April 5, 2025 • 27 mins
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What happens when religious authorities challenge Jesus about His power to act? A fascinating confrontation unfolds in Mark 11-12 that reveals the heart of spiritual resistance and divine patience.
After making waves by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and cleansing the temple, Jesus faces the indignant temple management - chief priests, scribes and elders - who demand to know His credentials. "By what authority are you doing these things?" they challenge, their faces flushed with anger. It's more than a simple question - it's a trap designed to ensnare Jesus in claims of blasphemy.
Jesus responds masterfully, countering with a question about John the Baptist that exposes their spiritual dishonesty. Unable to answer without compromising themselves, they retreat to "We don't know" - revealing how entrenched positions often prevent spiritual growth.
Rather than abandoning these resistant leaders, Jesus shares the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers - a story about tenants who beat and kill the landowner's representatives and ultimately murder his beloved son to seize his inheritance. The religious leaders would have recognized the reference to Isaiah's vineyard metaphor for Israel, now adapted to confront their rejection of God's messengers and foreshadow their coming rejection of Jesus himself.
This episode unveils a profound spiritual principle: sometimes God keeps bringing us back to the same issue until we properly address it. Like Jonah who couldn't receive new direction until obeying God's original command, we often remain spiritually stalled because we haven't dealt with what God has already spoken to us.
Have you been resisting God's authority in some area of your life? Are you wanting His blessings without His leadership? Consider where you might need to surrender today and discover the paradoxical truth that in yielding to His authority, we find true freedom.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
All right, mark, chapter 11, that's where we'll
be.
Mark, chapter 11, oh, verse 27,.
Moving right along, mark 11,verse 27.
(00:34):
Well, in our account, jesusmaking the final descent to the
cross.
I don't know if that makessense, but that's what I got.
It's the Passover season, sovery similar time of year we're
talking spring and through hisactions, jesus has made very
(01:04):
distinct statements.
By riding into Jerusalem on theback of a donkey, distinct
statement by riding intoJerusalem on the back of a
donkey, he has come as thepromised Savior, the Messiah.
The next day, you'll remember,he goes into the temple and
cleans house.
A real ruckus there.
Jesus has overturned tables,money changers and doves, and
(01:24):
the people are intrigued, right,the religious leaders are
disturbed, the management isdisturbed.
Consider how our story beginstoday in verse 27.
Then they came again toJerusalem and as he was walking
(01:46):
in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders
came to him and they said to himby what authority are you doing
these things?
Who gave you this authority todo these things?
But Jesus answered and said tothem I will ask you one question
, then answer me and I will tellyou by what authority I do
(02:08):
these things.
Verse 30, the baptism of John.
Was it from heaven or from men?
Answer me.
And they reasoned amongthemselves, saying if we say
from heaven, he will say well,why didn't you believe him?
If we say from men, they fearthe people.
For they all counted John tohave been a prophet indeed.
So they answered and said toJesus we do not know.
(02:30):
Jesus answered and said to themneither will I tell you by what
authority I do these things.
So picture the religiousleaders, the management of the
temple, again coming to Jesusthat day.
I picture them with their facesa little flushed right With
anger.
Their voices may be shaking alittle bit.
(02:53):
And they come to him and theysay who gave you this authority?
What gives you the right toturn over our tables and to
clear out our money changers?
Who gave you this authority?
And his authority is questioned.
So authority is kind of the bigthing here today.
(03:13):
Authority is the word of theday.
I guess you could say the wordin the Greek is ex.
Yeah, it's a great word.
I can't say it, I'm not Greek,but it means a great word.
I can't say it, I'm not great,but it means power to act or
right to act.
The chief priests and thescribes and the elders were the
(03:36):
management.
You could see it.
Right, it was their job to keepthings going.
Now you might think that this isthe dreaded Pharisees.
Right, if you've been aroundchurch, you know the Pharisees.
They're the ones we all dread.
You know the Pharisees are evil.
These aren't the Pharisees.
These are the religious leaders.
(03:57):
These are the Sadducees.
It's important to kind of knowwhere they come from.
They were put there by Rome itwas like a political position
right by Rome to rule the templeand all the ceremonies.
They were good friends withRome because they thought, like
Romans, the Sadducees, you know,didn't believe in the afterlife
(04:20):
or spirits or angels.
You lived and you died and thatwas it right.
And you got to wonder, well,why, what's the point?
Right, but that's who theseguys were, the religious leaders
.
They were materialists, theywere into politics, they were
into big money and having thepower.
Right.
So they see Jesus coming here.
(04:43):
They've been given theauthority by Rome to take care
of the temple.
And here's Jesus takingauthority in the temple,
cleaning house.
John says this in John 5, 26.
The father gave the sonauthority to execute judgment.
