Christ’s Authority Comes From God! - Mark 11-12

Christ’s Authority Comes From God!

Mark 11:27-33 (ESV)
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

When the religious leaders confront Jesus about His authority, they had little real desire to know where it came from.   They simply were on a course, in this chapter, to discredit Him.   They feared the people would follow Him and they would lose their power and position and privilege.   Jesus will give them the answer to their question if they can tell Him where John the Baptist received his authority.   The key to this is found in what happened at Jesus’ baptism by John.   Note what happened after John baptized Jesus:

Mark 1:9-11 (ESV)
The Baptism of Jesus
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

When Jesus was baptized by John, God gave authority to Jesus by calling Him His beloved son.   The Chief Priests, scribes and elders did not really want to know this. This, however, is why Jesus asks them that question.   They thought if they answered they would either discredit the image of John the Baptist or incriminate themselves.   But, the real reason is that Jesus was public ally anointed by God at His baptism by John.  Christ’s authority was from his father.   He wanted them to admit it to Him and those around them.  But, their pride would not allow them to acknowledge this truth.   Jesus was given authority by the Father.   

Hebrews 1:4-5 (ESV)
4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?

We can rejoice in the teachings of Jesus and trust in them because His teachings and life and death were all done by the power of God and authority of God.   We can have faith in these things Christ did because He did them in the power and authority of the Father.