1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,000
Hi everyone. 
Welcome back to daily gospel 

2
00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:17,600
exegesis where we do a verse by 
verse exegesis of the Gospel. 

3
00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:21,000
Reading from today's mass, we're
currently moving through the 

4
00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,100
gospel of Mark and we're getting
towards the end of our weekday. 

5
00:00:24,100 --> 00:00:27,700
Exploration of Mark today's 
reading is from Mark, chapter 

6
00:00:27,700 --> 00:00:32,900
11, verses 27, 1233. 
So as always, we will read out 

7
00:00:32,900 --> 00:00:35,100
the text that you would hear it 
today's mass and then we're 

8
00:00:35,100 --> 00:00:37,600
trying to pull it apart. 
What did it mean in its original

9
00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:42,400
context? 
Jesus and his disciples came to 

10
00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,200
Jerusalem. 
And as Jesus was walking in the 

11
00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:49,600
temple, the chief priests, and 
the scribes, and the elders came

12
00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:54,400
to him and they said to him what
Authority have you for acting 

13
00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:57,600
like this? 
Or who gave you authority to do 

14
00:00:57,600 --> 00:00:59,900
these things? 
Jesus said to them. 

15
00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:05,900
So, I will ask you a question. 
Only one answer me and I will 

16
00:01:05,900 --> 00:01:08,100
tell you my Authority for acting
like this. 

17
00:01:09,300 --> 00:01:12,500
John's baptism. 
Did it come from heaven or from 

18
00:01:12,500 --> 00:01:16,800
man? 
Answer me that And they argued 

19
00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:18,900
it out this way, amongst 
themselves. 

20
00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:23,200
If we say from Heaven, he will 
say, then why did you refuse to 

21
00:01:23,208 --> 00:01:27,900
believe him? 
But dare we say from man, they 

22
00:01:27,900 --> 00:01:30,800
had the people to fear for 
everyone, how the John was a 

23
00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:35,400
real prophet. 
So they reply to Jesus was we do

24
00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:39,300
not know. 
And Jesus said to them, nor will

25
00:01:39,300 --> 00:01:42,200
I tell you my Authority for 
acting like this. 

26
00:01:44,700 --> 00:01:45,900
So it's an interesting 
interaction. 

27
00:01:45,900 --> 00:01:50,100
We have here today in Mark 
chapter 11, the Pharisees and 

28
00:01:50,100 --> 00:01:52,200
the chief priests. 
They asked Jesus a question. 

29
00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:54,900
And Jesus, basically says, I'll 
answer your question if you can 

30
00:01:54,900 --> 00:01:56,700
answer mine. 
So, it's an interesting kind of 

31
00:01:56,700 --> 00:01:59,600
dialogue here. 
Let's start with the context. 

32
00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,600
So Jesus has arrived in 
Jerusalem for the final week of 

33
00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,900
his life and he's already 
cleansed the temple, which is 

34
00:02:05,900 --> 00:02:09,500
important for today's passage 
and he has just cursed the Fig 

35
00:02:09,500 --> 00:02:11,300
Tree. 
So, all of that has happened 

36
00:02:11,300 --> 00:02:16,100
earlier in Mark, chapter 11 and 
We know that Jesus spends most 

37
00:02:16,100 --> 00:02:19,200
of the last few days of his life
teaching in the temple. 

38
00:02:19,500 --> 00:02:21,500
So, that's what he's doing in 
today's scene, he's in the 

39
00:02:21,500 --> 00:02:25,600
temple teaching. 
So verse 27, Jesus and his 

40
00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:30,000
disciples came to Jerusalem so 
he has already been in Jerusalem

41
00:02:30,100 --> 00:02:32,400
if you've been reading Mark 11. 
So what does it mean here to 

42
00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:33,900
say? 
He comes to Jerusalem. 

