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The story is told of a ship's captain during the
war who was sailing along on a dark night and saw a light
on a collision course. So he got his signaller to flash a
message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south."
The reply came back "Alter your course 10 degrees
north." The captain then signalled "Alter your
course 10 degrees south. I am a Commander." The
reply came back "Alter your course 10 degrees north.
I am a seaman third-class." |
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By this
time the ship's captain was getting furious. So he
signalled: "Alter your course 10 degrees south. I am
a battleship." The reply came back almost instantly:
"Alter your course 10 degrees north. I am a
lighthouse." |
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That
story addresses the issue of our passage today. That is
the issue of authority. Where does authority come from?
Sometimes it comes from your rank or status, as the
commander in that story obviously assumed. But sometimes
it comes from something innate like the immovable nature
of a lighthouse set above a cliff. So where do you look
to for authority for your life? That's not an easy
question to ask in this day and age. Life has changed so
radically in the last 50 years that what was taken for
granted 50 years ago can no longer be assumed. Truth is
all relative, we're told. Authority needs to be earned. |
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One
example of this of course is the republican debate that
just won't go away, even if it has quietened down
recently. 'Should we give authority to a monarch who
isn't even an Australian?', we're asked. Many of those of
the older generations and some from the younger
generations see no problem with that. The monarchy has
served us well. The queen's authority seems indisputable.
In fact a hereditary monarchy is seen by many as
preferable to an elected leader because it's free from
the risk of corruption and political bias. On the other
hand, argue the republicans, an elected leader has an
authority given by the majority vote. |
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In
politics, we see elected leaders who wield their
authority as power; who, even when the electorate shows
their dissatisfaction, continue to confuse leadership
with autocratic rule. So we're led to ask, do they have
the authority to do what they want to do? |
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And this
is just as true when we Christians criticise the actions
of others in public life. When the Archbishop of
Melbourne or someone like Tim Costello get up and speak
out on some public issue of the moment like the
reconciliation debate, by what authority can they do it? |
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Well,
that was the very question the Pharisees and Elders and
the Chief Priests, all the leaders of Israel, put to
Jesus. Jesus had not only been outspoken about the social
inequities of his time, he'd gone the next step of
physical protest. He'd come into the temple and cleared
it of money changers and merchants. And now they wanted
to know by what authority he did such a thing. |
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They want
to know who gave him the authority to do this. I
sometimes get people asking me what authority I have to
tell them about the things that God requires of them. Who
made me the arbiter of human behaviour. Well, the answer
to that question, I think is very close to the answer
that Jesus gives here and in the second passage from
chapter 12. |
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Mind you,
the answer isn't all that straightforward is it? He
doesn't just come out and say, "God told me to do
it." "I'm on a mission from God." No, he's
aware that they're trying to trap him. If he says
"God sent me" then they've got all the evidence
they need for a charge of blasphemy. No, rather than give
them a direct answer, he instead gives them an answer
that allows them, in fact forces them, to answer the
question for themselves. He says "I will ask you one
question; answer me, and I will tell you by what
authority I do these things. 30Did the baptism
of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?
Answer me." Now why ask that particular question?
What is it about John's baptism that points to Jesus
authority? |
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Well,
let's think about it for a moment. Perhaps we need to go
back to the start of Mark's gospel to refresh our minds.
You may remember that the gospel begins with people being
amazed at the authority with which Jesus taught and cast
out demons. So it's like Mark has framed his gospel with
this theme of the authority of Jesus. But that's just an
aside. Let's think about John's baptism. What was it all
about? (Mk1:4) "John the baptizer appeared in the
wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins." What was the point of this
repentance and forgiveness. That's told us in the
preceding quote from Isaiah: "As it is written in
the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger
ahead of you, who will prepare your way; 3the
voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the
way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'" John
came as one who was to prepare the way for the Lord; that
is, the coming Messiah. So if he was sent by God,
what does that say about the one who followed him? Well,
those with eyes to see and ears to hear will answer he
must be the Messiah, God's anointed one. But that isn't
all. What happened at Jesus baptism? As he was coming up
from the water he saw the Spirit descending on him like a
dove and a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son,
the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." |
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So the
Baptism of John was significant, not for itself but
because of what it heralded. Here was the epoch changing
event that the people of Israel had been waiting for, for
700 years. Here was the promised Messiah coming to rescue
the nation from their sin. |
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But that
still doesn't fully answer the question of Jesus'
authority does it? Where is Jesus pointing us for that
answer? Well, he's certainly pointing us back to the
start of his ministry, and the time of John the Baptist.
