Mark
11:27-33
Religious
Leaders Challenge Jesus'
Authority
11:27
They arrived again in Jerusalem,
and while Jesus was walking in
the temple courts, the chief
priests, the teachers of the law
and the elders came to him.
-
- 28
"By what authority are you
doing these things?" they
asked. "And who gave you
authority to do this?"
-
- 29
Jesus replied, "I will ask you
one question. Answer me, and I
will tell you by what
authority I am doing these
things.
-
- 30
John's baptism—was it
from heaven, or from men? Tell
me!"
-
31
They discussed it among
themselves and said, "If we
say, 'From heaven,' he will
ask, 'Then why didn't you
believe him?'
-
- 32
But if we say, 'From men'...."
(They feared the people, for
everyone held that John really
was a prophet.)
-
33
So they answered Jesus, "We
don't know."
-
Jesus
said, "Neither will I tell you by
what authority I am doing these
things."
-
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It
is meant to change the way
that we think, and the way
that we live.
Commentary
by Bob
Pardue
Christ
is challenged by religious
leaders and the chief
priests
Was this
question? Of course it was !
d:-)
The
religious leaders and chief
priests could care less about
discovering the truth about
Jesus.
The
"authority" question was a trap
as most of their questions were.
In the eyes
of the religious leaders, Jesus
could answer only in one of these
two ways...
- He
could answer that his
authority came from God
(blasphemy)
- The
other answer was that he just
decided to disrupt the temple
own his own (just another
troublemaker and
fanatic)
Either way,
they would be rid of him for
good.
One
consistency you will find all
through the New Testament is
that, not once, did Jesus ever
fall into any of the traps
planted by the Pharisees and
priests.
Christ
answered their question with a
question that they could not
answer without trapping
themselves.
They could
not answer Jesus as verses 31
& 32 explain because they
were mainly interested in getting
rid of Jesus. His teachings and
behavior was weakening
their authority and they
had no intention of losing their
power over the people, not
mention their wealth.
Are we
interested in discovering the
truth about Christ? More
personally, are you interested in
learning more about Jesus and his
plan for your life?
-
Love in
Christ
-
Bob
If you have
never made the commitment to
receive the love and
life-changing experience of Jesus
Christ, please take a moment to
go
here
and take the first
steps
to salvation.
Bob
Pardue
is a member of First Baptist
Church in Lancaster, SC. He is
ordained from Rich Hill Baptist
in Lancaster. The website is at
http://www.makingchristknown.com
Want
to place this passage and
commentary on your website or
e-zine for
content?
This
article about the questioning of
Christ by religious leaders may
be freely reprinted or
distributed in its entirety in
any e-zine, newsletter, blog, or
website. The author's name, bio,
and website links must remain
intact and be included
with every reproduction of this
report.
Bob
Verses are from Life
Application Study Bible: New
International Version
Comments are welcome.
Please email
me with any questions
or comments you may have.
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