What is He doing? SMBC Student Derek Yu

What comes to your mind when you think of the word authority?

Do you think of authoritarian regimes, democracy, teachers, parents?

See, the reality is that we believe that authority should be submitted to

if it is the right kind of authority.

We submit to the police.

If someone breaks into our house, we call the cops,

because they have the authority.

We don't simply just take law into our own hands.

What if I told you that you need to submit yourself to Jesus' authority?

You probably ask me why.

And the passage that we're going to be looking at today,

Mark 11, verse 27 to 12, verse 12, answers that very question.

Where does Jesus get his authority from?

And why should we submit to that authority?

The talk today will be broken up under three headings.

First heading, Jesus' authority challenged.

Heading number two, Jesus' authority rejected.

And heading number three, Jesus' authority ultimately reigns.

So let's start.

Heading number one, Jesus' authority challenged.

I used to, probably like some people or many people,

I used, maybe not many, but I used to hate going to school.

It was just a miserable experience.

And back when I was young, going through that teenage angst,

I used to be quite rebellious against my parents and teachers.

And I was just constantly challenging authority after authority after authority.

And in Mark 11, verse 27 to 33, we see the religious leaders,

Mark 11:27–33

they're challenging authority too.

But they're not just challenging anybody's authority.

They're challenging Jesus' authority.

In the beginning of chapter 11, Jesus has just come into Jerusalem,

the city of kings, the city of God's anointed.

And the people, what they do is they line the streets,

they cheer, they lay down their cloaks and their branches.

Authority.

And then he goes into the temple in chapter 11, verse 15 to 19.

The temple symbolized God's presence,

God's dwelling place.

Jesus walks into the temple and he starts flipping tables.

Just imagine I walked into church today and I saw your communion table

and I started flipping it.

Not that I probably could, but just imagine I did.

You'd probably be thinking, what is going on?

Who is this guy?

Authority.

And the religious leaders, they're jealous.

Because Jesus is taking away their authority.

Jesus is gaining a bigger following than them.

So what they decide to do is they decide to trap Jesus

by posing to him a question.

Verse 28.

By what authority are you doing these things?

And who gave you this authority to do them?

It's a trap.

Because if Jesus says his authority is from God,

he's going to be accused of blasphemy

and that can get him killed.

If Jesus says his authority is from man,

then he's going against the Roman Empire

and that can get him killed.

It's a trap.

But Jesus responds by asking them a question.

Verse 30.

Tell me about John the Baptist.

Was he from heaven or man?

Why does Jesus ask this question?

It's because this question actually provides the answer

to their question.

Because if the religious leaders believed in John's authority,

then they would have known that Jesus gets his authority from God

because John the Baptist pointed to Jesus

and told people Jesus is the Son of God.

But if they say that Jesus,

now if they say, sorry, that John's from heaven,

then verse 31, Jesus would reply,

then why didn't you believe him?

Because they obviously didn't believe that John was from heaven.

But verse 32, can they say from man?

They fear the people

because everyone believed John to be a prophet.

And even though they don't believe that John's from God,

they're not willing to admit it

because they fear the people.

So verse 31, what they decide to do

is they decide just not to answer Jesus.

Jesus' authority challenged.

And friends, some of you in this room

might be having questions about Christianity.

How do you know that God is real?

How do you know the Bible is reliable?

Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

How can you believe in miracles?

And friends, if that's you,

then I encourage you to keep asking questions

and keep seeking.

But friends, don't be like the religious leaders

who pose questions,

but they're not really concerned about answers.

All they're trying to do

is stir up trouble,

trap,

mock,

ridicule.

Friends, I encourage you

that if you're not a follower of Jesus today,

to ask questions

and earnestly seek the truth.

Because just maybe God will reveal it to you.

Jesus' authority challenged.

Point number two,

Jesus' authority rejected.

Mark 12, verse 1 to 8.

Mark 12:1–8

Last year in December,

my wife and I,

we went to Greece

for a short holiday.

And we arrived at this place

called Monastriki Square.

And we saw this little group of protesters,

these anarchists.

For those of you who don't know,

an anarchist is basically someone

that doesn't believe in the government,

they don't believe in a higher authority.

And it just totally confused me.

Because I had no idea.

It just didn't make sense.

How can you run a country without a government?

It just didn't make sense.

But what was clear, though,

was that they were rejecting authorities.

And Jesus now,

he goes on to use this parable,

this story,

to show the religious leaders

that they too

are rejecting his authority.

And through this parable

in Mark 12, verse 1 to 8,

Mark 12:1–8

Jesus also will answer

their question about where it is

that he gets his authority from.

To summarize the parable briefly,

there's a man

who owns a vineyard.