As I just said, if you go back to the start of Jesus
ministry, and in fact throughout his ministry, ordinary
people were very quick to pick up on the obvious
authority with which he taught and healed and cast out
demons. There was an inherent authority about Jesus
ministry, like there is with a lighthouse. You probably
know people like that. People who when they speak, others
take notice. Not because they bully people into
subjection, but because they seem to have a natural
authority about their person. Well, clearly Jesus was
someone like that. The things he taught rang true, and
obviously his healing power spoke for itself. But there
was more to his authority than just that, and that's why
he points to John the Baptist. |
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You see,
when we think about John the Baptist and the one calling
in the wilderness "Prepare the way of the
Lord", we're pointed back to Isaiah aren't we and to
other things he said? Let me read you a little bit from
Is 9 for example: "For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us; authority rests upon his
shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7His
authority shall grow continually, and there shall be
endless peace for the throne of David and his
kingdom" This child whose birth we'll celebrate in a
few weeks time is a person of authority - authority given
to him by God and foretold by the prophets. And of course
having gone back to Isaiah, we're reminded of the rest of
the OT as well, where we find various references to the
coming Christ. In fact someone has said that Jesus runs
right through the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi.
Indeed, without Jesus, much of the Old Testament doesn't
really make sense. |
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But you
know as we read on we come to this interesting
conversation in chapter 12 with an unnamed teacher of the
law who is so unlike his colleagues. He's truly
interested in what Jesus has to say. His mind is open to
what God might teach him. He's like a breath of fresh air
in a very stale room. Unlike the other Pharisees who
won't answer Jesus' question in case they get caught out,
he asks Jesus what seems to be a genuine question:
"Which commandment is the most important. Jesus
answers, not from the 10 commandments or the Mosaic code
of ethics, but with two summary statements from
Deuteronomy and Leviticus. (Mark 12:29-34 NRSV)
"Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O
Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30you
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all
your strength.' 31The second is this, 'You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other
commandment greater than these." These are the
foundational laws on which all the others are built. It's
been said that if you do the first the rest comes
naturally. If you truly love God with all your heart and
soul and mind and strength, then the natural outworking
of that will be love for your neighbours. In a sense this
is the real answer to the Pharisees' question. You see,
if they truly loved God in this way they wouldn't have to
ask where Jesus authority came from. Rather they'd
delight in the things he said and did. They'd think it
natural to follow him. Rather than plotting for his death
they'd be seeking how they could learn from him more
about living in the Kingdom of God. Like this teacher of
the law they would have said "you are right, 'to
love him with all the heart, and with all the
understanding, and with all the strength,' and 'to love
one's neighbor as oneself,' -- this is much more
important than all whole burnt offerings and
sacrifices." |
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I wonder
do you follow this law in your life? Do you love the Lord
your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Or
are you like the Pharisees who followed the letter of the
law outwardly while ignoring God inwardly. Like the
little boy who finally sat down after resisting his
parents' command to do so, and said to them "I'm
sitting down on the outside, but I'm still standing up on
the inside!" Are you doing what God says on the
outside while on the inside resisting his will with all
your strength? Or is your whole heart turned to loving
God and the rest of his creation in turn? Is your heart
filled with bitterness or is it filled with the
overwhelming love of God? If not the latter then you
should repent of your hardness of heart and seek God's
forgiveness right now. Ask him for the ability to change
on the inside and to live the way he wants you to. |
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But let's
go back to the question we started with. Where do we look
for authority for our lives? Where do we point people who
ask on what authority we do or say things? Let me suggest
that Jesus' example is a good one. First we point them to
what they see. That is to those examples of the church's
life that speak for themselves. That's why it's so
important of course that we live lives that are open to
examination. Why it's so important that we be people of
integrity. People who love God on the inside as well as
doing his will on the outside. But then we point them
back to the stories of God's involvement with his people
in history. Back to the New Testament, to the stories of
Jesus, to the teaching of the early church. Back even
further to the stories of God's plan for salvation as
it's revealed throughout the pages of Scripture. We can
point them to the centrality of God's place in the life
of his people throughout history. To the centrality of
God's place in the life of the church today and in the
future. And finally we can point them to the central
imperative of loving God before all else and our
neighbour as ourselves. There's a self-authenticating
aspect to the gospel as it unfolds through the story of
God's redemption of his people. As they hear of God's
saving acts, what's called a 'plausibility structure'
builds up that becomes self evident. The authority on
which we work is the authority of God's self revelation,
culminating in the appearance of Jesus Christ to fulfill
all of God's prophecies about him. For those who will
listen the answer will be clear. For those whose ears and
minds are closed the truth will be lost. I guess that's
why Jesus refused to answer their question in the end.
They refused to face up to the question of John's
Baptism. They knew the answer but refused to give it,
because they had already made up their mind about Jesus.
They were opposed to him and wouldn't listen to him. And
so their opportunity was lost. |
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Are you
someone who isn't sure about the authority of Jesus over
your life? If you are then make sure you're like the
second teacher who was willing to listen and learn from
what Jesus said. Don't close your mind because you're
afraid of the truth. Rather seek out the truth. Ask God
to open your mind so you'll know whether Jesus speaks
with authority or not. |
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Are you
someone who wants to convince others of the truth of the
Gospel? Then make sure you know the story of the Bible,
the story of salvation, well enough to tell it to others.
And pray that God will open their minds to see the truth
about Jesus. |
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And
whatever your situation, take seriously the words we say
most Sundays here, "you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your mind, and with all your strength." and
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." On
these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. |
