Controversies, Part II

Good evening, church.

Let's turn in our Bibles to Mark 11, 27, which is page 848 in your pew Bibles.

We're going to read through to chapter 12, verse 12, as we'll be focusing most of our

time on that parable of the wicked farmers.

Page 848, Mark 11, verse 27.

Mark 11:27

Verse 27, and they came again to Jerusalem.

And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came

to him.

And they said to him, by what authority are you doing these things?

Or who gave you this authority to do them?

Jesus said to them, I will ask you one question.

Answer me.

And I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?

Answer me.

And they discussed it with one another, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, why then

did you not believe him?

But shall we say from man?

They were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet.

So they answered Jesus, we do not know.

And Jesus said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

And he began to speak to them in parables.

A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the wine press and built

a tower and leased it to tenants and went into another country.

When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit

of the vineyard.

And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty handed.

Again, he sent to them another servant.

And they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.

And he sent another and him they killed.

And so with many others, some they beat and some they killed.

He had still one other, a beloved son.

Finally, he sent him to them saying, they will respect my son.

But those tenants said to one another, this is the heir.

Come, let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours.

And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.

What will the owner of the vineyard do?

He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

Have you not read this scripture?

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.

And they were seeking to arrest him, but feared the people.

For they perceived that he had told the parable against them.

So they left him and went away.

The word of the Lord.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity we have this evening to gather and worship.

Father, we praise you this evening for your lordship, your sovereignty, and your authority.

As we marinate in your word this evening, continue to soften hearts and turn us to you in love, humility, and obedience.

Let us know and praise you truly as you reveal yourself in the scriptures.

Amen.

Amen.

In the name of your son and by the power of your Holy Spirit, I pray.

Amen.

Mom, I don't want to clean my room.

Dad, I don't want to mow the lawn.

That's a really annoying sound.

And any parent here probably recognizes it, though.

It is universally known as whining.

My parents tell me that for the first few years of my life, I was the perfect fat little baby.

Who just laid around and didn't want to move or make any noise.

But when I got older, I began to whine.

Whenever I was given orders that seemed unreasonable, unpleasant, or inconvenient, I did the thing that we as sinful human beings do.

Whine.

And do we understand what creates this impulse?

Do we understand the heart that produces such an annoying high-pitched sound?

It is a heart of rebellion.

It is a heart that wants authority for itself.

It is a heart that is confined to a body that is too weak to fight.

So it feebly struggles through whining.

But as we get older and feel like we have got a little more power,

that whining blossoms into full-fledged rebellion.

Rejection of authority.

It is this rejection that Christ is warning us against in this passage.

In the end of Mark 11, he faces a question from the religious authorities.

Verse 28.

By what authority are you doing these things?

Or who gave you this authority to do them?

Jesus has just been cleansing the temple and healing on the Sabbath and people are really thrown off by that.

And so Jesus doesn't directly answer this question.

Because he knows the heart behind it.

This is why he deflects to the question about John.

If the Pharisees are waffling on the identity of John the Baptist,

how will they deal with the Son of God?

If middle ground doesn't make sense with John,

it sure doesn't make sense with Jesus.

Jesus' response, as foreshadowing of Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men,

you can't handle the truth.

But, of course, Jesus actually does give them the truth,

though indirectly.

He does it through the parable of the tenants.

So we're going to see a few things.

What authority Christ has,

how we and the corrupt Jewish leaders approach that authority,

and how we should approach that authority.

Let's take a look at verse 1 of chapter 12.

Christ begins with the story of a man who plants a vineyard

and puts a fence around it

and digs a pit for the wine press

and builds a tower

and leases it to tenants

and goes to another country.

What Jesus is doing here is he's quoting Isaiah 5,

which begins almost exactly like this.

But in this case,

the tenants are the corrupt Jewish authorities

that he's speaking to.

And so the parable continues.

When the season came,

he sent a servant to the tenants

to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.

This is verse 2.

And they took him and beat him

and sent him away empty-handed.

Again he sent to them another servant,

and they struck him on the head

and treated him shamefully.

And he sent another,

and him they killed.

And so with many others,

some they beat and some they killed.

He had still one other,

a beloved son.

Finally he sent him to them,

saying,

They will respect my son.

But those tenants said to one another,

This is the heir.

Come let us kill him,

and the inheritance will be ours.

And they took him and killed him

and threw him out of the vineyard.

This is, at first glance,

the story of the Old Testament.

The Pharisees would have suspected that

from the beginning,

since Jesus is starting with a quote of Isaiah.

This is beginning with God's creation

and claim of his people.

It is God who plants the vineyard,

which we are told in Isaiah

is the people of Israel.

It is God who protects them

with the fence and the watchtower in the parable.

And through numerous historical events in Scripture,

whether it's the miracle of the crossing of the Red Sea,

or the Lord's many military victories.

