And we'll begin reading at verse 27. We'll go on to the end of the chapter today. Mark chapter 11, beginning of verse 27, and they come again to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, and saying to him, by what authority doest thou these things? Who gave thee this authority to do these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question. and answer me and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men? Answer me. They reasoned with themselves saying, if we shall say from heaven, he will say, why then did you not believe him? But if we shall say of men, they feared the people, for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. They answered and said unto Jesus, we cannot tell. Jesus answering, saith unto them, neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. As we enter into this text, of course, we're continuing this series in the Gospel of Mark. But if you've been around the same preachers that I have, you know that this is a familiar passage. As I was studying it, I realized that I don't know if I've ever heard this text preached in its actual context. Maybe you have, but I have not. Each time I've heard it, I've heard it all about John's baptism. Now, don't get me wrong, John's baptism is important. And I don't want to discount that. But what I want to do and what I've desired to do in this series is to preach the word in its context as we've gone through these books. And here in this passage, the primary context is not the baptism of John. When the subject of John's baptism comes up, we can expect for this text to come up, but the bulk of our preaching really needs to be text-driven and not subject-driven. This is the way that the Bible was written. And so with that in mind, as we go through this, I'm hoping to connect some dots, bring out the context of this. And the title of my sermon today is Jesus's Authority Questioned, or the questioning of Jesus's authority. This is what this text is about. Verse 27, and they come again to Jerusalem, And as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests and the scribes and the elders." As you allude there at your Bibles, maybe your Bible, the publisher there maybe has a little paragraph mark or some indication. This is a new paragraph that we've got going on here. And so Mark, as he's writing, he says, and they continued, or they came again, they come again to Jerusalem. they come again to Jerusalem. So right away, as we enter into this text this morning, your mind ought to be thinking, well, what happened the last time they were there? Whether you were familiar with the rest of Mark chapter 11 or not, your mind ought to think, well, hold on, we've jumped here at this place in this sermon, what happened before? You see, the Bible was not written for us to jump in in the middle of a story. We don't read books that way. We certainly ought not to read the Bible that way. Obviously, when we're preaching, we don't have the time to go through and build everything up, but we ought to at least try to bring out the context. And so, verse 27 takes us back up to verse 15. and they come to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the temple and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves and would not suffer than any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And he taught, saying unto them, "'Is it not written, my house shall be called "'of all nations the house of prayer, "'for ye have made it a den of thieves? "'The scribes and chief priests heard it "'and sought how they might destroy him, "'for they feared him, because all the people "'was astonished at his doctrine. "'When even was come, he went out of the city.'" And so, in this text, We're reminded, oh yeah, we go back up, verse 15, and on down to verse 19. This is all about when he was there before. Verse 27 connects you back up to that. And the chief priests weren't very happy with how Jesus conducted himself when he went into the temple. He overthrew the money changers, the tables and the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves. And in fact, in the end of that, in verse 18, it says, and the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him because they feared him. And so now we start to draw this connection. So we get to verse 27. and he came to pass, or he came, sorry, and they come again to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. So there's some of these same people that meet him when he comes back. They weren't there as a welcoming committee. They weren't there because they were excited to see him. They weren't there because they missed him. They had been working on a way in which to destroy him. This was their plan. They were upset at what happened when he was there before. And rather than thinking, hey, maybe this Jesus is from God. Maybe we should listen to him. Maybe there's a reason why all the people are astonished at his doctrine. Maybe there's a reason why he does come with all authority. Instead of thinking of all that, they were upset, they were jealous, they were mad, they were angry. and they sought a way to destroy him. And so when he comes back, when he shows up, they're there to meet him. These are things that we miss if we jump into the text and say, well, let's talk about John's baptism. The Bible isn't a book of topics for us to pick and choose what we want to preach. It's not an encyclopedia. It's not something for us to take a verse here or there to make a clever argument when we need it. It's meant for us to read and understand in context. And in this context, it's everything to do with Jesus. Genesis to Revelation. Read it that way, lest you miss the most important part. And so these guys, they're there. You've got Jesus and his disciples, and then you've got the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. Well, we're familiar with Jesus and the disciples, but who are the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders? Well, this group, this group is very important. Now, not as important to us as Jesus and the disciples, But still important because guess who they were? The chief priests, the scribes, the elders. These fellows would have made up the Sanhedrin. So, I don't know nothing about the Sanhedrin. We're Americans. You know, preach to us