Who do you think you are?
Mark 11.27-33
Introduction
Imagine that you’re sitting in a traffic jam. You’re on I75 and it’s rush hour. You’re probably at the junction where 75 meets 696 because that’s always a mess. Anyway it’s rush hour. There’s construction. Maybe there’s an accident. Regardless of the specifics, imagine that you’re sitting in standstill traffic. And then out of nowhere a young guy in street clothes shows up and starts directing traffic and traffic starts moving. Now imagine that the police show up and they’re upset with the man. The police ask the man, “By what authority do you think you’re doing this?” In essence they’re asking him, “Who do you think you are?”
This is the scene we read this morning in the Gospel of Mark. Israel’s religious leadership is challenging the authority of Jesus. Who does he think he is? This is the question that Mark has been answering since we started the book, isn’t it? If you’ve been following along in the Bible reading challenge the past two weeks you’ve read through the entire Gospel of Mark. Remember that helpful descriptor that Tim Keller gave us to summarize Mark: King’s Cross. The first half of the book is about how Jesus is the king. He is the long awaiting fulfillment of all of the Old Testament promises. He is the king of creation. And the second half of the book is about how this king is going to the cross. The narrative turns on Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ. Since then we have been moving rapidly toward Good Friday.
The pericope this morning challenges us to consider identity – the identity of Jesus and our own identity. Who do you say that Jesus is? Your answer to that question reveals your identity. Karl Barth said, “tell me your Christology and I’ll tell you who you are.” What you think about Jesus, what you say about Jesus, determines who you are. Your eternal destiny depends on what you do with Jesus. Let’s dig into the text this morning and see what we have to say.
Kingdom Identity
We read in verse 27, and they came again to Jerusalem. And he was walking in the temple. Have you noticed the last couple of weeks have been set in the temple? Two weeks ago when we read about Palm Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem and went into the temple and looked around. And then last week Pastor Kevin preached about Christ cleansing the temple. And now this week Jesus is back in the temple. This is important historically and theologically. It’s important historically because as a 1st century 2nd temple Jew, Jesus was preparing for the Passover. The entire nation would come to Jerusalem to make ready their sacrifice for Passover and the temple was the center of this feast.
But the temple was more than the center of the holy day; it was the center of their world. And this is why it is important theologically. The temple stood at the center of Israel’s identity. The temple was the place where heaven and earth met. The temple was where YHWH dwelt among his people. It was the place where their sins could be forgiven and they could be in shalom with their covenant Lord. And so Jesus Christ spends a majority of Holy Week in the temple because he is the embodiment of Israel’s covenant relationship. He is the true Israelite, the only sinless covenant keeping man in history.
But Jesus is also Israel’s covenant-making Lord. He is God. He is YHWH who created the world. He is the one who led them out of slavery in Egypt. Jude later wrote,
Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt…(Jude 5)
Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity who took on flesh and dwelt among us (John 1.14); he literally tabernacled among us. He is the true and final temple of God.
Jesus is spending his final week in the temple because the temple was merely a sign pointing to him. He is the place where God and man meet. He is the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14.6). Jesus lived the righteous, sinless life that God required. He died as the substitute for sinners on the cross and on Easter Sunday he resurrected inaugurating the new creation. Forgiveness of sin is found in Jesus alone. Place your faith in Christ this morning and he will save you. This is the gospel, the good news. If you will repent of your sin and trust in Christ alone you will live forever in the new world!
As Jesus is in the temple the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” The point they’re making is that they did not give Jesus the authority to do these things. They viewed themselves as the ultimate authority. Mark’s Gospel has seven episodes where Israel’s religious leaders challenge Jesus. They’re challenging the authority of Jesus Christ, questioning his identity. Right now they’re specifically challenging Jesus’ cleansing of the temple last week. By what authority are you coming in and causing this scene? Who do you think you are?
