On an unusually dark night the captain of a ship saw faint lights in the distance. Envisioning a possible collision he immediately told his signalman to send a message to the oncoming ship. "Alter your course ten degrees south." Promptly a return message was received. "Alter your course ten degrees north."
Angered by the fact that his command had been ignored, the captain sent a second message. "Alter your course ten degrees south. I am a captain!" Soon another message was received. "Alter your course ten degrees north. I am a seaman third class Jones."
Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke. "Alter your course ten degrees south. I am a battleship!" Then the reply came. "Alter your course ten degrees north. I am a lighthouse."
As we come to the last Tuesday of Jesus' earthly life we find Jesus caught in the middle of a showdown with the powerful religious authorities of his day. They were circling around Jesus to force him to alter his course. They did this in the hope that he would withdraw from the Jerusalem and especially from the temple area. There were at least four groups that gathered to oppose Jesus.
The Sadducees.
The Sadducees were an elite, aristocratic Jewish sect in Jerusalem comprised mostly of wealthy priests. You may remember from last week that the Sadducees and high priests had found ways to extort money from the worshipers in the temple. When Jesus marched into the temple overturning tables and declaring the temple to be a den of robbers, he was on their turf! As you can imagine, Jesus ticked the Sadducees off big time! They wanted him to alter his course and get out of town.
The Pharisees.
The Pharisees were the separatists, the fundamentalists, the legalists, and the loyalists. Out of pride they wore a distinguished garb to signal their piety. They had phylacteries containing scripture bound to their hands and heads. They could be found praying on highly trafficked street corners. They often blasted their trumpets for the poor and to draw attention to themselves whenever they gave alms or offerings. They were most critical of Jesus rubbing shoulders with publicans, sinners, and Gentiles. When Jesus marched into the temple and declared that it should be a house of prayer for all nations, he infuriated the Pharisees!
The scribes or teachers of the law.
The scribes were those perfectionist individuals who meticulously reproduced copies of the written law, scroll after scroll after scroll. Their careful diligent efforts continue to marvel archaeologists and historians to this very day. They very rarely made mistakes! The scribes made the systematic study of the law and its exposition their professional occupation. They controlled the Jewish education system. Whenever people had questions about God's word they often turned to the scribes. There was no one who knew the written word better! When Jesus, an uneducated Jewish carpenter and layperson, marched into Jerusalem and presumed to be a teacher of the law, and when the people began referring to him as "rabbi" or "teacher" the scribes were deeply offended!
The Herodians.
The Herodians were the pro-Roman government group in Jerusalem. They loved the protection and stability that the Roman government provided. They gladly paid their taxes. To the Herodians, taxes were the price of civilization. The Herodians were terribly threatened by the false notion that Jesus was going to expel the Romans from Jerusalem and set up an earthly kingdom.
In an unparalleled act of desperate cooperation all four of these groups joined forces to destroy Jesus. Together, they painted a target on Jesus' back. It was their desperate hope that Jesus would step back and submit to their authority. Their hope was that Jesus would alter his course and not disrupt their power any longer. To succeed, they would have to publicly defeat Jesus in the realm of ideas and words.
The teachers of the law were the first to make their move that Tuesday morning.
Questions to discredit Jesus.
In Mark 11:28 (NIV) they came to Jesus and asked, " 'By what authority are you doing these things?' they asked. 'And who gave you authority to do this?' " The teachers of the law were in no way out of line to ask Jesus these questions. It was their unquestioned right to ask the credentials of any teacher in the temple. Was Jesus authorized to teach in the temple? By what presumed authority had he taken it upon himself to clear the temple a day earlier?
Had their question been an innocent inquiry, Jesus would have answered it simply. But in their question Jesus detected ill motive. They were seeking to discredit Jesus. They wanted to destroy his reputation and dissuade the crowds from following Jesus. With their question they sought to clarify their unwillingness to neither support nor submit to Jesus' authority. "By what authority, Jesus? Says who, Jesus?"
This morning you need to know that you can approach Jesus with any question. In college I constantly peppered God with hundreds of questions. In all our lives there is a time for asking questions like, "Does God exist?" and, "How can I know that Jesus was real?" and, "Why should I believe that Jesus was raised from the dead?" and, "Why should I believe the Bible is God's word?" You should never feel ashamed to ask such questions. Our God is a beacon of truth and as your creator, he wants you to know the truth.
But let me say that there is a time when we should move beyond such questions. The teachers of the law knew the answer to their own question. They knew who Jesus was. They knew he claimed to be the Son of God. They just didn't want to submit to the inevitable consequences of that truth. Their questions were an attempt to delay their own discipleship.
So often, we hide behind our questions and try to discredit Christ because we don't want to have to submit and alter our course, not even by ten degrees. Perhaps this morning you are someone who has been trying to discredit Christ's authority over your life by questioning his credentials.
You may be saying, "By what authority, Jesus? Jesus, who gave you authority to lead my life? Jesus, who are you to tell me what to do? Your commands are antiquated! Only I know what's best for me. Jesus, it is you that needs to alter your course. It is you that needs to get up to speed with the times."
Are you asking your questions to delay your discipleship? It is time to change course. Next we find the Pharisees and Herodians making their move on Jesus.