43
00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,400
It appears to be because at 
night time in the last week of 

44
00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,600
his life, Jesus goes and stays 
in Bethany, which is just 

45
00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,300
outside of Jerusalem. 
So during the day, he's in 

46
00:02:43,300 --> 00:02:46,200
Jerusalem. 
And then at night time, he's 

47
00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:49,200
staying in Bethany. 
So here it is the next morning 

48
00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:51,800
after staying overnight in 
Bethany. 

49
00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:56,600
So it's probably Tuesday or 
Wednesday of Holy Week and we 

50
00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:00,000
get to today seen as Jesus was 
walking in the temple. 

51
00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,700
Now, it was common for Jewish 
rabbis to teach in the temple. 

52
00:03:03,700 --> 00:03:07,000
If they were in Jerusalem and 
popular, rabbis would attract 

53
00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:08,700
quite a large crowd in 
Jerusalem. 

54
00:03:09,100 --> 00:03:12,600
Particularly during Passover, 
the pilgrims had to come to pass

55
00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,300
over for seven days. 
As in Jerusalem, and one of the 

56
00:03:16,300 --> 00:03:19,100
things they were doing those 
seven days is go and listen to 

57
00:03:19,100 --> 00:03:22,600
popular rabbis in the temple. 
So Jesus spends a lot of his 

58
00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,400
last week in the temple being a 
rabbi teaching. 

59
00:03:26,900 --> 00:03:29,700
Now, the chief priests and the 
scribes and the elders came to 

60
00:03:29,700 --> 00:03:32,000
him. 
So there's three groups listed 

61
00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,500
here, the chief priests, and the
scribes, and the elders. 

62
00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:37,100
There's different 
responsibilities. 

63
00:03:37,100 --> 00:03:39,300
That each of these three groups 
have basically, the chief 

64
00:03:39,300 --> 00:03:43,200
priests oversee, the temple, the
scribes were the experts in the 

65
00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,700
Jewish law, and the elders were 
those who kind of oversaw, the 

66
00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:52,400
judicial Affairs of Jerusalem, 
but overall, these three groups 

67
00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:54,500
are representatives of the 
Sanhedrin. 

68
00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:56,500
The Sanhedrin was the highest 
governing. 

69
00:03:56,700 --> 00:03:59,900
What he in Judaism and there 
were based in Jerusalem. 

70
00:03:59,900 --> 00:04:03,800
So apparently, the Sanhedrin has
sent this delegation to the 

71
00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,100
temple to question, Jesus. 
It's actually the same group 

72
00:04:07,100 --> 00:04:10,800
that Jesus had prophesied would 
kill him in chapter 8 verse 31. 

73
00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,100
Jesus said to his disciples that
the chief priests and the 

74
00:04:14,100 --> 00:04:17,200
scribes and the elders would 
kill Jesus and here they are 

75
00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,300
questioning him. 
We know that the chief priests 

76
00:04:20,300 --> 00:04:22,700
and the elders and the scribes, 
they're constantly trying to 

77
00:04:22,700 --> 00:04:25,400
discredit Jesus. 
And one of the ways they try to 

78
00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:28,900
discredit Jesus is By coming up 
with clever questions that they 

79
00:04:28,900 --> 00:04:32,400
think will get Jesus in trouble,
no matter how he answers. 

80
00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,100
So they think they've come up 
with one of these trap questions

81
00:04:35,300 --> 00:04:38,300
that Jesus can't possibly answer
in a good way. 

82
00:04:39,100 --> 00:04:42,300
That's what they think. 
So, verse 28, they say to him, 

83
00:04:42,500 --> 00:04:45,000
what Authority have you for 
acting like this? 

84
00:04:45,300 --> 00:04:47,800
Or who gave you the authority to
do these things. 

85
00:04:49,100 --> 00:04:52,800
Now, earlier in Jesus ministry, 
those already been conflicts 

86
00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,800
about Jesus, authority, Jesus, 
and the Jewish leaders have 

87
00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:57,600
already discussed. 
This several times. 

88
00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:00,900
But now, the Jesus has just 
cleanse the temple. 

89
00:05:00,900 --> 00:05:04,100
He's basically claimed to be the
judge over the temple and that's

90
00:05:04,100 --> 00:05:07,700
the very center of Jewish life. 
It's reignited, their question. 