American stuff. We want to hear about the Democrats and the Republicans. I came with the Word of God, and so we're gonna hear about the Word of God today. What was the Sanhedrin? Well, the Sanhedrin was kind of like our Supreme Court. Bring it down to something that we can understand in our country, it was similar to the Supreme Court of Israel. Now, it consisted of 71 members. presided over by the high priest. They met daily in the temple to hold court, except of course on the Sabbath day and on other holy days. It's doubtful that the entire 71 of them met Jesus there, but this was a sampling of them. They came to. try and destroy Jesus. Now, let me connect something else. As we are here in Mark chapter 11, understand this is not in a vacuum. This is just a few days, perhaps just three days, before Jesus will eventually stand before the Sanhedrin. in a trial that'll lead to his crucifixion. Don't read your Bibles and think this verse, that verse, this chapter, that chapter, all this happens in a vacuum because it doesn't. All of this is going somewhere. Mark is writing this as he writes under inspiration of spirit, taking us to a point. And that point is Mark 14. With these fellows in Mark 14 in verse 53, starting there, They led Jesus away to the high priest, and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. Peter followed him afar off, even into the palace of the high priest. He sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire. And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death, found none. And so these fellows that are here in Mark chapter 11, that are meeting him at the temple, these are a lot of the same people that are going to be at that trial a little bit later. Their whole purpose. is to try to destroy him, which we read about earlier in chapter 11. You see, all this is connected. It's important to read your Bibles. It's important to read your Bible daily, but as you do, Try to keep things like this in mind, to connect these things together, to get that understanding. And if you don't get it the first time, you go back and you read it the second time, the third time, the fourth time. Guess what? There's some passages I've read multiple times and I go back and read it. I never noticed that before. But all of this book, it doesn't ever get old. It just deepens as time goes on. And so back into our text there in Mark chapter 11. Jesus came there with the disciples. He was walking the temple, and there come to him the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. They say to him, by what authority dost thou these things? Who gave thee this authority to do these things? What things are they talking about? In the context here, if we just took this paragraph, all he's doing is walking in the temple. But again, we have to read back before. He's talking about connecting us all together. He's talking about What authority do you have in cleansing the temple? What authority do you have, even going back a little bit further, to his triumphal entry, which distinctly showed him to be the Messiah? You see, they're looking at all this, and they're questioning all of these things. Now, lest we be too hard on them, let us understand something. It is not too far-fetched for me to think that if I lived in that time period, and you can put yourself there too, that you might very well, rather than have been one of the disciples walking with Jesus, that you might very well have been one of the scribes. You might very well have been one of these Jews there one of the elders, one of the chief priests, who's looking at Jesus saying, by what authority dost thou do these things? Who gave you the authority to do these things? Because deep down, we all have our own desire to hold on to the traditions of our fathers. We have our own skepticism of things that are different. And there's a high probability that we would not be on the side of standing with Jesus from the very beginning. But we weren't there. And I thank God that we weren't. I thank God that I'm able to sit here and read this. And I thank God for his grace that I stand here in this pulpit and I'm able to read this and study this and look at it from the perspective of where we're at today. But I do think about this. but by the grace of God. Were it not for the grace of God, you and I would be on that side that was skeptical. Indeed, on that side that would take him all the way to that mock trial, all the way to the crucifixion. But thank God, Jesus was willing to go all through all of this. He knew what was coming. He was willing to do all this for you and for me. To endure all of this. As they asked that question, He knew what was up. They were seeking to destroy him. Verse 29 and 30, Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question and answer me and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, Was it from heaven or of men? Answer me. Jesus did not answer them directly. These people, they knew. As John MacArthur pointed out, they knew that he had not gone to any school. He had not gone through any ordination process. They wanted him to say, my authority comes directly from God. Had he said that, had he said that that day. You see, this is from a human standpoint, what's happening here in Mark chapter 11 is a pivotal point in the coming trial of Jesus. Had he said that, they would have spinned that as the final straw in his blasphemy. But he was too wise for that. He wasn't gonna fall into their trap. And so we go from the confrontation to the counter. John Brotis said, had he avowed himself Messiah, they would doubtlessly have called it blasphemy worthy of death as the same men did three days later. So our Lord simply by his question suggests the real trouble. They were not willing to be convinced of his divine mission since they would not believe the testimony borne to him by the forerunner. It's a very simple question. The baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men? What do we know about it? Well, in John chapter one, John chapter one and verse six, There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. John was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. He came to prepare the way. Indeed, verse 15, John, bear witness of him and cried saying, this was he of whom I spake. He