontation with 651 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:39,520 people who are fundamentally not believing. 652 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:45,280 But even as believers, sometimes God hides himself because we ask 653 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:50,360 with wrong motives. James for three says you ask and 654 00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:55,560 do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your 655 00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:58,560 passions. There is a way to ask for 656 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:00,960 something from God with such distorted motives that it's 657 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:04,360 better for us not to get it. And so God refusing to answer 658 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:06,480 God in that sense, hiding himself is actually doing us a 659 00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:10,720 mercy because our hearts are so distorted we would further harm 660 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:14,920 ourselves. But the main point here that we 661 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:17,600 see in Jesus divine hiddenness is that he's content to let 662 00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:21,640 somebody walk away. He's not going to argue somebody 663 00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:24,840 into his Kingdom. He knows their hearts are hard. 664 00:39:25,240 --> 00:39:27,120 Only God can soften a hard heart. 665 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:28,560 He knows they have hearts of stone. 666 00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:31,560 Only God can give a new heart, a heart made of flesh. 667 00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:34,640 God is powerful to do that. He answers prayers to do it. 668 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:37,200 And we should seek to persuade people and reason with them, 669 00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:40,160 yes. But ultimately, what gets 670 00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:44,040 someone into the Kingdom, what gets someone into belief is the 671 00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:47,760 omnipotent power of God giving them a new heart. 672 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:52,120 So it takes wisdom when you're, when you're sharing the gospel 673 00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:54,200 with someone, when you're having long running conversations with 674 00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:57,480 a friend or a family member. It takes wisdom to know, am I 675 00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:00,200 feeling anxious or timid because of fear of man and I should 676 00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:03,200 really push through? Or have I really laid it all 677 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:04,360 out? The good news? 678 00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:07,960 God's claims, ways they're going wrong, Have I laid it out as 679 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:09,960 fully as I can and it's really over to them. 680 00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:14,200 That's a hard judgement call. It's easy to excuse fear of man 681 00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:16,200 and think, Oh yeah, I've kind of done all there is to do. 682 00:40:16,640 --> 00:40:19,160 But prayerfully consider that. Prayerfully pursue that. 683 00:40:19,240 --> 00:40:21,880 There is a limit to what we can do and say. 684 00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:29,800 We can't change people's hearts. Revelation is God's sovereign 685 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:35,640 prerogative. He is not obligated to reveal 686 00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:39,480 himself. He chooses to whom to reveal 687 00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:42,600 himself. Revelation does not follow from 688 00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:44,720 our demand, but from God's freedom. 689 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:54,440 God's revelation is not a given, it's a gift. 3rd element of 690 00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:58,080 divine authority we see in our passage, particularly the way it 691 00:40:58,080 --> 00:41:00,600 kind of points back to the rest of the gospel, is divine 692 00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:03,560 evidence. Divine evidence. 693 00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:08,560 Jesus has given evidence in answer to their question. 694 00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:11,320 He's just done it already. He's done it throughout the 695 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:12,880 whole gospel. He's done it every time he 696 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:14,800 performed a miracle. He's done it through his 697 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:17,080 teaching. He's done it every time he cast 698 00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:20,080 out a demon with a word. He's done it by raising people 699 00:41:20,080 --> 00:41:21,960 from the dead. He's done it by walking on 700 00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:23,400 water. He's done it by the 701 00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:27,120 Transfiguration. All of these miracles show a 702 00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:31,640 divine authority that he is both authorized by God and has in his 703 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:38,040 own person God's own authority. So if Jesus's powerful deeds so 704 00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:41,520 far have not convinced the Jerusalem religious authorities 705 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:43,880 of his divine power, then nothing will. 706 00:41:44,560 --> 00:41:47,320 It's not that he's given no evidence, it's that he's given 707 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:49,840 abundant evidence. He's given so much evidence, you 708 00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:52,800 just turn any page back into Mark's Gospel and you'll see 709 00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:55,080 evidence for his divine authority. 