How will you respond to the authority of Jesus Christ? The only two options are to bow before His authority and enter His kingdom, or rebel against His authority and be excluded forever!
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How Will You Respond To The Authority of Jesus?
Luke 19:45 – 20:8
How will you respond to the authority of Jesus Christ? That is an extremely important question which has eternal ramifications. Some people respond to Christ’s authority by ignoring Him and continuing to do what they want to do. Others respond by challenging His authority. Others respond by rejecting His authority. A small minority respond by gladly submitting to His authority and following Him. In the end, it will be only these people who are saved. At the end of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He said that everyone who heard His words was like a man building a house. Those that heard His words, but didn’t act on them, were like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. When the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house, it fell, and great was its fall. But those that heard His words and acted on them were like a wise man who built his house on the rock. When the storms came and slammed against his house, it did not fall. Jesus here is talking about the Judgment Day. Will you be safe on Judgment Day? It all depends on whether you submit to Jesus’ authority or not.
In our text this morning, that is the issue. Jesus exercised His authority, and the religious leaders didn’t like it. They began seeking to find a way to destroy Him. Then they challenged His right to exercise authority over them.
As we work our way through this text I have three questions for you.
- How Did Jesus Exercise His Authority?
- How Did the People Respond to His Authority?
- How Did Jesus Respond to the People?
1. How Did Jesus Exercise His Authority?
On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfulling the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. As he came into Jerusalem, all the people were praising God joyfully with a loud voice, and shouting “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” When some told Jesus to rebuke His disciples, He said that if they were silent, the stones would cry out.
Mark 11:11 gives us some interesting information that we don’t get in the other gospels. It tells us that when Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple, He looked around at everything and then left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late. Jesus didn’t immediately cleanse the temple after arriving in Jerusalem. He went to the temple. He looked around and saw everything that was going on – the moneychangers, the selling of cattle and doves. But instead of driving them all out at that time, He left for Bethany, presumably the home of Mary, Marthy, and Lazarus and spent the night. Then on Monday, He came back to the temple, which is where we pick up the story.
Luke 11:45-46, “Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, “It is written, ‘And My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a robbers’ den.”
This is actually the second time Jesus cleansed the temple. He drove out the money changers and those selling animals at the very beginning of His ministry in John 2. Then He left and spent the majority of His time ministering up north in the Galilee region, making sporadic trips down to Jerusalem. After He cleansed the temple the first time, the priests moved the animals and money changers right back in, business as usual. Now, when He comes to Jerusalem for the last time, to die, He must cleanse the temple again.
So, what was the problem? Why was Jesus so outraged by what was going on in the temple? Basically the priests had figured out how to use God’s people to make a profit. Greed motivated them. They had turned the worship of God into big business. Commercialism ruled the day. Of course, the people could bring their own lamb to the temple to be sacrificed on Passover, but the priests could find something wrong with the animal – some spot or blemish that would disqualify it. Then the worshiper would have no recourse but to buy one of the temple approved animals, at an inflated rate. A dove that was worth about 10 cents, might sell for $10 in the temple! The money changers were there to make a profit as well. The people were forbidden to use Gentile currency at the temple. It must be changed into Jewish money to be acceptable. Since many Jews were traveling great distances from Roman provinces, all they had was Roman money. Well, the temple approved money changers were there for that very reason. They would happily change Roman currency into Jewish currency, but they would tack on a hefty fee to do so.
Jesus quoted Isaiah 56:7 and said, “It is written, ‘And My house shall be a house of prayer (for all the nations)’ but you have made it a robbers’ den. God wanted the temple to be a place where people came to seek Him and pray. He wanted all the nations to be able to come and learn of the true God and pray there. However, that’s not what was going on. Instead, the temple grounds were more like an auction with people hocking their wares. Precious little praying was going on. Instead, much buying and selling was taking place. The holy temple had been transformed from a place of prayer into a robbers’ den. Robbers in ancient Israel would attack and rob travelers on isolated roads, and then hide away in caves and dens where they would store their loot. Jesus was accusing the religious leaders of stealing from God’s people, instead of helping the people to draw close to God.
Not only did Jesus exercise His authority by cleansing the temple, He also exercised His authority by teaching daily in the temple (19:47). Now, at this, the religious leaders were outraged. First they told Him to rebuke His disciples who were praising Him as He rode into Jerusalem, and He refused. Then He came into the temple, where they hold jurisdiction, and drove everyone out. Then He sets up camp in the temple, and is teaching the people. Just who does He think He is? He has no jurisdiction to exercise authority in temple matters! That’s our job. We are the ones that decide what goes on in the temple, not Him!