But the bad news comes

in the tenants' response

to the Lord's provision.

They methodically, consistently,

and violently reject the Lord himself.

He sends servants,

specifically the prophets,

and they treat them horribly.

They chased Elijah.

They beat Jeremiah.

They sawed Isaiah in two.

They had John the Baptist beheaded.

Yet another recurring theme

that we see in Scripture.

God provides,

and yet we continually,

faithlessly reject him.

But then the sending of the Son.

The heir.

While the tenants should have seen this

as an extension of grace from the owner,

who could have given up

at any time along the way.

Instead, they seize this as an opportunity.

They think,

Oh, it's the Son.

We can take this guy out,

and the vineyard is ours.

So they kill him

and throw him out.

Friends, Jesus is on the offensive.

With this parable,

he utters his indictment.

In the last week of his life,

which is where we are

in the Gospel of Mark right now,

he faces those who will soon have him killed,

looks them in the face,

tells them what they're about to do to him,

and he tells them

what the result of their action will be.

What will the owner do?

He will come and destroy the tenants

and give the vineyard to others.

The result of rejection of the Son,

both for the corrupt Jewish leadership

and for us,

is destruction.

In fact, to make it even more explicit,

it is conscious eternal suffering.

The verdict ends

with an assertion of Christ's identity

as he quotes Psalm 118,

a well-known psalm about the Messiah,

verses 10 and 11 of chapter 12.

The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

This was the Lord's doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes.

Wait.

Marvelous in our eyes.

We've just been talking about destruction.

How is this marvelous?

Well, for the Pharisees,

it surely isn't.

But for us,

it's the greatest news of all.

Why?

Well, let's back this up

to the beginning.

Let's say the very beginning.

The first verse of this parable

is not just about God's calling of Israel.

It's about God's creation of you

and his provision for you.

The continuing stories of the tenant's

rejection of God's authority

and righteous desires

are the story of you and I

and our consistent rejection

of his authority.

It's the story of the time

when we're tempted by lust,

when the desire boils up

and the word comes in telling us

that everyone who lusts after a woman or man

has already committed adultery

with them in their heart,

but we ignore it

and push it out

and continue to dwell in our sin.

When we in pride

exalt ourselves over others

and the word comes in

reminding us that God says,

I will punish the world for its evil

and the wicked for their iniquity.

I will put an end

to the pomp of the arrogant

and lay low the pompous pride

of the ruthless.

But we push it out

and continue to dwell in our sin.

When we are consumed

with a desire for wealth,

for power,

for position,

for status

and the word comes in

reminding us

all that is in the world,

the desires of the flesh,

the desires of the eyes

and the pride of possessions

is not from the Father

but is from the world

and the world is passing away

along with its desires,

we ignore it.

Pushing it away,

thinking that we know best.

You see,

we are not innocent creatures.

We are rebels

against the sovereign authority

of the almighty God.

We want that authority

for ourselves.

We want to be gods

in our own lives.

And as a result of that,

we deserve the destruction

that the Pharisees are promised.

But this fate hinges

on how we treat

the authority of the Son,

the last hope.

The tenants thought,

this is our chance.

We take this guy out,

the vineyard's ours,

no more pesky owner

getting in the way

of my plans for my life.

Are we going to respond

the same way?

Or will we agree

with the psalm?

Will we see the authority

of Christ as marvelous?

Will we see the authority

of Christ as the authority

of God,

who disciplines us

not to break us down,

but so that we can bear

the peaceful fruit

of righteousness?

Instead of seeking

to exalt ourselves,

will we yield

to the authority

of our creator

as revealed in Christ?

This is the command

that Christ gives

in the beginning

of the Gospel of Mark

in chapter 1,

verse 15.

The time is fulfilled

and the kingdom of God

is at hand.

Repent

and believe

in the Gospel.

Repent.

Recognize that you are

a rebel.

Not just that you rebel,

but that you are

a rebel.

And that we are in need

of a full overhaul

of being.

A new birth.

And believe

in the good news

of the authority

of Christ.

That he deserves

that authority

as heir

and that he wields it

with wisdom,

strength,

and perfect love.

That instead of attempting

to take that authority

for ourselves,

a task that is guaranteed

to fail,

we seize the opportunity

to be co-heirs

with Christ

as fellow children

of God.

Believe that in his sacrifice

of his life,

he took the righteous

wrath of God

upon himself for you.

And that by faith

in him

and his substitutionary

death and glorious

resurrection,

you can be brought

back to life.

To live a life

that's pleasing to him

and worthy of him.

We're not just people

who occasionally rebel,

who just need to stop

rebelling and then

everything will be fine.

Our identity

apart from Christ

is marked

by our foolish rebellion.

The Greek word

for sin

means to miss

the mark.

But it's not that

we're firing an arrow

at a bullseye

and we just miss

by a few inches.

If the bullseye

is over there,

I'm firing my arrow

over here.