(05:04):
The father gave the sonauthority to execute judgment
Matthew 7, 29,.
The people notice with Jesusthat he, unlike the scribes,
taught with authority, right?
So here we see authority cominginto this.
The management feels threatenedand so they come to Jesus with
(05:26):
their finger out saying what isthis authority all about?
Where do you get this authority?
So Jesus knows that this is alittle bit of a trap, right,
it's a trap.
They are trying to trap him inthis answer that, if he does say
the truth, my authority comesfrom the father.
(05:46):
Blasphemy, they would sayYou're blaspheming, you're
saying things you shouldn't besaying, and that was a capital
offense.
Realizing the trap, jesusanswers their question with
another question.
We read it, but he says there,john's ministry.
I'll ask you this question.
(06:09):
We read it, but he says there,john's ministry.
I'll ask you this questionVerse 30, the baptism of John.
Was it from heaven or from men?
John's ministry, was it fromGod or just from human ideas?
And this is a flashback forthem, right?
So the screen gets all wavy andthere's a flashback and they
remember John.
We remember John, john thebaptizer, right?
(06:33):
A very eccentric guy in oursense of things.
He wore camel hair garments, hehad a big old belt around his
waist.
The weirdest thing, of course,is what he ate Grasshoppers
covered in honey.
Why honey?
Because it makes thegrasshoppers easier to swallow.
(06:54):
But he was a real fire andbrimstone kind of preacher,
right, you remember him.
He would point at people, hepointed at the religious leaders
and he said who warned you?
You brood of vipers, you littlesnakes, who warned you to flee
(07:15):
from the wrath to come?
You need to repent, likeeverybody else.
You need to turn from your sinand turn to God.
And John didn't mince words,right, john told it like it was
repent, turn or burn.
Right Now, as they'reremembering this, they're
(07:36):
remembering how they respondedto John.
They didn't need to repent.
What did they need to repentfor?
They didn't need to admit theirsin and their need for God.
They were the righteous ones,right.
And so they rejected John.
But look at verse 31.
(07:56):
They realize they reason amongthemselves.
If we say that John's ministrywas from heaven, jesus will say
why didn't you believe him?
If you say it was from men,they feared the people.
So here they're reasoning itout.
(08:22):
If we say that John's ministrywas a godly ministry, he was a
prophet sent by God, they wouldget in trouble for rejecting him
.
But if they said it was man'sministry.
The people loved John and theywould have stoned him.
Luke actually says that theywere afraid they would get
stoned by the people, killed bythe people if they turned
against John.
So they're back in the same oldspot turned against John.
(08:48):
So they're back in the same oldspot.
Right, they're still left withthis idea of what do we do with
what John said?
And we see something here that'strue in life that sometimes God
tells us the same thing again.
We have to return to that samestory, us the same thing again.
We have to return to that samestory Repent, turn from your sin
(09:09):
.
And sometimes we think, well,why doesn't God tell me
something new?
Right, I don't hear new things.
People hear things all the time.
God told me that.
You know, I have a heart forthe people in Africa.
God told me.
God told me you know to do thisin my life.
And we go.
Well, why doesn't God tell menew things?
But sometimes, until we dealwith the old things that God's
(09:32):
been saying to us, there aren'tnew things.
Right, think about Jonah.
Right, jonah blows me away.
Right, you know that.
But Jonah is told at thebeginning of the book go to
Nineveh and Jonah says right, goto Tarshish.
Right.
And he goes the oppositedirection.
And and yet Jonah doesn't getany new information until he
(09:58):
turns and does what God told himto do in the first place.
In fact, after the fishswallows him, after three days
going up and down in the sea andall that goes along with it,
jonah says I'm sorry, god.
And the very first thing thatGod says in Jonah, chapter three
(10:19):
now go to Nineveh.
And so again you see this thingthat until we deal with the
thing that God's told us, wewon't hear anything new.
Think about it.
What has God told you in yourlife?
Maybe it's a certain sin thatyou've dealt with since you were
(10:43):
little and it's just so hard toturn from it because it's my
sin, it's what I want.
God might not tell you anythingnew.
Listen, god might not tell youanything new until you deal with
that thing that he's alreadytold you Again.
Maybe it's a relational thing.
He's already told you Again.
(11:04):
Maybe it's a relational thing.
Until we forgive or deal withit, come to the person.
We may not hear anything elseuntil we deal with that first
thing.
(11:26):
The point here is deal with thething that God's already told us
.
Think about that.
What has God already told you?
And have you dealt with it?
Deal with it.
So, back in our story, jesusbrings it back to John's baptism
and verse 33, they cop out,right, we can't say this, we
can't say that.
So we'll just say I don't knowNow.
They did know, but I don't knowNow.
(11:54):
Verse 33, jesus here saysneither then will I tell you
what authority I do these things.
