The Claims of Christ
Mark 11:27-33; 12:1-12
Jesus’ Authority Questioned
27. 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,
28. and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?”
29. And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
30. “Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.”
31. They began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’
32. “But shall we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet.
33. Answering Jesus, they said “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Chapter 12
Parable of the Vine-growers
1. And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT, AND DUG A VAT UNDER THE WINE PRESS AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey.
2. “At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers.
3. “They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
4. “Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully.
5. “And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others.
6. “He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7. “But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’
8. “They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
9. “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others.
10. “Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone;
11. THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD,
AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?”
12. And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away.
In this country, we pride ourselves on a certain sense of rugged individualism. Our forbearers were individualists. We are independent people. We pride ourselves on personal autonomy. It's the way of our culture. It is a unique western world view. We are our own boss. We have rights. Our Declaration of Independence says so.
Our Declaration of Independence says that all of us are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. Inherent in that concept are the rights of God. He is the supreme authority. He holds all rights and from Him all rights derive. Without Him there are no rights. Without a divine Creator, we are nothing more animals, the product of chance evolution. It follows that the Lord's claims should have priority on our lives. After all, we are His creation.
This is not a twentieth century phenomenon. Jesus was rejected in His day as well. Our text today is a case in point. Here, Christ pictures how those who are unresponsive and rejected Him and suffer the judgment of God. Many people then had hard hearts, many people today still do.
What about you? How do you respond to the claims of Christ? Do you question His right to your life? Do you assert your own rights over him? Or do you humbly surrender to Him and submit to His will? We must all see the importance of being responsive to Christ and the danger of being unresponsive.
There are many people who are in a constant power struggle with God. Many Christians struggle, trying to do their own thing and still be in the center of God's will. Christ calls us to be open and responsive to Him, laying down our rights and affirming His total right to us.
Our text holds a graphic portrayal of the privileges as well as the peril of our response to Christ. Let's look at the pictures we have here of the right of Christ, the revelation of kindness, the rejection of Messiah, and the retribution of God. And as we do that, let's consider several questions.
The Right Of Christ Challenged
27. 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,
28. and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?”
29. And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
30. “Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.”
31. They began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’
32. “But shall we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet.
33. Answering Jesus, they said “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
(Mark 11:27-33)
Jesus had returned to Jerusalem. He was walking in the Temple, probably on Solomon's porch. This was an area on the east side of the Court of the Gentiles - one of the most beautiful areas of the Temple. Above was a beautiful ornate roof, supported by a huge Corinthian columns, each rising almost forty feet above the floor. This was overlooking the Kidron Valley, which dropped below 450 feet. It was breathtaking. But Jesus was occupied, teaching the people. There was more to do than simply stand on this cool, stone veranda and enjoy the view. In fact, He was soon to be occupied in a struggle with the religious leaders.
The Scripture says that the chief priests and scribes and elders came to Him. They were not simply coming with an honest question. They did have question. It was really more like an accusation. And they did not hesitate to ask it. What is your authority for doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?" Here we have the right of Christ challenged. In essence they were saying to Him, "Who do You think You are?" These religious leaders really didn't believe in Christ. And so to excuse their own actions, they questioned His authority.
In response, Jesus asked them a counter-question. It was designed to expose the depth of their hypocrisy. He asked, "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?" He said if they would answer that question, He would answer theirs, but this appeared easier than it was.
The Jews had not received the message of John the Baptist. Just as they rejected Jesus and His message, they had rejected John and his. They were not interested in any messages but their own, even if those messages came from God. They were hypocrites. Notice that they were concerned more about how they would answer the question than they were about the truth. Verse 31 says that they began reasoning among themselves. Their real interest was what to say to vindicate themselves. If they said they believed John's baptism was from heaven, they knew Jesus would pin them to the wall. He would expose their hypocrisy by asking them why they didn't believe John. They knew they couldn't answer the question that way. They also were afraid to tell the truth: they believed John's baptism was not from God but from men. But they were afraid of what people would think. The people considered John to have been a prophet, and they might lose respect for them if they answered truthfully. So they decided to avoid answering. They said, "We do not know." Jesus simply replied, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things." They had played their game of questions. And Jesus had beaten them at it.
The real question is this: Do we, like these religious leaders, question the authority of God over our lives? Do we question the right of God to us? When Christ speaks to our hearts, are we impressed with the authority of His word? Or do we feel that it is optional? Do we feel we can choose obedience or not? Christ's word is not optional in our lives. His authority is not limited over us. When Christ speaks, we must obey. To do anything less is, in effect, to question God's right to the totality of our lives. The religious leaders here questioned Jesus' authority because they did not want to submit to Him. When we question the authority of Jesus in our lives, when we question the authority of God's word in our lives, we find ourselves in the same precarious position. Before you know it, you find yourselves cut off from God.
The Revelation Of Kindness Illustrated
1. And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT, AND DUG A VAT UNDER THE WINE PRESS AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey.
2. “At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers.
3. “They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
4. “Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully.
5. “And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others.
(Mark 12:1-5)
As they questioned Jesus' authority, Jesus painted them another picture. It was a vineyard. The vine, along with the fig tree, was a national symbol for Israel. As a matter of fact, at the very Temple where Jesus stood, there was a richly carved grape vine. This grape vine was sculpted around the door which opened into the holy place. It was seventy cubits high. The branches and leaves were made of the finest gold. The grapes were very costly jewels. It was first placed there by Herod and over time, rich and patriotic Jews added to its beauty by contributing a new grape or a new leaf. The vine was a significant symbol for the Jews. So this vineyard represented Israel and the vine-growers represented the religious leaders of Israel.
