The clash with Ultimate Authority

It's a story some of you may have heard before.

It was written by a preacher in the 1950s

and it's been quoted in a number of places.

It says,

On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur,

there was once a crude little life-saving station.

The building was just a hut and there was only one boat,

but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea.

With no thought for their own comfort,

they went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost.

Some of those who were saved

and various others in the surrounding area

wanted to become associated with the station

and gave of their time, money and effort for the support of the work.

New boats were bought, new crews trained

and the little life-saving station grew.

Some of the members of the life-saving station

were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped.

They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided

as the first refuge of those safe from the sea.

They replaced the emergency cots with beds

and put better furniture in the enlarged building.

Now, the life-saving station

became a popular gathering place for its members

and they decorated it beautifully

because they used it as a sort of a club.

Fewer members were now interested in going to sea

on life-saving missions,

so they hired lifeboat crews to do this important work.

The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club's decorations

and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room

where the club's initiations were held.

About this time, a large ship wrecked off the coast

and the hired crews brought in boatloads

of cold, wet and half-drowned people.

They were dirty and sick.

The beautiful new club was in chaos,

so the property committee immediately had a shower house

built outside the club where victims of shipwrecks

could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting,

there was a split among the club membership.

Most of the members wanted to stop the club's life-saving activities

for being unpleasant

and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club.

Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose

and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station.

But they were finally voted down

and told that if they wanted to save the lives

of all the various kinds of people

who were shipwrecked in those waters,

they could begin their own life-saving station.

So they did.

As the years went by,

the new station experienced the same changes

that occurred in the old.

It evolved into a club

and yet another life-saving station was founded.

History continued to repeat itself

and if you visit that sea coast today,

you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore.

Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters,

but most of the people drown.

In Mark 10, verse 45,

Mark 10:45

Jesus declares that his life and ministry

is one of service.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,

but to serve

and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus tells us that he came to rescue many people.

His coming was a life-saving mission.

Now we were preaching a short message

over the next three weeks

from Mark chapter 11 and 12

Mark 11 · chapter mention

and as you read these chapters

and I'd encourage you to do it at home,

it doesn't take long,

you get a strong sense

that Jesus has come on the scene

and he has disturbed a very comfortable club.

And for the leaders of that club,

he has become a source of threat

and annoyance

and from their point of view,

he doesn't understand their history,

he doesn't care about their culture,

he doesn't understand their place

and he doesn't understand their authority.

And he is not a voice to be listened to,

he is a problem to be dealt with.

From Jesus' point of view,

they do not understand God's purposes for his world

and the place that they have with regard to them.

And so, there is this huge clash of authority.

Now the early part of Mark's gospel

is a series of stories about Jesus

which beg the question,

who is this man?

Who is this man that teaches with this authority?

Who is this man that even the demons obey him?

Who is this man who stills the wind

and the waves with a word?

Who is this man who claims to have authority

to forgive sins?

Who is this man who raises the dead?

And Mark tells one story after another

and he brings us to a turning point

in chapter 8, verse 27.

Jesus is travelling with his disciples

and he asks the question,

who do people say I am?

What's the gods?

What's everybody saying about me?

And the disciples say,

well, some people are saying you're John the Baptist

and others are saying you're Elijah,

one of the prophets that died a long time ago.

But he doesn't leave it there.

He fingers the disciples personally.

He eyeballs the lot of them.

What about you?

Who do you say I am?

And Peter answers,

you are the Christ.

You are the king.

And he's absolutely right.

But Jesus commands the disciples

not to tell anyone about him.

And there's a good reason

the disciples now have to learn

how this king is going to exercise his authority.

They've recognised who he is,

but they have no idea

how this king is going to reign.

And Jesus now begins to teach his disciples

what his kingship will mean

and how his authority will be exercised.

And it says in chapter 8,

verse 31,

he began to teach them

that the Son of Man

must suffer many things

and be rejected by the elders,

the chief priests,

and the teachers of the law,

that he must be killed

and after three days rise again.

It's the first time in Mark's Gospel

that Jesus mentions

his rejection

and his death.

So you get to chapter 11

where we are this morning

and Jesus has taught

about his rejection

and his death

on a number of occasions.

It's getting closer.

Verse 1 says

that they were approaching Jerusalem.