710 00:41:56,040 --> 00:41:58,800 The problem isn't too little evidence. 711 00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:02,560 The problem is hard hearts that aren't willing to see it. 712 00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:08,880 So the evidence he's already given convicts them of their 713 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:11,520 unbelief. They had no good reason for 714 00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:14,800 rejecting John. They have no good reason for 715 00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:18,760 rejecting Jesus. Their unbelief is obstinate. 716 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:22,040 It's hard hearted. It's persistent in the face of 717 00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:26,080 overwhelming evidence. Jesus isn't giving them more 718 00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:31,280 evidence because he knows that's not the problem. 719 00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:36,520 He has given evidence of his divine authority all along. 720 00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:42,560 So on Jesus's side, we've seen divine testing, divine 721 00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:48,440 hiddenness, and divine evidence. All of that reveals his own 722 00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:51,280 divine authority. All throughout Mark's Gospel 723 00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:54,120 this has been implicit but consistent. 724 00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:57,120 It's been beneath the surface, but ever present. 725 00:42:57,400 --> 00:43:01,200 Jesus speaks and acts as God Incarnate. 726 00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:03,080 His. His authority is from God in the 727 00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:04,560 sense that he's a faithful prophet. 728 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:07,600 He is the Messiah. He's carrying out God's plan of 729 00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:11,280 salvation as a human being. He is authorized by God to 730 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:13,080 fulfill the mission of the Messiah. 731 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:16,960 And yet also at the same time, he has in himself divine 732 00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:19,400 authority. He is himself the Lord, He is 733 00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:23,000 himself the eternal second person of the Trinity. 734 00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:26,360 That's the only full and adequate and right answer to. 735 00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:29,520 By what authority do you do these things and who gave you 736 00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:31,840 this authority? Ultimately, God the Father has 737 00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:34,640 given him this authority from all eternity as he has given him 738 00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:37,400 his own nature, given him his own life. 739 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:43,080 So the biggest thing Jesus authority isn't is just from 740 00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:47,120 man. The dilemma he forces on them is 741 00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:51,400 if they say John his authority was just from man, then John's a 742 00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:54,680 charlatan, John's a charade, John's a false prophet. 743 00:43:54,960 --> 00:43:58,160 You don't get to go call all Israel to repentance just 744 00:43:58,160 --> 00:44:00,440 because you thought that was a good idea. 745 00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:03,960 If John's authority is quote UN quote from man, then it's fake. 746 00:44:04,240 --> 00:44:06,360 It doesn't hold up. He's a false prophet. 747 00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:10,520 Similarly, Jesus does not leave us with the option of just 748 00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:15,280 saying, Yup, good teacher, Yup, inspiring moral figure, Yup. 749 00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:17,640 You know, I'm a secularist, I'm an atheist. 750 00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:20,840 But boy, I prefer the fruits of Christian culture over the 751 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:23,600 disaster that it sort of came from in the Roman world and the 752 00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:26,520 disaster we seem to be headed to in many respects in our society 753 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:28,440 today. When nobody can say what's right 754 00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:32,280 and wrong, you can't just say good moral influence. 755 00:44:33,080 --> 00:44:35,440 The question remains, by what authority? 756 00:44:35,960 --> 00:44:39,800 By whose authority? What authority does he have? 757 00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:45,160 He has authority as the master of the house, the Lord of the 758 00:44:45,160 --> 00:44:49,600 temple, the judge who has come to inspect and evaluate his 759 00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:52,400 people. He has authority not just from 760 00:44:52,400 --> 00:45:00,800 God, but as God, He has come to wield that authority to preview 761 00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:03,360 judgement and accomplish redemption. 