But at that point I would thinkJesus would just drop it right.
What's the point of talking tothese guys?
They're not listening, theydon't care.
But notice chapter 12, nochapter break in the original
Chapter 12, then he began tospeak to them in parables.
(12:17):
Who's the them?
I would say it's probably thereligious leaders.
That was the last them we weretalking about, right.
So Jesus turns to the religiousleaders and speaks to the last
them we were talking about,right.
So Jesus turns to the religiousleaders and speaks to them in
parables.
Isn't it wonderful that Godnever gives up on us.
He never does.
We are so stubborn, but likeSaul, aka Paul, jesus says Saul,
(12:43):
it's hard for you to kickagainst the goats.
You're being real stubborn.
I'm poking you with this stick.
I'm not giving up, and Goddoesn't give up on us.
And here he turns to tellingparables.
He tells a rather pointed storyto them and stories, of course,
can be disarming.
We see our issue on someoneelse and here it's just another
(13:08):
tactic of God reaching out to us.
Let's read it, the parable Aman planted a vineyard and set a
hedge around it, dug a placefor the vine, the wine vat, and
built a tower, and he leased itto vine dressers who went to a
(13:31):
far country.
Now, at vintage time, he sent aservant to the vine dressers
that he might receive some ofthe fruit of the vineyard from
the vinedressers.
And they took him and beat himand sent him away empty-handed.
Again he sent another servantand him they threw stones,
(13:54):
wounded him in the head and senthim away, shamefully treated.
And again he sent another.
Him they killed and many others, beating some, killing some.
Therefore, still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him
(14:16):
to them last, saying they willrespect my son.
But those vinedressers saidamongst themselves this is the
heir, come, let us kill him andthe inheritance will be ours.
So they took him and killed himand cast him out of the
vineyard.
Therefore, what will the ownerof the vineyard do?
(14:39):
He will come and destroy thevine dressers and give the
vineyard to others.
So here the story is prettygraphic, right, it's about a guy
who owns a landowner who owns avineyard.
He rents it out to tenants.
When it's time to harvest, thetenants get to harvest it, but
(15:01):
they give a portion of it backto the landowner.
It's a business.
It's how you paid your rent.
Typical thing that happened inthose days with land and farming
and all these different things.
But here's the thing to knowthat these religious leaders
understanding the Bible wouldimmediately flash back to Isaiah
(15:23):
, chapter 5.
Isaiah, chapter 5.
If you can turn there, let'sturn there.
Isaiah, chapter 5, verse 1.
Isaiah 5, verse 1.
A lot of the same points but alittle different story here.
(15:45):
Isaiah 5, verse 1.
A lot of the same points but alittle different story here.
Isaiah 5, verse 1.
Now let me sing to mywell-beloved a song of my
beloved regarding his vineyard.
My well-beloved has a vineyardon a very fruitful hill.
(16:06):
He dug it up and cleared outits stones.
He planted it with the choicestvine.
He built a tower in its midst.
He also made a wine press in it.
So he expected to bring forthgood grapes, but it brought
forth wild grapes.
So here it's another vineyard.
A man plants a vineyard withgood stuff and gets wild grapes,
(16:34):
right.
So what's the big deal?
Wild grapes.
He's done everything he can toget the good stuff and he gets
wild grapes.
But wild grapes, they'redangerous, right.
Why are they dangerous?
Well, because they can bemistaken for poisonous plants.
Look a little bit like grapes,but these wild grapes things
(16:57):
like Virginia creeper you canlook it up or moon seed they
have little berries on them thatlook a little bit like grapes,
but you can eat that fruit andit can make you real sick.
It can even kill you, right.
So the point here is wildgrapes, dangerous things, not
(17:17):
what he was looking for.
This vineyard is not bringingforth good fruit.
But look look at verse three.
And now, o inhabitants ofJerusalem, men of Judah, judge,
please between me and myvineyard.
What more could I have done tomy vineyard that I have not done
(17:38):
in it?
Why, then, when I expected itto bring forth good grapes, did
it bring forth wild grapes?
And now, please, let me tellyou what I will do to this
vineyard.
I will take away its hedge andit shall be burned.
I will break down its wall andit shall be trampled down.
I will lay it waste.
It shall not be pruned or dugand there will come up briars
(18:02):
and thorns.
I will also command the cloudsthat they may they that they
rain.
No rain on it.
For verse 7 the vineyard of theLord of hosts is the house of
Israel and the men of Judah arehis pleasant plant.
I look for justice, but beholdoppression.
So here we see the key to thisstory.
(18:25):
The vineyard is the nation ofIsrael, the people of Judah
right, it's God's people.
And God here says look, I'vedone everything to help you grow
, but all I get is bad fruit.
I'm going to judge you.
And that's the picture here inIsaiah.
