The title of this morning’s message, as you can clearly seen,
consists of one word: “Behold!”
What does this word mean? It means to look up, to pay attention! It means that all of our faculties must be clearly focused on the object at hand. When God finished His creative work, Genesis 1:31 states: “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and
there was morning, the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31).
When the angel arrived on the scene on that hillside to engage
in a conversation (a rather one-sided one at that) with those shepherds, the angel said, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).
When John the Baptist ministered by the Jordan,
paving the way for the Messiah who came after him, he saw the Messiah coming near and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
This morning, as we look at Mark 11:27-12:12, we sit in amazement,
beholding one special attribute of God the Son (Jesus Christ) --- and that is His authority!
The crowds recognized Jesus’ authority numerous times (Matthew 7:28-29; 8:27; Mark 1:27). Yet the Pharisees never recognized His authority and even began to resent the influence He had over the
crowds and the way He continually exposed the wickedness and sinful nature of the Pharisees (most recently with His cleansing
of the Temple).
1.
Behold,
the authority of God.
In our culture right now, the notion of authority has taken a plunge. Our country’s birth was steeped in one word:
“Freedom.” Freedom from the tyranny of England’s monarchy; freedom to worship and live as we
believed God intended --- free.
But we are living in a post-Christian, post-modern society which
says, “I am the arbiter of truth. I believe to be true what works for me. If it benefits me, then I believe that is truth.” It doesn’t matter whether the authority extends to the rules of one’s household, the laws of
the land, or the pages of Scripture --- we want to be our own god, if you will.
Dr. Curtis Hutson, former editor of The Sword of the Lord, and
before he became a full time pastor, worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Decatur,
GA. One day at the post office he was sharing the gospel with a lady, telling
her that there was only one way to obtain salvation and an eternal home in heaven - through Jesus Christ. The lady offered
an alternative analogy. She said she believed getting to Heaven was similar to how several people had gotten to the post office
that day. Some had come by bus, some by car on the expressway, some driving across town and some even walking. She pointed out that, that no matter how they got there, whatever route they took, they all ended up at
the same place. Politely, Dr. Hutson replied, "Yes, ma'am, but that's only true if, when you die, you're going to the post
office."
And for many, the only reason we obey any external authority is
because we think it will keep us out of trouble. Take, for instance, running
a red light. You’re heading for the intersection of Man O’ War and
Alumni. You’re about 20 car lengths from the light, when it turns yellow. Instead of slowing down, you floor it to try and make it before it turns red --- but
you don’t. What happens? You
become afraid. Afraid of what? Are
you afraid of disobeying God by not listening to the laws of the authorities He has put in position? Or are you simply afraid of being pulled over, getting a ticket, paying the ticket, and having points accrue
on your driver’s license? If it’s the second, then when the threat
of being pulled over passes and you see you will get away with running that red light, you go on your merry way --- no worries!
The problem is, the authority and lordship of our God never lets
us go on our merry way --- which is why so many try to quiet His truth. They
deny that the Scriptures are God’s perfect Word, they deny the role of the church as the body of Christ, and some say
they love the Bible but do not believe all of us is for us today. And so where
do they go?
The Pharisees’ firmly entrenched their authority in 1st
century Palestine! They
determined the direction of all the people and the culture. Their love for God
and for His Word had been replaced by their love for their position and the glory of man.
They alone could interpret the law, judge who was able to come into the Temple, and
could work among the Temple’s rituals and worship. Isaiah 29:13 rightly states their predicament:
And the
Lord said:
"Because
this people draw near with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their
fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
Jesus threatened their authority.
He clearly commanded more respect and adoration that they did, so they began their full frontal attack on his credibility. They asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you
this authority to do them?” Why does this concern them? The same reason it concerns us --- we do not like anyone exerting
authority over us and us losing our much-coveted position.
How does Jesus answer? Simply,
He answers back with a question! “John’s baptism --- where did it
come from?” John the Baptist fell in line with the respected prophets of
old like Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel. The Pharisees preached out
of them every Sabbath. John the Baptist called people everywhere to repent and
turn back to Yahweh, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. This repentance
was demonstrated by baptism --- he was God’s instrument in preparing the
way for the Messiah!
Hear this: if they did not understand John the Baptist, a prophetic figure of whom they were so familiar and preached so often
--- then they could never grasp Jesus’ ministry. If they couldn’t
grasp the one who Christ said was the greatest man who ever lived, they couldn’t grasp anything spiritual.
2.
Behold,
the grace of God.
Jesus now begins what is known as the Parable of the Tenants. Mark 12:1 says,
And he began to speak
to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower,
and leased it to tenants and went into another country.”
Isaiah 5:1 sheds light on the nature of this vineyard --- it is
the people of Israel. God planted them in this world, granted them His presence, His promises, His covenants, His Word, and His
power. The fence around it showed his covenantal protection --- He would always
be their God.
But too often we take God for granted, don’t we? We think that since our salvation is so free and God’s grace so extensive that it is of little significance. But it is of mammoth significance and is a testimony to the grace of God. Think about it:
- Did God have to show
Himself to humanity at all? No!
- Did God have to create
humanity in His image and create us very good?
- Did God have to set apart
a people for Himself as a witness?
- Did God
have to grant us His laws on how to be holy before Him and how best to treat others?
The answer to all these questions is ‘no!’ But showed us His holiness, His righteousness, His goodness and His love to humanity in general and to
His people specifically. But we see Jesus using an image conveyed by Isaiah the
prophet more than 700 years prior. Isaiah 5:1-2 says:
Let me sing for my beloved
my love
song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in
it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
He planted a vineyard (the people of Israel); He builds a fence around the vineyard (protecting them with His presence and His covenant), He dug a pit
and cleared away the stones so there may be fertile ground to plant His vineyard (the Promised Land promised during the Exodus
from Egypt), and he built a tower anticipating the bringing in of much fruit (not physical fruit, but spiritual fruit through
their witness and fruitbearing).