That's the foolishness

of our rebellion.

Through faith in Christ,

he turns us around,

gives us a new heart,

and a new desire for

and closeness

with himself.

But a huge part of that

is submission

to his authority.

So let's boil this

authority thing down.

We've got three

loci of authority

that this text

is telling us

to submit to.

The entire Gospel of Mark

is all about Jesus.

Who he is

and what that requires

of us.

Such a task revolves

around how we view

his authority.

Now the Pharisees

came to Jesus

with that question,

however insincere it was.

And Jesus' answer was,

well, if you're not

willing to take a stand

when it comes to

John the Baptist's authority,

you sure can't handle me.

So, I won't tell you plainly.

But I will tell you

in this parable.

So the first

and greatest authority

that we are to submit to

is the authority

of Christ.

Which is,

as he notes in verse 11,

the authority

of the Lord.

Instead of seeking

to save ourselves,

he tells us

to put ourselves

under his lordship.

He is our Lord

and our Savior.

In our thoughts,

in our words,

and in our actions.

And this isn't just

a lofty,

God's out there

and I've just got to

do what he says,

I can ignore the people

around me.

It is our submission

to his authority

that informs

and necessitates

our submission

to earthly authorities.

It's because Christ

is our Lord

that we submit

to our parents.

It's because Christ

is our Lord

that we submit

to our bosses.

It's because Christ

is our Lord

that we submit

to the police officer

who pulls us over

for driving 20,

15, 10, 5,

or 1 mile

past the speed limit.

Christ is to have

authority

over every aspect

of our life.

And he wields

that authority

completely,

lovingly,

and wondrously.

Now the second

tier of authority

is the word.

We view the scripture

as fully authoritative

and fully true

because of Christ.

This whole parable

is soaked

in scripture.

Isaiah 5,

Psalm 118,

callbacks to

2 Chronicles 36,

15 to 16,

which says this,

The Lord,

the God of their fathers,

sent persistently

to them

by his messengers

because he had

compassion on his people

and on his dwelling place.

But they kept

mocking the messengers

of God,

despising his words,

and scoffing

at his prophets

until the wrath

of the Lord

rose against his people

until there was

no remedy.

Christ is showing us

that God is truly

revealed in the scriptures

and we are to submit

to its view

of the world,

to its view of us,

and to its view

of God.

Lastly, however,

and this may be surprising

to some of you,

this authority

is applied

to the elders

of the church.

Let's take another look

at verses 9 and 10.

What will the owner

of the vineyard do?

He will come

and destroy the tenants

and give the vineyard

to others.

Have you not read

this scripture?

The stone

that the builders

rejected

has become

the cornerstone.

Who are these others

that the owner

is giving the vineyard to?

Immediately,

it's a reference

to the gospel

going out to Gentiles.

Ultimately,

it's the gospel

going out from the church.

In redemptive history,

Christ is signaling

that the call

that was initially

confined to Israel

was always meant

to extend beyond them

as well.

What does it mean

for Christ

to be the cornerstone?

Not only is he

the Jewish Messiah,

but Paul,

in Ephesians,

understands this

to be a reference

to the church.

When he says,

speaking to the Ephesians,

you are fellow citizens

with the saints

and members

of the household of God,

built on the foundation

of the apostles

and prophets,

Christ Jesus himself

being the cornerstone,

in whom the whole structure

being joined together

grows into a holy temple

in the Lord.

The church draws

from all nations.

And there are men

who have been called

to authority

in the church,

namely the elders.

Hebrews 13, 17.

Obey your leaders

and submit to them,

for they are keeping

watch over your souls

as those who will have

to give an account.

Let them do this

with joy

and not with groaning,

for that would be

of no advantage to you.

Let us also submit

with joy

and not with groaning.

First,

to the all-encompassing

authority of the Son.

also,

to the all-penetrating

authority of his word,

and then to the loving,

wise leadership

of the elders

in the church

of which he is

the cornerstone.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Heavenly Father,

we are sobered

by your word.

The plight of these tenants

who,

like us,

Lord,

have rejected

your word.

Lord,

I pray that you continue

to soften our hearts,

that you continue

to draw us

toward yourself,

that we seek you

in your word

and through prayer.

And Lord,

that when we fall,

that when we fall

into sin,

that we heed,

that we heed your warnings,

that we heed your instruction,

that we submit

to your authority.

Lord,

I pray that we,

I pray that we trust you,

knowing that you,

because you created us

and you gave us

our purpose,

Lord,

that you will,

that you will fulfill

that purpose.

Lord,

anyone here,

Lord,

who has not

taken you by faith,

I pray that you

soften their hearts

and draw them

towards yourself.

And for those of us,

Lord,

who have,

I pray that you

kindle our love for you

and our love

for one another.

I pray these things

in the name of your Son,

Jesus Christ,

and by the power

of your Holy Spirit.

Amen.