91
00:05:07,700 --> 00:05:10,700
Who is this guy? 
How can he claim to do the 

92
00:05:10,707 --> 00:05:13,300
things he does? 
And how is he able to overturn 

93
00:05:13,300 --> 00:05:15,500
the tables in the temple? 
What Authority does he have to 

94
00:05:15,500 --> 00:05:18,200
do that? 
So they're demanding an 

95
00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:21,700
explanation of him. 
Because for Jesus to overturn 

96
00:05:21,700 --> 00:05:25,000
the tables in the temple, if you
think about it, he would have to

97
00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,500
have authority from them. 
They're the ones Who oversee the

98
00:05:28,500 --> 00:05:30,800
temple on Earth, according to 
them anyway. 

99
00:05:31,100 --> 00:05:33,700
So for Jesus to come along and 
cleanse the temple, he would 

100
00:05:33,700 --> 00:05:37,200
need to have authority from 
them, but he's just a common do 

101
00:05:37,300 --> 00:05:39,500
in their mind. 
Now, of course, as Christians, 

102
00:05:39,500 --> 00:05:44,700
we know that Jesus is God 
himself, so Jesus has authority 

103
00:05:44,700 --> 00:05:48,200
over the Jewish leaders. 
It's a funny situation. 

104
00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:51,000
When you think about it, in that
sense, the stewards of the 

105
00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:55,100
temple are demanding, an answer 
from God himself about the way 

106
00:05:55,100 --> 00:05:56,800
he conducts himself in the 
temple. 

107
00:05:58,100 --> 00:06:01,200
Now, the way they phrase, the 
question is probably it's 

108
00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,100
supposed to be a trap question 
that would seem. 

109
00:06:03,100 --> 00:06:05,700
So the question they ask is, 
what Authority have you for 

110
00:06:05,700 --> 00:06:08,100
acting like this? 
Who gave you this Authority? 

111
00:06:09,500 --> 00:06:12,800
It appears to be not a sincere 
question based on the way Jesus 

112
00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,800
responds, the scribes here and 
the Jewish leaders think that, 

113
00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,500
no matter how Jesus answers this
question, he's going to be 

114
00:06:19,500 --> 00:06:22,800
trapped his going to be 
discredited because if Jesus 

115
00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,900
Answers, by saying, my authority
comes from God. 

116
00:06:26,700 --> 00:06:29,500
Well, then it's going to be 
easier for them to think he's 

117
00:06:29,500 --> 00:06:33,000
crazy and to accuse him of 
blasphemy, which is, of course, 

118
00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,400
what they want to be able to do,
but on the other hand of Jesus 

119
00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,000
says my authority comes from 
myself. 

120
00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,900
Well, He has no real Authority 
and he's going to discard it 

121
00:06:41,907 --> 00:06:44,900
himself. 
So it appears to be a trap 

122
00:06:44,900 --> 00:06:46,300
question. 
And that would make sense 

123
00:06:46,300 --> 00:06:49,200
because we know by now that the 
Pharisees and the Jewish 

124
00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:51,000
leaders, they want to kill 
Jesus. 

125
00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:53,600
And this is one of their ways 
that they're going to bring it 

126
00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:57,200
about if they can accuse him of 
blasphemy, then there might be a

127
00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:01,100
way that they can get him. 
Killed verse 29. 

128
00:07:01,300 --> 00:07:04,300
Jesus said to them, I will ask 
you a question. 

129
00:07:04,500 --> 00:07:08,900
Only one answer me and I will 
tell you my Authority for acting

130
00:07:08,900 --> 00:07:09,500
like this. 
This. 

131
00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,600
So Jesus, he says I'll answer 
your question if you can answer.

132
00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:15,300
Mine seems like a funny thing 
for Jesus to say. 

133
00:07:15,300 --> 00:07:18,300
But actually it was a typical 
rabbinical way of doing 

134
00:07:18,300 --> 00:07:20,400
dialogue, about religious 
issues. 