So check it out back in Mark,chapter 12.
(18:49):
When Jesus starts talking aboutvineyards and grapes, they would
have flashed back to Isaiah,chapter 5.
They would have flashed back toit and they would have known.
In fact, we're told that thesereligious leaders knew that he
(19:11):
was talking about them.
So what happens in Mark,chapter 12?
That's a little different, isit's these tenants, right?
These tenants come and they'renasty, they're wicked tenants.
I mean, you don't want to rentto people like this.
We rent property from time totime.
You don't want to rent topeople like this.
We rent property from time totime.
You don't want to rent topeople like this.
You send a representative tothem, knocking on the door and
they beat them up.
(19:31):
You send another representativeand they kill them here.
Finally, the landowner says Iknow, I'll send my beloved son,
they'll listen to him, but thestory just goes downhill.
These wicked tenants take thebeloved son, they drag him out
(19:56):
of the vineyard and they killhim for the sake of getting his
inheritance is what they think.
Now we know the picture here.
Jesus is talking about thesetenants, the religious leaders
who were supposed to take careof the vineyard.
What would they do?
They would reject the prophets,they would kill the prophets.
(20:17):
It was the way they did it.
It's the way they worked.
They would kill the son, theywould resist him and kill him.
And so here we see this goingdown in front of our eyes right,
they're resisting Jesus.
What authority do you have totell us what to do?
Who do you think?
You are the son, but theywouldn't have it.
(20:40):
They wouldn't have it.
And less than a week later,just days later, they would drag
him out of the city and theywould kill him.
Now this is their responseright A way to judgment.
Now Jesus makes it even clearer.
(21:01):
Look at verse 10.
He says he gives a cross tojudgment.
Now Jesus makes it even clearer.
Look at verse 10.
He says he gives a crossreference.
Here, have you not even readthe scripture?
The stone which the buildersrejected has become the chief
cornerstone.
This was the Lord's doing.
It was marvelous in our eyes.
So this is Psalm 118.
(21:23):
That's what we're quoting herein this passage Psalm 118.
Well, you know what?
Psalm 118 was a popular songthat week?
Because just a few days earlier, they quoted a different part
of Psalm 118, verse 25.
It says this save now.
(21:44):
The Hebrew word is Hosanna Ipray, o Lord, o Lord, I pray.
Send now prosperity.
Blessed is he who comes in thename of the Lord.
We have blessed you from thehouse of the Lord.
So check it out.
Psalm 118, popular song thatweek.
So check it out.
(22:12):
Psalm 118, popular song thatweek.
The people all sang it as Jesusrode into Jerusalem.
Save now, be our king, hasbecome the chief cornerstone,
the most important block to thefoundation of a building.
The cornerstone is rejected.
And here we see Jesus takingthis passage and using it to
(22:35):
predict this is exactly what Godsaid was gonna happen.
You would reject thecornerstone, you would reject me
.
There's no building ofsalvation without Jesus, right?
There's no body of the churchwithout the head, without Jesus.
(22:57):
And yet they didn't want him.
The religious leaders wantedthe kingdom, but they didn't
want him.
The religious leaders wantedthe kingdom, but they didn't
want Jesus.
And notice, there it says thisis the Lord's doing.
What's the Lord's doing?
We can get all theological.
Was the rejection the Lord'sdoing?
I don't think so.
(23:18):
But let's just say was therejection the Lord's doing?
Well, that rejection throwingthe son out of the vineyard,
killing him that's where we findsalvation.
It's kind of crazy, isn't it?
The low point of the story,jesus is crucified and beaten
and rejected.
That's where salvation comesfrom.
(23:40):
It was the plan of God allalong.
But perhaps it's the salvationitself that was the Lord's doing
that.
All we, like sheep, have goneastray, as Isaiah says in
chapter 53, and the Lord haslaid on him the iniquity of us
(24:00):
all.
So here's the story.
By nature, we all reject God'sauthority in our life.
We can think we got it, we'regood.
We're good people, but in ourown way we all reject God's
authority in our life.
But in that rejection, godoffers us salvation and
(24:22):
forgiveness, redemption, peaceand check it out an inheritance
the one thing that we werelooking for.
We'll kill him, we'll get theinheritance, we'll receive him.
We get the inheritance.
We become children, we're partof his kingdom.
(24:43):
And so it's a marvelous,amazing thing.
I love that passage there inverse 11.
It was marvelous in our eyeswhen you look at what God's done
for us, rebellious sinners whoreject God, who spend so much
time at war with God.
(25:04):
Yet he loves us and the belovedson comes, lays down his life
for us.
But we're always back to thisidea of authority.
Right, he's not just our savior, he really has to be our Lord.
Right, he has the authority andhe deserves the authority to
(25:26):
every part of our life.