He decides to go away.

He leases the land to some tenants.

The time comes for harvesting.

He sends his servants.

And the tenants,

for some crazy reason,

decide to start beating on the servants.

And notice the patience in the master,

sending servant after servant after servant.

And also notice the escalation of violence.

Verse 2,

they beat the servant and sent him away.

Verse 4,

they struck him on the head

and treated him shamefully.

Verse 5,

then they killed another.

Verse 6,

keep beating and killing.

All of these servants

coming with the master's authority

until eventually.

verse 6,

he still had one other,

our beloved son.

Finally,

he sent him to them,

saying,

they will respect my son.

After all that's happened,

who in their right mind

would send their son?

Australia's current foreign minister

is Julie Bishop.

And America's current secretary of state,

US, sorry,

United States of America,

is John Kerry.

And when they're sent overseas,

they're not just representing themselves.

They're representing the prime minister

or the president.

And when they go,

they go with the prime minister

or the president's authority.

And that's how it is

when the father sends his son.

The son represents

the father's authority.

The son is like the father going.

So verse 6,

when the father says,

they will respect my son,

it's because it's like

the father going himself.

The son is the heir.

But what the tenants decide to do

is they decide

to end up

killing him.

They want to take the inheritance

for themselves.

And friends,

here is the answer

to the religious leader's question.

In Isaiah chapter 5

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

in the Old Testament,

the vineyard

is a way of God

speaking about

his chosen people.

The master in the story

is God.

The servants in the story

are the prophets

that God sends

to his people,

calling them to repent

and turn to him.

The tenants in the story

are the religious leaders

who constantly,

one after another,

reject the vineyard.

No, sorry,

reject the master.

All they end up doing

is killing God's prophets.

And the son,

here is the answer,

the son

is Jesus

and he comes

with the father's authority,

with God's authority.

Where does Jesus

get his authority from?

He gets it

from God.

But the religious leaders,

not only did I reject

the son,

not only did I reject

Jesus' authority,

but they eventually

killed Jesus too.

You see,

Jesus knows

that he's going to die.

He's already prophesied it

in Mark

a couple of times.

Jesus knows

that he's heading

to the cross.

Point number two,

Jesus' authority

rejected.

And friends,

in what ways

can you and I

reject Jesus' authority?

I think that there

are primarily two ways.

The first way

is to actively

reject Jesus,

make a stand

against Jesus,

make yourself known

as a prominent atheist,

hating on those

who love Jesus.

But I suspect

that for most of us

in this room,

the temptation

is not to actively

make a stand

against Jesus,

to actively

reject his authority,

but rather

passively

reject Jesus' authority.

And with passive

rejection,

you don't reject

Jesus

with your words,

but with your life.

For you,

outwardly,

you might

profess

Christ,

but inwardly,

Christianity

is a social club.

It's a gathering.

It's all about

being a good,

moral person.

Jesus,

yeah,

he's a nice guy,

but to change

your whole life,

your whole worldview

for him,

that's another matter.

And friends,

both of these methods

of rejection

is what the Bible

calls sin,

rebellion

against God.

Jesus' authority

rejected.

point number three,

Jesus' authority

reigns.

Mark chapter 12,

Mark 12:9–12

verse 9 to 12.

Anna and I,

we got married

roughly

one and a half

years ago.

And for Anna's

wedding present,

I decided to buy her,

it was a new friend

back then,

but I decided to buy her

a Samsung Galaxy S3.

I know it's old,

I know the S5's coming out,

but back then,

it was the best thing ever.

And one day,

we were at this restaurant

eating,

and Anna decides

to put her phone

on the table.

And by the end

of the night,

we had no idea

where it was going.

And I was just so sad,

not because she lost it,

but because we didn't know

what happened to it.

We suspect strongly

that it was stolen,

that she might have

just dropped it.

But if someone

did steal it,

let's just assume

someone did steal it,

it's right to expect

justice, right?

It's right to expect

that the phone

will be returned

and that justice

will be met,

if it was stolen.

And you see,

if justice is deserved

for something as small

as losing a phone,

or someone stealing

a phone, sorry,

then how much more

is justice demanded

for the crime

against the father

in the story,

where people killed

his son?

So friends,

how will the master respond?

How will God respond?

Verse 9,

He will come

and destroy the tenants

and give the vineyard

to others.

Friends,

God's judgment

is just.

God's judgment

is final.

For those who reject

Jesus' authority,

God will bring about

judgment on them.

Jesus goes on.

Verse 10,

Have you not read

this scripture?

Of course they have,

but they don't get it.

So Jesus goes on.

He quotes from

Psalm 118,

Psalms 118:22–23

verse 22 to 23.