135
00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,100
What he's going to ask them. 
If you read carefully, is he's 

136
00:07:24,100 --> 00:07:26,200
going to use the same basic 
question. 

137
00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,800
They just asked him but he's 
going to apply to John the 

138
00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,900
Baptist rather than himself and 
by doing. 

139
00:07:32,900 --> 00:07:36,500
So he's going to expose the 
hardness of heart that prevents 

140
00:07:36,500 --> 00:07:38,800
the Jewish leaders from being 
open to the answer. 

141
00:07:39,500 --> 00:07:42,300
So he's going to use their own 
tactic against them and in the 

142
00:07:42,300 --> 00:07:45,900
process show that they're not 
really willing to do God's will.

143
00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:50,100
So this is the question he now 
asks them John's baptism. 

144
00:07:50,100 --> 00:07:54,800
Did it come from heaven? 
from men, answer me that So John

145
00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,100
the Baptist during his own 
Ministry developed quite a 

146
00:07:58,100 --> 00:08:00,500
following and it did lead to a 
lot of fruit. 

147
00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:05,100
Many conversions, many Jews came
to John the Baptist and they 

148
00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,700
committed himself to God as a 
result of John, the Baptist's 

149
00:08:07,700 --> 00:08:09,100
Ministry. 
So it seems that John the 

150
00:08:09,108 --> 00:08:12,900
Baptist did a lot of good. 
So the obvious answer to this 

151
00:08:12,900 --> 00:08:16,900
question is that John the 
Baptist came from God, his 

152
00:08:16,900 --> 00:08:20,000
authority came from God, that 
would seem to be the obvious 

153
00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,700
answer based on the fruit that 
John the Baptist produced but if

154
00:08:23,700 --> 00:08:28,300
the SLI does admit that John the
Baptist was in fact given 

155
00:08:28,300 --> 00:08:32,600
Authority from God then they're 
going to have to admit a couple 

156
00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:35,700
of other things. 
They're going to have to firstly

157
00:08:35,900 --> 00:08:38,600
admit that they should have 
repented at the preaching of 

158
00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,400
John the Baptist and they're 
also going to have to admit the 

159
00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:45,300
same about Jesus ministry 
because John the Baptist himself

160
00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,400
said that Jesus is the mighty 
one. 

161
00:08:48,700 --> 00:08:52,200
So logically if they say John 
the Baptist had Authority from 

162
00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:54,000
God will then they're going to 
have to admit the geez. 

163
00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:56,600
Has is also from God because 
that's what John the Baptist 

164
00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,800
said. 
That would seem to answer their 

165
00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:03,400
original question because if 
Jesus has Authority from God, 

166
00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:05,400
then their original question 
about where he gets his 

167
00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:08,500
authority from is answered. 
So when we stand back and we 

168
00:09:08,508 --> 00:09:11,500
take the Jewish leaders, 
original question. 

169
00:09:11,500 --> 00:09:14,700
And Jesus question, they might 
seem to not be related but 

170
00:09:14,700 --> 00:09:17,800
actually they are. 
Jesus is kind of answering their

171
00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,100
original question about where he
gets his authority from but 

172
00:09:21,100 --> 00:09:24,300
doing it in kind of a veiled way
that implies the answer. 

173
00:09:24,300 --> 00:09:28,600
If they think about it, verse 
31, the Jewish leaders Viewed it

174
00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,600
out this way, amongst 
themselves, if we say from 

175
00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,900
Heaven, he will say, then why 
did you refuse to believe him? 

176
00:09:35,300 --> 00:09:39,100
But dare we say from men, they 
had the people to fear for 

177
00:09:39,100 --> 00:09:41,200
everyone held that John was a 
real Prophet. 