What a great savior he is, whata great ruler he is to love us
like he does.
God, it's the same old story.
It seems that here we are inour lives.
It's totally rebellious to you,but even in our rebellion, our
(25:51):
God, you love us and you offerus life and everything.
Good, god, we're not good, butyou definitely are now.
We just thank you so much forthis, but we pray.
I ask that you would help us tonot just receive you as Savior,
(26:11):
but submit to you as our Lord,god, that we would just even lay
our life down.
God, we pray for those thingsthat are the same old things
that you've told us for yearsIssues of sin or pride.
We want to be our own master.
(26:33):
God, help us this week to comeback to that point and turn from
those things and turn to you,because you are just so good and
you're so worthy of all of ourlife.
In Jesus' name, amen.
All right, mark, chapter 11, that's where we'll
be.
Mark, chapter 11, oh, verse 27,.
Moving right along, mark 11,verse 27.
(00:34):
Well, in our account, jesusmaking the final descent to the
cross.
I don't know if that makessense, but that's what I got.
It's the Passover season, sovery similar time of year we're
talking spring and through hisactions, jesus has made very
(01:04):
distinct statements.
By riding into Jerusalem on theback of a donkey, distinct
statement by riding intoJerusalem on the back of a
donkey, he has come as thepromised Savior, the Messiah.
The next day, you'll remember,he goes into the temple and
cleans house.
A real ruckus there.
Jesus has overturned tables,money changers and doves, and
(01:24):
the people are intrigued, right,the religious leaders are
disturbed, the management isdisturbed.
Consider how our story beginstoday in verse 27.
Then they came again toJerusalem and as he was walking
(01:46):
in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders
came to him and they said to himby what authority are you doing
these things?
Who gave you this authority todo these things?
But Jesus answered and said tothem I will ask you one question
, then answer me and I will tellyou by what authority I do
(02:08):
these things.
Verse 30, the baptism of John.
Was it from heaven or from men?
Answer me.
And they reasoned amongthemselves, saying if we say
from heaven, he will say well,why didn't you believe him?
If we say from men, they fearthe people.
For they all counted John tohave been a prophet indeed.
So they answered and said toJesus we do not know.
(02:30):
Jesus answered and said to themneither will I tell you by what
authority I do these things.
So picture the religiousleaders, the management of the
temple, again coming to Jesusthat day.
I picture them with their facesa little flushed right With
anger.
Their voices may be shaking alittle bit.
(02:53):
And they come to him and theysay who gave you this authority?
What gives you the right toturn over our tables and to
clear out our money changers?
Who gave you this authority?
And his authority is questioned.
So authority is kind of the bigthing here today.
(03:13):
Authority is the word of theday.
I guess you could say the wordin the Greek is ex.
Yeah, it's a great word.
I can't say it, I'm not Greek,but it means a great word.
I can't say it, I'm not great,but it means power to act or
right to act.
The chief priests and thescribes and the elders were the
(03:36):
management.
You could see it.
Right, it was their job to keepthings going.
Now you might think that this isthe dreaded Pharisees.
Right, if you've been aroundchurch, you know the Pharisees.
They're the ones we all dread.
You know the Pharisees are evil.
These aren't the Pharisees.
These are the religious leaders.
(03:57):
These are the Sadducees.
It's important to kind of knowwhere they come from.
They were put there by Rome itwas like a political position
right by Rome to rule the templeand all the ceremonies.
They were good friends withRome because they thought, like
Romans, the Sadducees, you know,didn't believe in the afterlife
(04:20):
or spirits or angels.
You lived and you died and thatwas it right.
And you got to wonder, well,why, what's the point?
Right, but that's who theseguys were, the religious leaders
.
They were materialists, theywere into politics, they were
into big money and having thepower.
Right.
So they see Jesus coming here.
(04:43):
They've been given theauthority by Rome to take care
of the temple.
And here's Jesus takingauthority in the temple,
cleaning house.
John says this in John 5, 26.
The father gave the sonauthority to execute judgment.
(05:04):
The father gave the sonauthority to execute judgment
Matthew 7, 29,.
The people notice with Jesusthat he, unlike the scribes,
taught with authority, right?
So here we see authority cominginto this.
The management feels threatenedand so they come to Jesus with
(05:26):
their finger out saying what isthis authority all about?
Where do you get this authority?
So Jesus knows that this is alittle bit of a trap, right,
it's a trap.
They are trying to trap him inthis answer that, if he does say
the truth, my authority comesfrom the father.
(05:46):
Blasphemy, they would sayYou're blaspheming, you're
saying things you shouldn't besaying, and that was a capital
offense.
Realizing the trap, jesusanswers their question with
another question.
We read it, but he says there,john's ministry.
I'll ask you this question.
(06:09):
We read it, but he says there,john's ministry.