that cometh after me is preferred before me for he was before me. He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. He was sent from God. Over in Mark chapter 1, Mark chapter 1, beginning of verse 9, It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, was baptized of John in Jordan, straightway coming up out of the water. He saw the heavens open and spirit like a dove descending upon him. There came a voice from heaven saying, thou art my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Where did John's baptism come from? Well, it came from God. And in this, Jesus submitted to that baptism. The Spirit of God came upon him, descending like a dove upon him. And the Father spoke from heaven, saying this, thou art my beloved Son in whom I'm uplinked. This is Trinitarian. stamp of approval upon John's baptism. Was it of God or of man? Very straightforward question. Mark chapter 11. It's a straightforward question and one in which even today many have trouble answering. But Jesus doesn't leave it optional to these fellows. He says, the baptism of John, was it from heaven or of men? Answer me. Verses 31 and 32, we see these men of the Sanhedrin were in a dilemma. They reasoned with themselves, saying, if we shall say from heaven, he will say, why then did you not believe him? But if we say of men, they feared the people, for all men counted John that he was a prophet indeed. They were in a bind. and we see them drawing a parallel between the two potential responses. The chief priests, scribes, and elders were weighing two equally unfavorable options among themselves, were unable to choose between them. And their problem wasn't the truth. Their problem was The fact that they wanted to be right, that was their main concern, was being right rather than what's right. And they feared men. They feared the response of Jesus. They feared the response of the crowd. Proverbs chapter 29, verse 25 says this, the fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. The fear of man brings a snare. There was trouble there because they feared more of what would happen if they answered this way or that way. They should have just settled on the truth. This is the brilliance of our Lord. He knew and they knew. Simple factor, you can't take John without Jesus, and you can't throw away Jesus without throwing away John. And so this whole thing is a big quandary for them. These fellows are in the hot seat. They had come hoping to destroy Jesus, but the tables have turned. And so in Mark 11 in verse 33, And they answered and said, unto Jesus we cannot tell. Jesus answering, saith unto them, neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. Kind of interesting the way that the the way that the wording is there, they answered and said to Jesus, we cannot tell. This is actually a translation that comes from William Tyndale. So it predates our King James, it predates the Geneva, it goes way back. We cannot tell. It can also be translated, we don't know, or we know not. In fact, that's the way it's translated in a lot of other versions of the Bible. including the New King James, Legacy Standard, and a couple others that I looked at. Seems to be a better reflection of the Greek, and I believe what they were saying here. We don't know. And then Jesus answering says, neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. What you've got is two different sides. Their answer indeed was a refusal to tell. But what it seems like they said is, we don't know. They were a dishonest group. Jesus said, well, I'm not going to tell you. By what authority I do these things? They had set the trap. They were trying to discredit him, to destroy him, but he knew their heart. Now, this whole question was about authority. By what authority are you doing this? But he was under no obligation to answer them. His authority had come from heaven. John's authority had come from heaven. And by his refusal to answer them, he gave them their answer. Think of this, even as John had preached and baptized without the Sanhedrin, without the Jewish authorities, so was Jesus free to do what he did without them as well. They asked the question, but he didn't answer to them. He answered. to God, you see, to himself. Is there any application to us in all of this? I believe there is. I believe there is some application here. Jesus had come to do his Father's will. He had heaven's authority. The father gave authority to the son, the son gives authority to us. And there may be times when people will question your authority, my authority, this church's authority. Indeed, the world hates us just as much as it hated him. not Jesus. We have to remember that. But when we stand on His Word, we say, thus saith the Lord. We stand with His authority. Look with me, if you will, to Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter two, verse 15. These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise them. We have authority. And his authority, our Lord's authority, surpassed all other authority, whether real or imagined. We stand on that same authority. Past, present, or future, governments, kingdoms, whatever they may be, You know, I think about four years ago when they tried to close down churches in this country, in Canada and places like that, churches stayed open. Why? Because we answered to a higher authority. Even at this very hour, there are churches meeting in places like China. and Muslim countries and things like that where it's against the law. I mentioned folks that are smuggling Bibles into countries. Why? Because we answer to a higher authority. We have authority that the world, they don't have, and they can't squash whether people want to hear it or not, the greatest thing that they can hear is the truth of God's word. The best thing that can happen is for God's people, the Lord's churches, to stand like our Lord did that day when he stood in the face of opposition to those who came into the, when he came into the temple and they questioned him and he refused to fall into their trap. May God help us to have that kind of boldness and to take that kind of a stand in a world that is hostile to the things of God. May God help us to be faithful until that time comes that he calls us home to be with him. Let's go ahead and stand to be dismissed.