What kind of authority did Jesus possess? Mathew 7:29 says He taught with authority, and not as the scribes. In Matthew 9:6-8, Jesus said that He had authority on earth to forgive sins. In John 1:12 we learn that He had the authority to save. In John 5:27 we are told that He has authority to judge all men. In John 10:18 we find that He has the authority to lay down His life and take it back up again. That is, He has the authority over life and death. In John 17:2 He has authority over all mankind. That is why it is no wonder that after He rose from the dead He told His disciples, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me.” He has all authority! Jesus is under no one but the Father, and He is in perfect agreement with the Father.
Because Jesus is God, He has the absolute power and authority to do anything He wants. The Greek word for power is dunamis. The Greek word for authority is exousia. Dynamis refers to the ability to do something. Exousia refers to the right to do something. Jesus has both. He has the absolute power and the absolute right to do anything He wills. He has the right to do whatever He wants, whenever He wants, to whomever He wants. He is answerable to no one!
Have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus never asked permission during His earthly life to do anything? When He sent two of His disciples to get the donkey, they didn’t ask permission. They simply said, “The Lord has need of it”, and that was sufficient. The One who has all authority doesn’t ask permission to do things. He just does them.
Now, what happens when someone with all authority, starts exercising authority in areas where proud humans have been exercising authority? Sparks start to fly! That is exactly what is happening here. The chief priests, scribes, and leading men were incensed at His actions in the temple. After all, He had not been given permission by the Sanhedrin. There was no rabbinical council to whom He was accountable. He wasn’t ordained in the same way that all the other rabbis and teachers were ordained. He hadn’t got His theology checked off by the Sanhedrin before He started teaching. He never got permission to drive out all the buyers and sellers and money changers from the temple.
The fact is, Jesus was His own authority. He treated their religioius “authority” as if it was non-existent. He didn’t care about the Sanhedrin, the priests, the rabbis, the lawyers, the scribes, or the councils. He didn’t care about popular opinion. All He cared about was doing the will of His Father.
2. How Did The People Respond To His Authority?
Well, there are two groups of people, and each responded to Jesus’ authority very differently.
The Religious Leaders.
They Were Trying To Destroy Him. Luke 19:47, “but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him.” By this time, they had made up their minds. They had to get rid of Jesus. He had to die. They had been talking about doing this for quite some time, but now their desire to kill Him had crystallized into a settled determination. He had encroached on their territory. He had insulted them, calling then serpents and dead men’s tombs. He had referred to them as robbers. He had taken over where they had domain, and had driven all the buyers and sellers out of the temple. He was teaching in the temple, and wasn’t going through the proper channels or getting their permission. He was growing in popularity, and all the people were going after Him. He had to be stopped, and they were determined to destroy Him.
They Challenged His Authority. Luke 20:1-2, “On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” These religious leaders were not going to allow Jesus’ authority to go unchallenged. Rather than submitting to His authority, they challenged it.
The Common People.
They were hanging on to every word He said. The religious leaders wanted to destroy Jesus, but were prevented, because the common people were hanging on to every word He said. Now, the common people saw Him enter Jerusalem on a donkey amid wild shouts of praise. They saw Him enter the temple and cleanse it of all buyers and sellers. They heard Him teach in the temple. However, they had a much different response than the religious leaders. They hung on every word He said. When He taught, they were absolutely spellbound. They listened to Him with rapt attention. They were riveted by His words, focused on what He was saying. Now, the common people, no doubt, did not understand everything Jesus taught. But they were captivated by Him and His words. They gave Him their full attention.
Rather than challenge His authority, and try to destroy Him, the common people accepted His authority, and heard Him gladly.
Application. My friends, who are you most like – the religious leaders or the common people. When Jesus Christ exercises His authority in your life, how do you respond? Are you like the religious leaders? Do you challenge, ignore, reject, or rebel against His authority? When Jesus speaks through His Word today, how do you respond? When you are living with your boyfriend or girlfriend, and He told you “fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Heb.13:4) how did you respond? When you were viewing internet porn, and His word came to you “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Eph.5:5-6). When you wives are resisting and challenging your husband’s authority to lead the family, and Jesus speaks “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord… But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything” (Eph. 5:22,24), how do you respond? When you husbands are neglecting your wives, and Jesus speaks “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church” (Eph. 5:25), how do you respond? When you children are disobeying your parents, and you hear Jesus say “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right” (Eph. 6:1), how do you respond? When you are spending all of your money on yourself, and the Lord speaks “Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce” (Pr.3:10), how do you respond?
If you are like the religious leaders, you will say, “This guy has got to go! I have to get rid of Him somehow.” So, you will ignore Him, or neglect Him, or challenge His right to tell you what to do, or you will rebel against Him. That is a very fearful place to be in, for one day Christ will return to take vengeance on all His enemies.