It's the first time

that he's been in Jerusalem

in Mark's Gospel.

He rides into the city

on a donkey,

the crowd giving him

a ticker tape parade.

They welcome him

with palm branches.

They rejoice in his coming

in the name of the Lord.

They're looking for the promises

of God

to their great king David

to be fulfilled.

The king makes his authoritative entry

into his capital city.

It's late in the day

and then he leaves again

and stays the night

just across the valley in Bethany.

Mark 11 verse 15

Mark 11:15

tells us that Jesus

returned the next day.

He came into the temple courts.

He wrought havoc.

He drove out everybody

who was buying and selling.

He turned over the tables

of the money changers

and those selling doves.

Gentle Jesus,

meek and mild.

Can you imagine

what would happen

if I left church this morning,

go down into Westfield,

into Myra

and start turning over the tables?

I will be in court

in North Sydney

on Monday morning.

I'd get a reaction.

Jesus is incensed.

He quotes the scriptures.

My house will be called

a house of prayer

for all the nations.

And then he adds,

and you have made it

a den of robbers.

He's passionately distressed

at the commercialisation

of the house of God.

And even more so,

he is disturbing the club.

For the Jews,

the temple was the symbol

of their own cultural identity.

Jesus is picking up

on God's promise to Abraham

of all the nations

being blessed through him.

The temple was meant

to be a place of blessing

to the world

where all nations

could come to meet with God.

And they do not touch him

with a finger

when he does these things.

But they set their minds

on a course of action.

Verse 18, chapter 11.

The chief priests

and the teachers of the law

heard this,

and they began looking

for a way to kill him,

for they feared him.

Because the whole crowd

was amazed at his teaching.

And so the die is cast,

the scene is set

for a great contest

which is centred around

the person

and the authority

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who's in charge?

Who's calling the shots?

Where does real power lie?

In verse 27,

Mark tells us

that Jesus again

returned to Jerusalem

the next day.

He's walking

in the temple courts

and he's confronted

by the people

that he's been

teaching his disciples

will be the ones

who will reject him.

They are the ones

who the day before

determined amongst themselves

that they would find

a way to kill him.

The chief priests,

the teachers of the law,

the elders.

It is a very prestigious

gathering.

The groups taken together

were known as

the Sanhedrin

or the Jewish ruling council.

The chief priests

were the senior temple priests.

The teachers of the law

were the leading

Pharisee scholars.

They were the Bible teachers.

The elders

were the lay aristocrats,

prominent leaders

among the Jews.

And so Jesus

has stepped into

an open confrontation

with the senior

religious

and political leaders

from amongst

the Jewish people.

He has confronted

the establishment,

those in control,

and they are determined

to kill him.

And they do

what they didn't do

the day before.

They confront Jesus

in public.

And in verse 28,

they say,

by what authority

are you doing

these things?

Who gave you

the authority

to do this?

And it's a trap

because as soon

as he says

God's authority,

they will have

a basis

for accusing him

of submitting

to a different king

and then they would

be able to call

for his execution.

And Jesus knows

it's a trap

and Jesus turns

to them and says,

let me ask you

a question.

Verse 30,

John's baptism.

Was it from heaven

or from men?

Tell me.

He snookers them.

If you know the game,

they've caught

and they won't

answer him.

And their reasoning is,

look,

if we say he's from heaven,

Jesus will say,

well,

why didn't you believe him?

And they didn't dare

say he was from men

because they feared

the crowd

because all the people

believed that John

was a prophet of God.

The crowd would rise up

against them

if they said that.

And so they said,

we don't know.

And Jesus answered,

neither will I

answer you.

Calls them at their own game.

They were unwilling

to say.

They had an opinion.

They didn't believe

John and they didn't

accept his authority.

They don't believe

in Jesus

and they don't

accept his authority.

They haven't got

the guts to say it.

For all their religiosity,

they're unwilling

to believe.

They've made

a conscious decision

to reject

the authority

of Jesus.

They are religious

and they are

unbelievers.

Josh Short

comes at night.

He's one of our

young ministry interns.

His dad's a minister

in Vancouver

in Canada

and a few years ago

I heard Josh Short's

dad speak

to our ministers

here in Sydney

and he

and his congregation

including J.I. Packer

which I think

this is a badge

of honour

have been kicked

out of the Anglican

Church in Canada

only recently.