I'll ask you this questionVerse 30, the baptism of John.
Was it from heaven or from men?
John's ministry, was it fromGod or just from human ideas?
And this is a flashback forthem, right?
So the screen gets all wavy andthere's a flashback and they
remember John.
We remember John, john thebaptizer, right?
(06:33):
A very eccentric guy in oursense of things.
He wore camel hair garments, hehad a big old belt around his
waist.
The weirdest thing, of course,is what he ate Grasshoppers
covered in honey.
Why honey?
Because it makes thegrasshoppers easier to swallow.
(06:54):
But he was a real fire andbrimstone kind of preacher,
right, you remember him.
He would point at people, hepointed at the religious leaders
and he said who warned you?
You brood of vipers, you littlesnakes, who warned you to flee
(07:15):
from the wrath to come?
You need to repent, likeeverybody else.
You need to turn from your sinand turn to God.
And John didn't mince words,right, john told it like it was
repent, turn or burn.
Right Now, as they'reremembering this, they're
(07:36):
remembering how they respondedto John.
They didn't need to repent.
What did they need to repentfor?
They didn't need to admit theirsin and their need for God.
They were the righteous ones,right.
And so they rejected John.
But look at verse 31.
(07:56):
They realize they reason amongthemselves.
If we say that John's ministrywas from heaven, jesus will say
why didn't you believe him?
If you say it was from men,they feared the people.
So here they're reasoning itout.
(08:22):
If we say that John's ministrywas a godly ministry, he was a
prophet sent by God, they wouldget in trouble for rejecting him
.
But if they said it was man'sministry.
The people loved John and theywould have stoned him.
Luke actually says that theywere afraid they would get
stoned by the people, killed bythe people if they turned
against John.
So they're back in the same oldspot turned against John.
(08:48):
So they're back in the same oldspot.
Right, they're still left withthis idea of what do we do with
what John said?
And we see something here that'strue in life that sometimes God
tells us the same thing again.
We have to return to that samestory, us the same thing again.
We have to return to that samestory Repent, turn from your sin
(09:09):
.
And sometimes we think, well,why doesn't God tell me
something new?
Right, I don't hear new things.
People hear things all the time.
God told me that.
You know, I have a heart forthe people in Africa.
God told me.
God told me you know to do thisin my life.
And we go.
Well, why doesn't God tell menew things?
But sometimes, until we dealwith the old things that God's
(09:32):
been saying to us, there aren'tnew things.
Right, think about Jonah.
Right, jonah blows me away.
Right, you know that.
But Jonah is told at thebeginning of the book go to
Nineveh and Jonah says right, goto Tarshish.
Right.
And he goes the oppositedirection.
And and yet Jonah doesn't getany new information until he
(09:58):
turns and does what God told himto do in the first place.
In fact, after the fishswallows him, after three days
going up and down in the sea andall that goes along with it,
jonah says I'm sorry, god.
And the very first thing thatGod says in Jonah, chapter three
(10:19):
now go to Nineveh.
And so again you see this thingthat until we deal with the
thing that God's told us, wewon't hear anything new.
Think about it.
What has God told you in yourlife?
Maybe it's a certain sin thatyou've dealt with since you were
(10:43):
little and it's just so hard toturn from it because it's my
sin, it's what I want.
God might not tell you anythingnew.
Listen, god might not tell youanything new until you deal with
that thing that he's alreadytold you Again.
Maybe it's a relational thing.
He's already told you Again.
(11:04):
Maybe it's a relational thing.
Until we forgive or deal withit, come to the person.
We may not hear anything elseuntil we deal with that first
thing.
(11:26):
The point here is deal with thething that God's already told us
.
Think about that.
What has God already told you?
And have you dealt with it?
Deal with it.
So, back in our story, jesusbrings it back to John's baptism
and verse 33, they cop out,right, we can't say this, we
can't say that.
So we'll just say I don't knowNow.
They did know, but I don't knowNow.
(11:54):
Verse 33, jesus here saysneither then will I tell you
what authority I do these things.
But at that point I would thinkJesus would just drop it right.
What's the point of talking tothese guys?
They're not listening, theydon't care.
But notice chapter 12, nochapter break in the original
Chapter 12, then he began tospeak to them in parables.
(12:17):
Who's the them?
I would say it's probably thereligious leaders.
That was the last them we weretalking about, right.
So Jesus turns to the religiousleaders and speaks to the last
them we were talking about,right.
So Jesus turns to the religiousleaders and speaks to them in
parables.
Isn't it wonderful that Godnever gives up on us.
He never does.
We are so stubborn, but likeSaul, aka Paul, jesus says Saul,
(12:43):
it's hard for you to kickagainst the goats.
You're being real stubborn.
I'm poking you with this stick.