762 00:45:04,680 --> 00:45:09,360 The reason we fear authorities is because we're not convinced 763 00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:13,120 that they will act in our own true best interest. 764 00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:17,400 We are afraid of ways that they will knowingly or unknowingly 765 00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:20,120 harm us. We are afraid of ways they will, 766 00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:25,040 willingly or unwillingly, no, wittingly or unwittingly, damage 767 00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:29,840 our lives, harm us from experiencing true flourishing 768 00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:33,840 and fullness and freedom. We're afraid of authorities 769 00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:37,400 because the bad things they can do to us, whether legitimately 770 00:45:37,400 --> 00:45:42,880 or illegitimately. So we have to ask, what did 771 00:45:43,280 --> 00:45:50,760 Jesus do with his authority? What does he do with his 772 00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:54,520 authority? He's told us all along, He tells 773 00:45:54,520 --> 00:45:57,920 us in the beautiful one sent in summary in Mark 1045. 774 00:45:57,920 --> 00:46:03,920 The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give 775 00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:07,600 his life as a ransom for many. This contest between unbelief 776 00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:11,560 and God's authority has defined human existence since Genesis 3. 777 00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:14,760 The very first sin was a rejection of God's authority. 778 00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:18,000 The very first sin was a refusal to live on His terms. 779 00:46:18,200 --> 00:46:20,840 And we've done that ever since. We've rejected His authority. 780 00:46:20,840 --> 00:46:23,200 We've run from Him. We viewed the authority of God 781 00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:28,160 Himself as if were bad for us. That's the essence of sin. 782 00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:30,760 That's the deep, sick heart of sin. 783 00:46:30,760 --> 00:46:35,200 And what did Jesus come to do? He came to bear the penalty, the 784 00:46:35,200 --> 00:46:39,240 punishment that we all deserve for all of our rejections of 785 00:46:39,240 --> 00:46:43,520 God's authority. He came to make the most pure, 786 00:46:43,680 --> 00:46:48,120 the most perfect, the most selfless exercise of authority 787 00:46:48,240 --> 00:46:52,600 in the history of the universe. That's what he does with his 788 00:46:52,720 --> 00:46:55,360 authority. No self seeking, all other 789 00:46:55,360 --> 00:47:00,680 seeking, no vengeance, all forgiveness, no lording it over 790 00:47:00,680 --> 00:47:05,000 people, but all submitting to incalculable cruelty and pain 791 00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:12,880 and suffering to redeem you. That is what Jesus uses his 792 00:47:12,880 --> 00:47:16,280 authority to do. And I haven't told the whole 793 00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:23,720 story because if you want proof, you just ask what happened next 794 00:47:25,160 --> 00:47:28,440 in our text. Today is Wednesday. 795 00:47:29,800 --> 00:47:35,400 Thursday he'll be betrayed. Friday he'll be killed. 796 00:47:36,520 --> 00:47:40,000 Saturday he'll like hold in a tomb. 797 00:47:42,680 --> 00:47:51,560 Sunday he gets up out. He slips from death's authority 798 00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:54,040 because death had no authority to hold him. 799 00:47:54,520 --> 00:47:57,240 He got himself up out of the grave. 800 00:47:57,240 --> 00:47:58,960 It's true to say God the Father raised him. 801 00:47:59,160 --> 00:48:01,440 It's true to say he was raised in the power of the Holy Spirit. 802 00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:05,120 It's also true as he says in John's Gospel, I have authority 803 00:48:05,320 --> 00:48:09,120 to lay my life down and I have authority to take it up again. 804 00:48:09,600 --> 00:48:15,080 Jesus authority is to take his life up again and to take yours 805 00:48:15,080 --> 00:48:20,080 up with him if you trust in him. From the beloved Puritan 806 00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:24,360 commentator Matthew Henry, commenting on the conflict in 807 00:48:24,360 --> 00:48:32,000 this passage and the question Jesus refuses to answer said let 808 00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:40,520 them wait but three or four days and his resurrection shall tell 809 00:48:40,520 --> 00:48:47,120 them who gave him his authority. Let's pray. 810 00:48:54,240 --> 00:48:59,920 Heavenly Father, we praise You for this confrontation that 811 00:48:59,920 --> 00:49:03,440 exposes our sins. It exposes our unwillingness to 812 00:49:03,440 --> 00:49:10,120 submit to You, our unwillingness to trust You, our desires for 813 00:49:10,120 --> 00:49:13,000 the wrong things or desires in the wrong ways, where we love 814 00:49:13,000 --> 00:49:15,960 things and more than You and put them in Your place. 815 00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:22,320 Father, we thank you that Jesus came to exercise his divine 816 00:49:22,320 --> 00:49:28,120 authority to bear the curse and give life and rescue from death. 817 00:49:29,040 --> 00:49:30,680 We pray these things in Jesus name. 818 00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:35,160 Amen. To respond to God's Word, we'll 819 00:49:35,160 --> 00:49:40,200 sing a beautiful, touching modern hymn that celebrates how 820 00:49:40,200 --> 00:49:44,840 Jesus exercises all of his authority with the tenderest 821 00:49:44,840 --> 00:49:46,480 love. Jesus, strong and kind, let's 822 00:49:46,480 --> 00:49:47,280 stand and sing.