The picture Jesus paints is a story illustrating the revelation of God's kindness. It is the revelation of kindness illustrated.
The Lord is the owner of the vineyard. The vineyard is Israel and the vine-growers, who are stewards of the vineyard, are the religious leaders who reject the Lord. But the Lord comes to them again and again, through His representatives. First, he sends a slave and they beat Him. Another slave comes and they wound him. Still another, and they kill him. But God keeps sending many more of His servants, even though they are mistreated and killed. We see here the kindness and mercy of God in continuing to deal patiently with Israel's leaders, even though they reject His kindness.
Though the religious leaders' hearts were hard, God comes again and again, extending His offer of peace. These servants are the prophets who came to Israel in the name of the Lord with the word of God. But the religious leaders rejected the prophets. They killed them and beat them and mistreated them. Elijah was driven into the wilderness by King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Isaiah, as tradition has it, was sawn in half. The prophet Zechariah was stoned to death near the altar. John the Baptist was beheaded. This was the fate of many of the prophets, servants of God, sent by God, because of His mercy. Hebrews 11:37 and 38 says, “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
38 (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
They rejected the Lord, the owner of the vineyard because they wanted the vineyard for themselves. Even so, the kindness and mercy of God was plainly evident. And as He came to them, so He comes to us again and again.
The question is: Do we understand God's kindness? Do we realize just how great has been the mercy of God extended to us? Do we understand that the kindness of God is meant to lead us to repentance? Or do we presume upon the patience of the Lord and the kindness of God. How do we respond to the claims of Christ on our lives? Do we assert our rights to our lives? Or do we respond in humble obedience? Do we put off that obedience? Or do we obey our Lord at once? How we respond makes all the difference.
The Rejection Of Messiah Portrayed
6. “He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7. “But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’
8. “They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
(Mark 12:6-8)
But the Lord was not finished with Israel. Finally, He sent His Son. Instead of respecting His Son, the vine-growers saw an opportunity to take the vineyard for themselves. I suppose they assumed that since the son was coming alone, the father had died. They figured that if they killed the last heir, they would be able to take possession of the vineyard. So they took this son and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
It is obvious that the son represents the Lord Jesus Himself. In fact, He is prophesying His own death at the hands of these religious leaders. In a few short days, they will deliver Him to their own authorities and condemn Him to death. They did not want to hear God. They wanted to be their own God. And so, they not only rejected the prophets sent by God, they rejected God's Son Himself. The awesome truth is evident: to reject God's messenger is to ultimately reject His Son.
How we respond to Christ makes all the difference. The question here is: Do we reject God's way? When the Lord speaks to us, do we respond? Or does His voice fall upon deaf ears? Does His pleading fall upon a hard heart? When the Lord says, "This is the way - walk in it," do we respond with instant obedience? Or do we say, "Lord, not now, at a more convenient time I will respond. Lord, you don't understand my circumstances. You don't understand what I'm facing. You don't understand my problems." Oh, saints, when we say that, we are in essence saying what these religious leaders said to Jesus: "By what authority do you ask me to do these things? Who do you think you are?" He's God - that's who. Do we reject God's way? How do we respond to the claims of Christ on our lives?
The Retribution Of God Declared
9. “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others.
10. “Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone;
11. THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD,
AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?”
12. And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away.
(Mark 12:9-12)
For those who question God's right, who reject His kindness, who spurn His messengers and ultimately reject His Son, there is nothing left but judgment. What we have here pictured is the wrath of God on the evil vine-growers. There is really nothing left for Him to do. He judges them because they have judged themselves. They rejected His offer of mercy over and over. Time and time again, God sent messengers to them. But they treated God's messengers shamefully. Finally, when He sent His Son, they rejected and killed Him. In doing so, they sealed their own fate. And so do we if we reject God's way.
If you go to hell, my friend, you will have to step over the Cross of Christ to get there. You will have to trample upon God's mercy and kindness, extended to you. You will have to push God aside to walk through those horrible gates. But, if you do reject Christ, you will succeed in doing just that. You can reject Christ simply a lack of action, because He will never force anyone against their will. Simply by choosing not to respond, you can reject His Son. By being unresponsive, by putting off your decision, you in effect are deciding against Christ. If you are at the airport and the plane is leaving, if you choose not to get on board, to do nothing, you have made a decision not to go. Inaction is not without its consequences.
So it is for the believer. If God is dealing with you in your life concerning any issue, for you to be unresponsive and fail to act is to make a decision to reject God's word. And when we do, we suffer God's judgment.
That is the real question here: Do we suffer God's judgment for being unresponsive to Him? To reject God's way is to suffer God's wrath. We bring it upon ourselves. And there is absolutely no need for any believer to do so.
How do you respond to the claims of Christ on your life? Christ calls us to be open and responsive to Him, to affirm His right to our life, to lead us and guide us in the way He chooses. Do you see the absolute, essential importance of being responsive to Christ? Is the Lord speaking to your heart today about your life, about your relationship to Him? Is God calling you to respond today to the claims of Christ on your life? If He is, then respond immediately.
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