I'm not giving up, and Goddoesn't give up on us.
And here he turns to tellingparables.
He tells a rather pointed storyto them and stories, of course,
can be disarming.
We see our issue on someoneelse and here it's just another
(13:08):
tactic of God reaching out to us.
Let's read it, the parable Aman planted a vineyard and set a
hedge around it, dug a placefor the vine, the wine vat, and
built a tower, and he leased itto vine dressers who went to a
(13:31):
far country.
Now, at vintage time, he sent aservant to the vine dressers
that he might receive some ofthe fruit of the vineyard from
the vinedressers.
And they took him and beat himand sent him away empty-handed.
Again he sent another servantand him they threw stones,
(13:54):
wounded him in the head and senthim away, shamefully treated.
And again he sent another.
Him they killed and many others, beating some, killing some.
Therefore, still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him
(14:16):
to them last, saying they willrespect my son.
But those vinedressers saidamongst themselves this is the
heir, come, let us kill him andthe inheritance will be ours.
So they took him and killed himand cast him out of the
vineyard.
Therefore, what will the ownerof the vineyard do?
(14:39):
He will come and destroy thevine dressers and give the
vineyard to others.
So here the story is prettygraphic, right, it's about a guy
who owns a landowner who owns avineyard.
He rents it out to tenants.
When it's time to harvest, thetenants get to harvest it, but
(15:01):
they give a portion of it backto the landowner.
It's a business.
It's how you paid your rent.
Typical thing that happened inthose days with land and farming
and all these different things.
But here's the thing to knowthat these religious leaders
understanding the Bible wouldimmediately flash back to Isaiah
(15:23):
, chapter 5.
Isaiah, chapter 5.
If you can turn there, let'sturn there.
Isaiah, chapter 5, verse 1.
Isaiah 5, verse 1.
A lot of the same points but alittle different story here.
(15:45):
Isaiah 5, verse 1.
A lot of the same points but alittle different story here.
Isaiah 5, verse 1.
Now let me sing to mywell-beloved a song of my
beloved regarding his vineyard.
My well-beloved has a vineyardon a very fruitful hill.
(16:06):
He dug it up and cleared outits stones.
He planted it with the choicestvine.
He built a tower in its midst.
He also made a wine press in it.
So he expected to bring forthgood grapes, but it brought
forth wild grapes.
So here it's another vineyard.
A man plants a vineyard withgood stuff and gets wild grapes,
(16:34):
right.
So what's the big deal?
Wild grapes.
He's done everything he can toget the good stuff and he gets
wild grapes.
But wild grapes, they'redangerous, right.
Why are they dangerous?
Well, because they can bemistaken for poisonous plants.
Look a little bit like grapes,but these wild grapes things
(16:57):
like Virginia creeper you canlook it up or moon seed they
have little berries on them thatlook a little bit like grapes,
but you can eat that fruit andit can make you real sick.
It can even kill you, right.
So the point here is wildgrapes, dangerous things, not
(17:17):
what he was looking for.
This vineyard is not bringingforth good fruit.
But look look at verse three.
And now, o inhabitants ofJerusalem, men of Judah, judge,
please between me and myvineyard.
What more could I have done tomy vineyard that I have not done
(17:38):
in it?
Why, then, when I expected itto bring forth good grapes, did
it bring forth wild grapes?
And now, please, let me tellyou what I will do to this
vineyard.
I will take away its hedge andit shall be burned.
I will break down its wall andit shall be trampled down.
I will lay it waste.
It shall not be pruned or dugand there will come up briars
(18:02):
and thorns.
I will also command the cloudsthat they may they that they
rain.
No rain on it.
For verse 7 the vineyard of theLord of hosts is the house of
Israel and the men of Judah arehis pleasant plant.
I look for justice, but beholdoppression.
So here we see the key to thisstory.
(18:25):
The vineyard is the nation ofIsrael, the people of Judah
right, it's God's people.
And God here says look, I'vedone everything to help you grow
, but all I get is bad fruit.
I'm going to judge you.
And that's the picture here inIsaiah.
So check it out back in Mark,chapter 12.
(18:49):
When Jesus starts talking aboutvineyards and grapes, they would
have flashed back to Isaiah,chapter 5.
They would have flashed back toit and they would have known.
In fact, we're told that thesereligious leaders knew that he
(19:11):
was talking about them.
So what happens in Mark,chapter 12?
That's a little different, isit's these tenants, right?
These tenants come and they'renasty, they're wicked tenants.
I mean, you don't want to rentto people like this.
We rent property from time totime.
You don't want to rent topeople like this.
We rent property from time totime.
You don't want to rent topeople like this.
You send a representative tothem, knocking on the door and
they beat them up.
(19:31):
You send another representativeand they kill them here.