And for a number

of years

David Short

was persecuted

by his diocesan

bishop.

The bishop

had no confidence

in him

because he preached

the scriptures

as the word of God

and he called

people to live

in relationship

to Christ.

But the bishop

has walked away

from the scriptures.

He endorses

immoral relationships.

He ordains clergy

who are openly

and unashamedly

immoral.

His theological

college runs

courses in shamanism

and the tarot.

But the bishop

is a great

civic leader

who wears

the purple

and is probably

revered by many

in his community

because he has

a human touch.

Lives like

an unbeliever.

And appallingly

applies a teaching

that actively

leads people

away from Christ.

He does not

submit to the

authority of

the Lord Jesus

Christ.

It's not just

unbelieving bishops.

Unbelief comes

close to home.

When we reject

the authority

of Jesus

to rule our lives

when we say

no to him

when we sit

in church

hearing the words

of Jesus

without any

intention of

submitting to them

when we know

what the scriptures

say and we are

unwilling to

obey

we try to

create a bit

of space

to do

what we want

for a while

maybe try

a forbidden

relationship

hold back

on time

or money

that we

ought to

give to God

refuse

to forgive

the person

that we know

that we have

to because

Jesus has

forgiven us

you might be

a person

who has

heard the

call of

Jesus

many times

and you

might be

one of those

people

who really

don't need

convincing

that he is

real

you know

that he is

you've weighed

the evidence

maybe you

felt great

conviction

but you

have not

been willing

to count

the cost

and take

the risk

of submitting

to his

authority

you know

Jesus is

true

yet you

remain

unwilling

to trust

him

that is

an expression

of

unbelief

in chapter

12

Jesus

continues

to confront

his

questioners

he tells

a parable

which they

know

is against

them

Jesus

actually

takes an

old

testament

story

from

Isaiah

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

chapter

5

and he

updates

it

to explain

the current

conflict

in Isaiah

it's a

parable

of the

vineyard

this

vineyard

it's

loved

it's

tended

it's

fertilised

it's

protected

from

wild

animals

it's

watched

over

and it

never

produces

a decent

crop

of

anything

and in

Isaiah

5

the garden

is

Israel

and Judah

the people

of God

and the

gardener

is God

and he

looks for

righteousness

and justice

amongst his

people

and he

sees only

bloodshed

and hears

only cries

of distress

and in the

end God's

justice

will be to

destroy the

garden

that has

only produced

bloodshed

instead of

justice

and cries

of distress

instead of

righteousness

in

in Mark

in Mark 12

when Jesus

picks up

on this

story

and tells

it again

it's

similar

but

different

a whole

series

of people

are sent

by the

owner

of the

vineyard

to collect

the rent

and the

tenants

beat them

up

and they

shame

some

and they

kill

some

and they

reject

the

authority

of the

owner

of the

vineyard

by

rejecting

every

messenger

that he

sends

to them

and finally

the owner

sends the

son that

he loves

and he

says they'll

listen to

him

they'll

respect

him

and the

tenants

make a

greedy

grab

for

ownership

kill

the

son

claim

the

vineyard

as

their

own

and what

Jesus

has just

done

is give

an Old

Testament

history

lesson

the

people

of God

have

rejected

one

prophet

after

another

including

the very

last

one

John

the

Baptist

and now

they are

in the

process

of rejecting

not just

a prophet

but God's

dearly

loved

son

and if

the parable

ended

there it

would be

a tragic

story

it would

appear as

though evil

had triumphed

over good

injustice

over justice

but not

so

the owner

of the

vineyard

will have

the last

word

and you

see it

in verse

9

chapter 12

he will

come

and kill

those tenants

and give

the vineyard

to others

the rejected

son will

become the

keystone

that holds

the whole

show together

and the

leaders respond

to Jesus

parable

in verse

12

they looked

for a way

to arrest

him

because they

knew

that he

had spoken

this parable

against them

but they

were afraid

because of

the crowd

so they

left him

and they

went away

and so

in the

immediate

context

Jesus

is heading

to death

and apparent

defeat

yet the

parable

foreshadows

that his

death

will not

be the

end of

the matter

the owner

of the

vineyard

will come

and he

will destroy

those who

have rejected

his son

they reject

his authority

when they

reject his

son

and it's a

tough bottom

line

but the

judgment

of god

will come

and it

will be

fierce

against

those who

reject

his son

but his

judgment

will not

