Controversy over the authority of Jesus

Controversy over the authority of Jesus

 

Mark 11:27-33 『And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there came to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave this authority to do these things? And 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. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, why then did ye 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. And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things 』

When “Jesus, who announced the judgment of the temple,” appears again in the temple, the Jewish leaders begin to challenge Jesus. They had no idea who Jesus was. Jesus told them about their situation through a parable, but they did not pay attention. Jesus revealed important themes from the moment he entered Jerusalem. “The cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple” meant “the end of temple Judaism, which was only splendid on the outside and a tree that was fruitless and full of leaves for a long time in defiance of God’s will.” And he addresses the topic of “authority.” The argument begins when the religious leaders ask Jesus by what authority he overturned the temple grounds the day before.

Religious leaders believed that their authority had divine origins. However, they thought that Jesus was making a fuss because of the authority they did not give them. In this respect, Jesus is a heretic to them. Accordingly, Jesus exposes the illusion of their authority through his parable of the vineyard. Jesus, who judged the temple as the Messiah, received a challenge to his authority from the Jewish leaders.

Jesus dodges their questions by questioning John the Baptist's authority, Through the parable of the vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7, the parable shows that the religious leaders of Israel have become evil tenants, disobeying the commands of God, the owner of the vineyard, and ultimately committing the sin of killing their own sons. Religious leaders are even more angry, saying that this metaphor is directed at them.

The chief priests, scribes, and elders came before Jesus. That is why the temple cleansing incident the previous day was very shocking to them. Also, because they had previously conspired with each other to kill Jesus, they came to Jesus to find a reason to kill him.

The Jewish leaders ask two consecutive questions. They asked Jesus “by what authority” were his actions and teachings in the temple carried out. Also, they ask Jesus who gave him that authority. The question of the Jewish leaders was, “Who gave Jesus the authority to do this?” It was “things like this” that the Jewish leaders took issue with. Jesus' actions and teachings represent judgment through the cleansing of the temple and teachings about the essential function of the temple. However, they viewed not only the temple cleanliness actions but also the teachings that followed as a challenge to the temple system they were maintaining.

People were amazed and followed Jesus' teachings and miracles, but even though the Jewish leaders saw Jesus the same way as the people, they did not acknowledge Jesus' authority. They were “those who had eyes but did not see, and had ears but did not hear.”

Jesus does not directly answer the leaders' questions, but rather asks them questions in return. Jesus responded by asking, “Did John’s baptism come from heaven or from man?” The reason for asking this question is that although the majority of religious leaders believed that John's authority came from God, they did not recognize John as a prophet. This is because the baptism given by John was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, but forgiving sins through baptism by an individual rather than the temple was accepted as a challenge to the temple. Nevertheless, John was so popular with the people that they could not do anything wrong with him.

Jesus knew this and asked the question in reverse. “And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, why then did ye 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.”

Jesus already knew “what the religious leaders were thinking.” “The fact that the religious leaders discussed it” means “it shows that they were taken aback by the unexpected question of the Lord.” They could not even say that John's baptism came from a person. This is because all the people thought that John was truly a prophet. This means that John’s words are true. John prophesied that “Jesus, who would come after him, would be more powerful than he.” Therefore, since everyone recognized John as a true prophet, his prophecy was correct, and Jesus is superior to John, that is, he is a person who has the authority of God.

Religious leaders had no choice but to remain silent. So they answered, “I don’t know.” The reason they say that is “not that they do not know the source of John’s authority, but that they reject that John’s authority came from God,” and it reveals their disbelief.

Jesus does not answer the question, “By what authority do religious leaders do these things?” Instead, he tells a parable. The vineyard is a symbol that shows the relationship between God and his chosen Israel in the Old Testament, and is a metaphor that often appears in the Bible. The description of “planting a vineyard, putting up a hedge, making a winepress, and building a tower” is very similar to the parable of the vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7. This content reveals God's anger and judgment on the people of Judah, who abandoned God's love and expectations and produced wild grapes instead of good grapes.

God sends his servant three times. And the degree to which each servant is humiliated becomes more and more severe. It is expressed as “take a servant and beat him severely, wound his head, humiliate him, and kill him.” This shows that Israel's rebellion grew over time. The climax of their rebellion was when they murdered their master's son. The reason God continued to send servants was to enlighten Israel by continuing to send prophets despite their rebellion. In particular, the expression “he struck the servant’s head” refers to John the Baptist.

Mark consistently reveals that the fates of John the Baptist and Jesus are the same, and that the fates of the disciples who follow him correspond. In other words, John's death predicts the death of Jesus, and the Bible predicts that the disciples will also follow that path. In a parable in the Bible, the master's son is described as “the beloved son,” and this was the same voice heard from heaven when Jesus was baptized and transformed on the mountain.

Farmers were too greedy. They do not hesitate to kill to satisfy their greed. In that situation, even though the tenants had no possibility of taking possession of the master's vineyard, God told them the "parable of killing the master's son" because "man blindly pursues and becomes foolish and brings about evil." reveals. The peasants who own the vineyard represent people who want to own as much as they can, without regard for the sacrifices of others.

To conclude this parable, Mark quotes Psalm 118:22-23. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD's doing; It is marvelous in our eyes..” These words are “words often discussed by early church members when talking about the Lord’s suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension.”

In particular, the word “abandon” is used in only two places in the Gospel of Mark, and it is used in the prediction of the Passion in Chapter 8, verse 31, when He prophesies that He will be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes. “Builders” refers to religious leaders who reject Jesus and try to kill him, like the evil vineyard farmers who killed the vineyard owner’s son.

However, “the stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone through Jesus” means “the resurrection of Jesus Christ by God.” In this sense, in Acts 4:11 and 1 Peter 2:7, “ The Bible explains that God resurrected Jesus, who had been abandoned by people. Saints in Christ also died on the cross with Jesus and are currently resurrected with Christ. Therefore, the authority Jesus received from God is given to Jesus' disciples and today's believers.

In Matthew 16:18, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; He said, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Also, in 1 John 5:4-5, it says, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” As you can see in the words, “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

The authority of the saints is the saving power of God in Christ. Therefore, believers die with Jesus and now believe in his resurrection. Resurrection is the power of this power. Those who think “resurrection is something that will happen after the body dies” have never received the power of God.