Questions to disrupt Jesus.
In Mark 12:14-15 (NIV) "They came to him (Jesus) and said, 'Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn't we?"
Virtually every Jew loathed the Roman tax system. The Romans charged the Jews real estate taxes for owning their own property. The Romans imposed poll taxes, sales taxes, and salt taxes on the people. They taxed the Jews for using their roads. They set up tax booths at the gates of the city to tax the goods being imported into and exported out of the city. The Romans imposed a crop tax on the Jews. The Jews had to give a tenth of their grain to the Romans and a fifth of their fruit, including wines and oils. The Romans even had a way of taxing animal owners.
The Romans were constantly dipping their hands into the Jews' pockets. But the thing that infuriated the Jews most was the fact that their money was given to the freeloading poor people in the city of Rome.
The Herodians and Pharisees saw an opportune moment to trap Jesus with a question. If they could get Jesus to agree that paying taxes to Caesar was right, the tax-oppressed masses would turn on Jesus in a snap. If they could get Jesus to protest the taxes, they could have Jesus arrested and tried for trying to incite a riot against Roman rule. In addition to delaying their own discipleship, their question was designed to disrupt and destroy people's faith in Jesus Christ. They wanted nothing less than to turn the people against Jesus.
Such questions are completely out of bounds and extremely lethal. The most severe judgment is reserved for those who purposely lead people away from a faith in Jesus Christ. It is one thing to delay your own discipleship, but it's unconscionable to disrupt and destroy and sabotage someone else's faith. If you seek to lead people away from Christ and they endure a Christ-less eternity because of your ignorance, their blood is on your hands. It is no small thing to throw up spiritual roadblocks for others. You take your questions directly to the Father and to qualified teachers. Don't get others entangled in your web.
Next, the Sadducees make their move.
A question to distract Jesus.
In Mark 12:19-23 (NIV) the Sadducees ask, " 'Teacher', they said, 'Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?' "
The Sadducees were trying to rope Jesus into a theological controversy. On the surface it appears to be an innocent question about the resurrection. But in reality this question was designed to distract Jesus in his teaching. This question was designed to shift the focus away from the greater questions of discipleship toward the less important controversies of theology.
Today people are increasingly asking questions of distraction. What do you believe about the rapture? Will Christians face the tribulation? Who do you think the antichrist is? Was that last earthquake a sign of the times? What is the beast in the book of Revelation? What is the significance of the number 666? Did God literally create the world in seven days or just in seven epochs of time?
I believe we have to be extremely careful that secondary questions don't take on primary importance. In 1 Timothy 1:4 (NIV) Paul warns Timothy about teachers who, "promote controversies rather than God's work--which is by faith." In 1 Timothy 6:4-5 (NIV) Paul refers to people who have, "an Sunhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction..."
It is not wrong to ask questions about the end times or the resurrection or some other theological topic. But it is wrong to ask questions with the intention of delaying discipleship. It is wrong to ask questions to distract yourself or others from the greater issues of personal discipleship and submission to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is wrong to become broiled in controversy, all the while missing God's call to become a totally devoted follower of Jesus Christ.
The basics must always come first. We must talk first about Jesus Christ's death on a cross for our sins and our need to alter our course by submitting to Christ's authority.
A Pharisee was the last person to take a shot at Jesus that Tuesday.
A question to discover.
In Mark 12:28-31 (NIV) the Pharisee asks, " 'Of all the commandments, which is the most important?'' The most important one,' answered Jesus, 'is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this :Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.' "
The Pharisee was very satisfied with Jesus' answer. The story continues in Mark 12:32-34 (NIV). " 'Well said, teacher,' the man replied. 'You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. 'When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.' And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions."
The Pharisee asked a question to discover truth. Reporters understand that the purpose of questions is to gather information. As Christians we ask questions to learn the truth and to gather information about God. I should hope that we would spend the rest of our lives learning about God!
But please notice something in the text. Even though the Pharisee answered correctly Jesus still told him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." The Pharisee had all the right answers, information, and knowledge, and yet he still had not entered the kingdom of God. The Pharisee had yet to take the all important step of submitting to Christ. The Pharisee had yet to put his information into action so that his information would bring about transformation in his life. Knowledge puffs up but love builds up. Jesus says, "Love the Lord your God " and, "Love your neighbor." These are the questions of discipleship!
Delaying discipleship?
If you take time to read through Mark 11 and Mark 12 you will notice what I noticed. All the questions that were asked in these chapters were asked to delay discipleship. They were asked to discredit, disrupt, distract, and merely discover. But you will also notice that in every case Jesus cuts through the veneer of these questions to ask the all important question of discipleship. In every case Jesus' interrogators were challenged to submit their lives to his authority.
You see, our questions often delay discipleship whereas Christ's big question always demands discipleship!
This morning you choose whether or not you will alter your course and submit to Jesus Christ's authority. And Jesus doesn't want you to only make a ten degree turn. He wants you to do a complete one hundred eighty degree turn. This is called repentance.
Jesus asks for repentance, faith, confession, baptism, and a life of obedient service.
You are the captain of your battleship. The lighthouse has signaled. Will you make a destiny-altering change in course? Or will you crash into the rocks and let your battleship sink? It is your call, captain.