I exhort you to be like the common people. Although they probably didn’t understand everything Jesus taught, or even like everything He taught, they listened intently, and didn’t rebel. My friends, sometimes Jesus will speak some hard words to you. Sometimes your flesh is going to resist and rebel against His holy demands. He is going to call you to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. He is going to call you to repent of all sin in your life. He is going to call you to live by faith, not by sight. He is going to call you to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. In those times, don’t resist His authority. Remember that He is God and He loves you. He has your best interests at heart. Trust Him!
3. How Did Jesus Respond To The People?
How Did He Respond To The Religious Leaders? Luke 20:3-8, “And He answered and said to them, “I shall also ask you a question, and you tell Me: Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, `From heaven,´ He will say, `Why did you not believe him?´ “But if we say, `From men,´ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” And they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
At first glance, it might seem like Jesus was trying to evade the question. However, He was really answering their question. If they will answer His question rightly, they will have the answer to their question. It was obvious that John was a prophet of God. All the people of Israel knew that. It was as plain as the nose on your face. Well, if John was God’s prophet and he pointed to Jesus as Messiah, then Jesus was acting under God’s authority. What did John have to say about Jesus? He said that He was the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. He said that He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He said that Jesus was so great that he was not worthy to untie His sandals. John bore unswerving testimony to Jesus as God’s Messiah.
However, if these religious leaders acknowledged that John was a prophet sent from God, then they were bound to acknowledge that Jesus was God’s Messiah with unlimited authority. This they were entirely unwilling to do. They knew that if they acknowledged John as a prophet, it would incriminate them. Jesus would ask them, “Why didn’t you believe John when He spoke of Me?” But, if they said John was not a prophet, they feared that they would be stoned by the masses, because everyone believed John was a prophet. They were caught on the horns of a dilemna. So, rather than tell the truth, they decided they wouldn’t say anything at all. Their answer was “No comment.”
And how did Jesus respond? “No comment.” Jesus had given them the truth over, and over, and over. However they were willfully determined to oppose the truth. They were rock solid in their unbelief. They held on to their hostility against Him. So Jesus is telling them that based on what they have done with the truth He has already given them, He’s not going to give them any more. Jesus meets their cynical question with silence. What we have here, is divine judgment on the religious leadership of Israel. My friends, if you challenge the authority of Jesus Christ, you will be given up to divine judgment! Beware, of refusing Him who speaks from heaven.
How Did He Respond To The Common People? Luke 20:1 says, “On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel…” I love that! Although the religious leaders get silence, the common people receive more and more teaching. Jesus will not answer those who are willfully blind, but He will give His truth again and again to those who truly want it.
What was the subject matter of His teaching? The gospel! The good news. Here we see the grace and compassion of Jesus Christ. Oh, how tender and loving is our Lord, to teach the people the true Word of God! In this we see His mercy and grace and patience. Here he is in the last few days of His life, and He is laboring to bring God’s truth to the people one more time. He is calling the nation to repentance and salvation. It is interesting to me that even though Jesus was the nation’s Messiah, He has no interest in speaking to them about politics, or social reform, or military strategies, or the injustices of the day. His teaching is entirely about the gospel.
So, what might that teaching have included? I suspect Jesus talked to them about the kingdom of God, and how He was the King, and how they must enter that kingdom through repentance and faith. I suspect He told them again that they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him. I suspect He talked to them about sin and its terrifying consequences. He probably spoke to them about Heaven and Hell, and the certainty of all men ending up in one of those two places. And He called all men to come to Him to find rest for their souls.
Two quite different responses, aren’t they? The silence of divine judgment, or ongoing tender teaching of the gospel.
Conclusion
How would you like Jesus to respond to you? Do you want the silence of divine judgment or ongoing tender mercies of the gospel? It all depends on how you respond to His authority. My friends, He has all authority. He doesn’t ask permission. He commands! You and I have no ability to exercise authority over Him. We only have one of two choices: submit or be broken. Those two responses are seen in Psalm 2. In verse 9 the Psalmist says, “You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.” In verse 12 he says, “Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way.” Either you do homage to the Son, or you are shattered by the Son. Either you bow your knee to the authority of King Jesus now, or you will be forced to bow to His authority in Hell.
You might be thinking, “But Pastor Brian, that sounds like salvation by works. Are you saying that I must submit myself to Christ in order to be saved?” I would put it this way. We must understand the nature of saving faith. Part of the nature of saving faith is that it submits to Christ as Lord. I don’t care how many times you say you love Jesus, or pray the Sinner’s Prayer, or go to the front at an altar call, or get baptized. If you do not submit your will to Christ’s, you do not possess saving faith. Saving faith will be characterized by repentance, obedience, and submission. When these things are wholly lacking in an individual, you can be sure that there is no true faith in Him.
Brothers and Sisters, what is Jesus telling you today? Has He convicted you of something going on in your life lately? Is He dealing with you on some issue? Submit to His authority! Don’t fight Him. You will never win a fight against Him. Surrender, and find peace in following Jesus the Lord!
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