Lesson 1670

(Lesson 1670)(05-06-16) Mark 11:27-33

"And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come 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 thee 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 saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things."

In today' lesson, when Jesus was confronted by the Jewish hierarchy and asked by what authority He preached: knowing that they counted John the baptist as a true prophet; Jesus asked if John preached by the authority of God or by his own authority? That question stumped the chief priests because either way they answered would box them into an unwanted corner. If they answered that John was authorized by God, they would be giving legitimacy to Jesus because John had previously baptized Jesus and acknowledged Him as the Son of God. And, if they said John had no authority other than his own, they would cause an uprising among all the thousands who counted John as a true man of God.

There are two distinctly different lessons that should be learned from today's quote. The first is that the Jewish hierarchy were out to destroy Jesus whether or not He was truly the Son of God. The second is that the phrase, "the baptism of John", describes much more than simply the water "baptisms" he performed. That phrase, "the baptism of John", most importantly refers to the message that John preached: "As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE LORD, make his paths straight. (Luke 3:4)~