178
00:09:41,900 --> 00:09:45,300
So the Jewish leaders here, 
correctly perceive that Jesus 

179
00:09:45,300 --> 00:09:47,300
has given them. 
A trap question, his turned 

180
00:09:47,300 --> 00:09:50,400
their own tactic against them. 
It's, in fact, a very clever 

181
00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:53,500
question and it shows the 
supernatural intellect of Jesus,

182
00:09:53,900 --> 00:09:57,000
because if they answered Jesus 
question by saying, John the 

183
00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:00,100
Baptist was from God. 
Then they're going to have to 

184
00:10:00,100 --> 00:10:03,000
admit where we shouldn't believe
John the Baptist but if on the 

185
00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,200
other hand, they say, John the 
Baptist came from man. 

186
00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,000
His authority was from man, 
they're going to have to fear 

187
00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,500
the Jewish people who were in 
the temple, listening to this 

188
00:10:10,500 --> 00:10:14,400
conversation because those 
Jewish people believe that John 

189
00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:16,300
the Baptist was a prophet. 
So they're going to face some 

190
00:10:16,300 --> 00:10:21,900
backlash if they deny that. 
Verse 33, the reply to Jesus was

191
00:10:21,900 --> 00:10:25,400
we do not know so they don't 
answer the question. 

192
00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:28,000
They just say. 
We do not know this in itself 

193
00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,900
shows that the Jewish leaders 
are not genuinely searching for 

194
00:10:30,900 --> 00:10:33,300
truth. 
They just want to maintain the 

195
00:10:33,300 --> 00:10:35,500
status quo. 
They not actually searching for 

196
00:10:35,500 --> 00:10:37,400
Truth at least the vast majority
of them. 

197
00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:41,800
And Jesus said to them, nor will
I tell you my Authority for 

198
00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:45,100
acting like this. 
So Jesus basically says, since 

199
00:10:45,100 --> 00:10:47,600
you can't answer my question, 
I'm not going to answer yours, 

200
00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:50,000
that's the way. 
He finishes this conversation 

201
00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:51,800
which is well within his rights 
to do. 

202
00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:55,300
So there's an interesting lesson
we could take from this. 

203
00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:59,100
A possible theological 
implication of this might be the

204
00:10:59,100 --> 00:11:02,100
Jesus does not owe an 
explanation to anyone. 

205
00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,600
He doesn't always answer every 
question which is posting him. 

206
00:11:06,100 --> 00:11:08,600
Particularly for those who are 
outside of his kingdom, we 

207
00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:11,800
should keep this in mind. 
Jesus is not OS and answer for 

208
00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:14,900
every single question. 
We throw at him and particularly

209
00:11:14,900 --> 00:11:17,200
that seems to be true for 
unbelievers as well. 

210
00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:20,200
Now there is more to this 
conversation. 

211
00:11:20,300 --> 00:11:22,700
The Jewish leaders don't just 
walk away after this. 

212
00:11:23,300 --> 00:11:25,700
The conversation goes on and 
Jesus is going to give them a 

213
00:11:25,700 --> 00:11:28,500
couple of Parables. 
We're going to look at this in 

214
00:11:28,500 --> 00:11:31,200
the coming days and you'll see 
here in these Parables that are 

215
00:11:31,208 --> 00:11:35,800
coming up, Jesus kind of answers
their original question about 

216
00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,300
his identity by telling these 
Parables. 

217
00:11:38,300 --> 00:11:40,700
And particularly the next 
Parable, which is the parable of

218
00:11:40,700 --> 00:11:44,500
the vineyard, tenants, very 
strong parable about Jesus role 

219
00:11:44,500 --> 00:11:48,100
and the Jewish leaders role 
There's no catechism references 

220
00:11:48,100 --> 00:11:50,500
for us to look at today so we 
will finish it there. 

221
00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,600
I hope you're enjoying this. 
Exploration of the Gospel of 

222
00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:58,300
Mark and we'll continue to look 
at Mark chapter 12 next week. 

223
00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,600
There's no catechism references 
for us to look at today so we 

224
00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:51,800
will finish it there. 
I hope you're enjoying this. 

225
00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:55,700
Exploration of the Gospel of 
Mark and we'll continue to look 

226
00:11:55,700 --> 00:11:58,300
at Mark chapter 12 next week.