This is the charge they’ll bring against Jesus when they crucify him,
Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’ ” Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death (Mark 14.55-64).
Then and now, what offends Israel most about Jesus of Nazareth is what he said about his identity in relation to YHWH and the temple. Jesus threatens their way of life. This isn’t true of Israel only, but applies to everything outside of Christianity. Jesus threatens the way of life for everyone he confronts. That’s why the gospel is such a stumbling block. Jesus calls us to crucify our way of life for his. We must die to our sin, our idols, our self – identity crucifixion. But we don’t stay dead. We are resurrected to new life. Isn’t this what we see in the sacrament of baptism? We are buried in the water – our old self-centered, sin-consumed man is buried. And when we come out of the water a new creation is raised. Though we battle our sin, we are filled with the Spirit. We are those who dine at the Lord’s Supper every week with the king of the cosmos.
And the beauty of the gospel is that the kingdom of Christ is far more fulfilling than what the world has to offer, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Sex within the covenant marriage of one man and woman is more fulfilling than the world’s view of sexual autonomy. Love and justice foster human flourishing more than selfishness and domineering. The community of the church is better than the narcissistic loneliness that the world trumpets. The world demands that we have autonomous identity; we get to say who we are.
You may be sitting here feeling threatened by the call of Jesus. Good. That means you understand what’s at stake. Money, sex, power, self are all miserable gods. Jesus alone is God and he demands your utter obedience. But if you will repent, trust, and obey you will find that his burden is light. You will find life.
In true Jesus fashion he doesn’t answer their question the way we might expect. Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” Jesus answers their question with a question. He basically asks them whether John’s baptism derived from God or whether John was just doing whatever he wanted. Was John’s baptism a fulfillment of God’s old covenant promises or was John out on his own?
This one stumps the religious leaders. They huddle up and discuss, “if we say it’s from heaven, then he’ll come back with, ‘well, then why didn’t you believe John?’ But if we say it’s from man…’” They know they can’t say that because the crowds believed John was a prophet. They can’t lose their political support. So the religious leaders answer, “We do not know.” They’re like a politician subpoenaed before a grand jury asked a question that huddle with their lawyers and respond, “I do not recall.” And Jesus says, “If you wont answer me then I wont answer you.”
Of all of the responses Jesus could have given why does he ask them about John’s baptism? What Jesus is forcing them to answer is, “If you believed John was true, why wont you follow me?” John preached Jesus. Ultimately John’s baptism of Jesus was all about Jesus’ identity. When John baptized Jesus the voice came from heaven, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” And this is where the gospel tells us a different story. You see the western world demands that we create our own identity. “No one gets to tell me who I am except me.” The Scriptures tell us that God created us male and female, in his own image to glorify him. And when we place our faith in Christ, his identity becomes our identity. The Father called him his beloved son and for all who are in Christ, we are the sons of God. When God looks at us he sees the covenant faithfulness of Jesus Christ.
One other thing we learn from Jesus here: the sinless Son of God felt no moral obligation to answer every question, especially when the intentions of those asking are sinful. There are Christians around the world today in Iraq, Russia, China who are preaching the gospel and planting churches and they are under no moral obligation to disclose what they are doing to the evil authorities looking to stamp out the church. Those governments are the gates of hell and they will not overcome the church. We are first and foremost citizens of the kingdom of Christ and no earthly government has authority over our conscience.
Conclusion
So you’re sitting in that traffic jam on I75. And you drive by the young man as the authorities arrest him. As it turns out, that young man directing traffic had secretly been named chief of police. He stands in authority over them even if they don’t recognize it. And they sentence him to capitol punishment.
Jesus bears the authority of God. Jesus is the beloved Son of God. He’s the king who goes to the cross for his people. Jesus lays these truths before us and asks, “Who do you think you are?” If your faith is in Christ you have been bought with his blood. You are a member of the Kingdom of Christ. You are the child of God, the bride of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Who do you think you are?