Finally, the landowner says Iknow, I'll send my beloved son,
they'll listen to him, but thestory just goes downhill.
These wicked tenants take thebeloved son, they drag him out
(19:56):
of the vineyard and they killhim for the sake of getting his
inheritance is what they think.
Now we know the picture here.
Jesus is talking about thesetenants, the religious leaders
who were supposed to take careof the vineyard.
What would they do?
They would reject the prophets,they would kill the prophets.
(20:17):
It was the way they did it.
It's the way they worked.
They would kill the son, theywould resist him and kill him.
And so here we see this goingdown in front of our eyes right,
they're resisting Jesus.
What authority do you have totell us what to do?
Who do you think?
You are the son, but theywouldn't have it.
(20:40):
They wouldn't have it.
And less than a week later,just days later, they would drag
him out of the city and theywould kill him.
Now this is their responseright A way to judgment.
Now Jesus makes it even clearer.
(21:01):
Look at verse 10.
He says he gives a cross tojudgment.
Now Jesus makes it even clearer.
Look at verse 10.
He says he gives a crossreference.
Here, have you not even readthe scripture?
The stone which the buildersrejected has become the chief
cornerstone.
This was the Lord's doing.
It was marvelous in our eyes.
So this is Psalm 118.
(21:23):
That's what we're quoting herein this passage Psalm 118.
Well, you know what?
Psalm 118 was a popular songthat week?
Because just a few days earlier, they quoted a different part
of Psalm 118, verse 25.
It says this save now.
(21:44):
The Hebrew word is Hosanna Ipray, o Lord, o Lord, I pray.
Send now prosperity.
Blessed is he who comes in thename of the Lord.
We have blessed you from thehouse of the Lord.
So check it out.
Psalm 118, popular song thatweek.
So check it out.
(22:12):
Psalm 118, popular song thatweek.
The people all sang it as Jesusrode into Jerusalem.
Save now, be our king, hasbecome the chief cornerstone,
the most important block to thefoundation of a building.
The cornerstone is rejected.
And here we see Jesus takingthis passage and using it to
(22:35):
predict this is exactly what Godsaid was gonna happen.
You would reject thecornerstone, you would reject me
.
There's no building ofsalvation without Jesus, right?
There's no body of the churchwithout the head, without Jesus.
(22:57):
And yet they didn't want him.
The religious leaders wantedthe kingdom, but they didn't
want him.
The religious leaders wantedthe kingdom, but they didn't
want Jesus.
And notice, there it says thisis the Lord's doing.
What's the Lord's doing?
We can get all theological.
Was the rejection the Lord'sdoing?
I don't think so.
(23:18):
But let's just say was therejection the Lord's doing?
Well, that rejection throwingthe son out of the vineyard,
killing him that's where we findsalvation.
It's kind of crazy, isn't it?
The low point of the story,jesus is crucified and beaten
and rejected.
That's where salvation comesfrom.
(23:40):
It was the plan of God allalong.
But perhaps it's the salvationitself that was the Lord's doing
that.
All we, like sheep, have goneastray, as Isaiah says in
chapter 53, and the Lord haslaid on him the iniquity of us
(24:00):
all.
So here's the story.
By nature, we all reject God'sauthority in our life.
We can think we got it, we'regood.
We're good people, but in ourown way we all reject God's
authority in our life.
But in that rejection, godoffers us salvation and
(24:22):
forgiveness, redemption, peaceand check it out an inheritance
the one thing that we werelooking for.
We'll kill him, we'll get theinheritance, we'll receive him.
We get the inheritance.
We become children, we're partof his kingdom.
(24:43):
And so it's a marvelous,amazing thing.
I love that passage there inverse 11.
It was marvelous in our eyeswhen you look at what God's done
for us, rebellious sinners whoreject God, who spend so much
time at war with God.
(25:04):
Yet he loves us and the belovedson comes, lays down his life
for us.
But we're always back to thisidea of authority.
Right, he's not just our savior, he really has to be our Lord.
Right, he has the authority andhe deserves the authority to
(25:26):
every part of our life.
What a great savior he is, whata great ruler he is to love us
like he does.
God, it's the same old story.
It seems that here we are inour lives.
It's totally rebellious to you,but even in our rebellion, our
(25:51):
God, you love us and you offerus life and everything.
Good, god, we're not good, butyou definitely are now.
We just thank you so much forthis, but we pray.
I ask that you would help us tonot just receive you as Savior,
(26:11):
but submit to you as our Lord,god, that we would just even lay
our life down.
God, we pray for those thingsthat are the same old things
that you've told us for yearsIssues of sin or pride.
We want to be our own master.
(26:33):
God, help us this week to comeback to that point and turn from
those things and turn to you,because you are just so good and
you're so worthy of all of ourlife.
In Jesus' name, amen.
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