The stone that the builders

rejected

has become the cornerstone.

This was the Lord's doing,

and it is marvelous

in our eyes.

Psalm 118

is a psalm

about God's deliverance.

In Psalm 118,

God's chosen king

is surrounded

on all sides

by his enemies,

but God

in his power

delivers

his king.

And back in ancient times,

the cornerstone

was the foundation stone.

It was the stone

you laid first,

and every single

other stone

was built

on top

and around it.

And you see,

even though

God's chosen king

is rejected,

the ruler

ends up

becoming

the cornerstone,

the most central

stone

in God's kingdom.

And Jesus,

he quotes

Psalm 118

and uses it

in Mark

Mark 12:10–11

chapter 12,

verse 10

to 11

to refer

to himself.

Jesus knows

that his authority

is being challenged.

Jesus knows

that his authority

is being rejected.

But Jesus

also knows

that his authority

will ultimately

reign.

Jesus has already

foretold

his resurrection.

After he is

murdered,

he will be

raised to life

again

after three days.

And this stone

that the builders

have rejected

will be

the cornerstone

on which

people like

you and I,

people find

salvation

and forgiveness.

There's a saying

that goes

that power

tends to corrupt

and absolute

power corrupts

absolutely.

Give someone

complete power

and eventually

they'll abuse it.

And I guess

you see it

in history,

don't you?

You see it

in Hitler,

Stalin,

Pol Pot.

But it's

not always

true.

At least

for one,

it is not

true.

Because it's

not true

in Jesus.

Jesus

has

absolute

authority.

But Jesus

uses his

authority

for good.

God,

he lets

his authority

be rejected

by humanity

to the point

of death

on a cross,

taking on

the punishment

of sin

on himself,

the wrath

of God,

so that our

sins would be

forgiven,

so that we

wouldn't be

rejected

by God,

the one

who has

true authority.

Jesus uses

his absolute

authority

to love

and save

the lost.

Wouldn't

you want

to submit

to that

kind of

authority?

Friends,

I just

want you

to ask

yourself,

whose

authority

in life

are you

submitting

to?

Who is

it that

defines

and dictates

how you

live?

Is it

your

friends,

parents,

peers?

Are you

constantly

changing

who you

are in

order to

please

others?

And I'm

sure that

in a room

this big

there are

people

that are

constantly

submitting

to others

and letting

them be

defined

because that

was me.

Throughout

high school

constantly

fearing

living for

the opinions

of others,

constantly

letting

my life

be defined

by what

other people

thought of

me,

constantly

submitting

to these

people's

authority.

Friends,

whose authority

in life

are you

submitting

to?

A couple

of months

ago,

I'll confess

now,

oh yeah,

this is being

recorded,

no,

it's okay,

I'll confess

that a couple

of months

ago I got

a parking

ticket.

Yes,

I'm so bad,

I got a parking

ticket.

And back

then I was

thinking,

how could

they book

me?

I was only

parked there

for three

minutes and

it was for

a good cause

as well.

Anna needed

to buy

some medication

so I parked

in the no

parking spot

for three

minutes,

she went

out,

she came

back,

I got

home,

I didn't

even know

that I

got booked

until a

letter got

sent to

me and

it told

me that

I was

fined.

And at

that point

I had

to decide

whether I

would pay

this fine

or not,

whether I

would challenge

it or not,

whether I

would submit

to this

authority or

not.

And friends,

there are many

times in

life when

you have to

come to a

decision regarding

whether you

submit to

authority or

not.

will have,

can have,

sorry,

serious

repercussions.

And tonight

you have to

ask yourself,

will you

submit to

Jesus'

authority?

Why don't

you submit to

Jesus'

authority?

Submit

yourself to

Jesus,

the one who

uses his

authority to

demonstrate his

limitless love

for you on

the cross.

Why reject

that authority?

Why live with

the consequences

of eternal

judgment and

condemnation?

Friends,

although all

of us have

rejected Jesus'

authority,

Jesus gives

us the chance

to repent.

Through Jesus'

resurrection,

he demonstrates

his power over

death and his

ability to

forgive sins.

Through trusting

in Jesus,

submitting to

his authority,

true forgiveness

can be found,

a right

relationship with

God.

Jesus'

authority was

challenged,

rejected,

but ultimately

it rains.

Will you

submit yourself

to Jesus'

authority?

Let me

pray.

Father,

we thank you

that you

are not

like rulers

of men

who use

their authority

for personal

gain.

Instead,

Jesus is the

one with true

authority and

you use your

authority for

our good.

We thank you

that Jesus'

authority is

used for our

love and for

our good,

and we pray

that we will

submit to

Jesus'

authority.

And in

Jesus'

name we pray.

Amen.