be whimsical

and harsh

it won't

be the

act of

an

unfair

despot

it will

be an

act of

justice

it will

be the

result of

the rejection

of his

authority

it will

come after

all the

warnings in

the world

it will

come to

men and

women who

continue to

reject the

much loved

son of god

sent into

our world

it will

come because

they reject

his authority

and so

right through

mark's

gospel

mark tells

one story

after another

establishing

jesus authority

as king

and the

passage this

morning is a

confrontation

with the

religious

establishment

the club

and i could

leave the

message there

and i could

say look

jesus is

king

he is

lord

in terms

of the

parable

of the

vineyard

he is

the very

last word

from god

there will

not be

another

one

he is

god's

much loved

son

and if

we do

not

listen

to him

there will

be no

other

but i want

to press

further

and say

that this

is much

more than

a power

struggle

the battle

is really

interesting

but what

is at stake

is priceless

the battle

between jesus

and the

religious

leaders

in the

end is

about

people's

souls

the king

has not

come to

big note

himself

and for

self

aggrandisement

he has

come on

the most

extraordinary

rescue

mission

he's god's

much loved

son who

comes as

a slave

to rescue

us

it just

demonstrates

to us

that god

loves us

god is

wonderfully

kind to

us

and his

heart is

to see

men and

women and

boys and

girls brought

into the

safety of

his kingdom

the club

the religious

establishment

had lost

the vision

for why

they were

there

they thought

that they

were upholding

god's purposes

they had

the temple

humming

and they

were making

a motza

and the

temple services

looked fantastic

and the

priests looked

magnificent

in all their

gear

the liturgy

was rich

the oldies

were happy

the young

loved to be

there

the music

was both

contemporary

and it was

ancient

and the club

was an exciting

place to be

and the

club

had moved

the killing

of its

founder and

owner to the

main item

on its

agenda

the main

item on our

agenda must be

the purposes of

god's king

the lord jesus

christ

he did not

come to be

served but to

serve and to

give his life

as a ransom

for many

and the

agenda for us

becomes to

proclaim the

glory of god's

king

i do not want

to put you on

a guilt trip

but i do want

to ask you in

the same way as

i ask myself

do you care

about the

lost

do you care

about the

outsider

i sat at the

rugby league at

brookvale oval last

night thinking

about people

it's really easy

to be judgmental

about the number

of cans of

twoies and

jim beam going

down all

around

and to

think about

people and

their relationships

and the

families without

wedding rings and

all the things that

you see and the

drunk man hugging

one woman after

another

that was last

night brookvale

oval and that

was me wrestling

with my feelings

or over the

fence my next

door neighbours

my buddhist

neighbours who

have only just

begun to talk

to in the

last couple

of months after

being there for

nearly two

years

without christ

they are lost

and christ

does want us

to proclaim

him

and i think

if i go next

door and try

to do that

with my taxi

driver neighbour

under the

bonnet of his

car i don't

think if i do

that cold it

will work

so i think

i want to

pray for

them

and i want

to pray for

opportunities to

get to know

them

and i want to

think about how

maybe i might

show some

kindness to

them

and i'm

wondering if

a plate of

chocolate chip

cookies cooked

by kerry

might be a way

of showing

appreciation for

the work that

they've just

done fixing

our boundary

fence

so i'm

wondering if

developing

relationship like

that would

lead to

opportunity down

the track to

share something

of what i

believe or

even to invite

them to

something special

that happens

here at church

and dream a

bit more

what if lots

of us were

living like

that some

of you are

but what if

lots of us

were

engaging our

friends and

our neighbours

with the love

of christ

we would

move beyond

being like a

club we

would be

impacting our

community we

would be

showing that

we treasure

the lord

jesus in our

concern for

the lost

jesus engaged

in a massive

power play

and he would

seem to lose

when he died

but his

death was

the ransom

price for

yours and

for my

sins and

they are

many

so i don't

think it

matters if

we are

older and

conservative

younger and

wanting radical

change

we must

not be a

club in

a new

generation

that has

lost its

vision for

saving souls

may god so

bless us

that saint

paul's might

be a church

with a

people whose

ministry

brings many

people to

safety in

christ

amen