The tenants were hired by the authority of the farmer to watch
the land while the farmer was away. These tenants are the religious leaders of
the land, who had the authority given them by God to tend the vineyard the way the farmer desired.
What grace! You say,
“How is this full of grace?” It was by God’s grace He called
out a people through Abraham to go and make a great and blessed nation (Genesis 12:1-3).
By His grace He protects us and keeps us in His care! By grace He sends
workers to look out for us and help keep us and gives us the tools of His Word in which to work! God truly cares for us and gives us every provision --- and this being the greatest provision of all: a people who will testify and live as if under the rule and lordship of Jesus Christ.
3.
Behold,
the patient persistence of God (12:2-8)
When the season came,
he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
[3] And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. [4]
Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. [5] And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. [6] He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They
will respect my son.' [7] But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the
heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' [8] And they
took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
The parable tells us about a ‘season that came’ --- that is the time of harvest. Scholars
tell us that this ‘season’ usually took place five years after planting.
The tenants, as was often the case, forgot about the Master --- or at least took it for granted that He was never to
return. As a result, they began to see the place not simply as the Master’s, but as their own.
But when it was time to gather up the harvest, the master would
send representative with His authority and His instructions and would desire some of the produce of their work. And we see what they do. Time and time again, the Master would
send servants --- time and time again, the tenants would beat, deride and kill them.
These servants that the farmer sends represent the Old Testament
prophets who would be sent of God (the Master) to His vineyard (the people of Israel). The servants (the religious leaders) forgot about God and began to exert their own
authority --- over and against the authority of the prophets sent by God Himself. Just
a cursory reading of the Old Testament shows the derision of the prophet Moses and Samuel; the persecution of Elijah and Elisha;
the death of Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah; the ridicule and beating and deaths of the prophets. Even in the New Testament times, all the disciples except John were martyred in heinous ways.
The Parable tells of how the Farmer sent one other --- His beloved
Son. “Surely, they would respect Him!” But they didn’t --- they saved the worst for Him: they
killed Him, hoping that everything would belong to them since the heir was removed.
They were greedy and selfish, wanting everything for themselves --- and nothing, not
even the Son, would stop them.
Romans 2:4-5 says,
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance
and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But
because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment
will be revealed.
Are you presuming that since God is not visible that He must not
be around to hold you in account? Maybe when you first committed a sin that you
knew God was displeased with, you felt He would immediately strike you down with lightning.
But He didn’t, did He? Did you presume that you would get away with
that, forgetting that God is kind and patient and giving you opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to repent?
God has sent to you prophet after prophet after prophet, apostle
after apostle after apostle, preacher after preacher after preacher, saint after saint after saint to you out of His kindness
and patience! He even sent His own Son --- but we kill Him with our unbelief
and rebellion! We profane His name with our words and actions! When we live wanting it all for ourselves and attempt to usurp His authority by silencing those who bear
His Word and His name, we must be aware that we will be held into account.
Look at verse 9:
4.
Behold
the justice of God.
Mark 12:9-11
What
will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. [10] Have you not read this Scripture:
" 'The
stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
[11]
this was the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"
Does hearing about the justice of God make you uncomfortable? Does this go against your notions of God being a loving God? R.C. Sproul noted that those who have a man-centered Gospel wonder how a God of love could ever judge and
condemn sin, while those who hold to a God-centered Gospel wonder how a God of holiness could ever justify sinners!
The Pharisees had been firmly entrenched as the religious authorities
since about 150 B.C. They saw no end in sight.
They crushed rebellion after rebellion, and felt invincible. But they
were not. The Son of Man stood before them telling them that their work as tenant
farmers of the vineyard of God would soon come to an end. And history tells us
that it did.
In 70 A.D., about 40 years after Jesus and the Pharisees were having
this conversation, Rome invaded Jerusalem and destroyed the
Temple. As the
people of Israel fled from the Romans
to a mountain where they realized was no escape, 1.1 million of them committed suicide --- they felt that was better than
being killed by Roman soldiers.
The prophecy that Jesus makes about how the Master will come and
destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others came true. (It is interesting
that in the parallel account in Matthew 21:41, the scribes and Pharisees came to this conclusion on their own!) But you say, “But Bro. Matt, God didn’t destroy them in A.D. 70 --- that was the Romans and
the Jews!” Yes, but God used them as instruments of judgment. Over history, God has used even pagan nations such as the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the
Persians, the Medes, and the Romans to exact judgment on rebellious His rebellious people.
But Jesus said the Master would ‘give the vineyard to others.’ Who are the ‘others?’ This
is the New Testament church! Since the true church, the body of Christ, received
God’s Messiah, they could be entrusted to maintain the vineyard. They had
the Master’s instructions (the Word of God), so the church could thrive and flourish as long as they heeded the Word
of God completely!
The religious leaders fell into the trap of thinking they were
immune. They felt they were faithful. They
felt they were truly being obedient. But they felt wrongly! We too as the church of Jesus
Christ may feel immune as well to God’s judgment.
We may have gone through the motions for so long, we are blinded to our situation.
Conclusion
A.W. Tozer writes:
There is no limit to what God could do in our world if we would
dare to surrender before Him with a commitment like this:
"Oh God, I hereby give myself to You. I give my family.
I give my business. I give all I possess. Take all of it, Lord-and take me! I give myself in such measure that if it is necessary
that I lose everything for your sake, let me lose it. I will not ask what the price is. I will ask only that I may be all
that I ought to be as a follower and disciple of Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen."
If even 300 of God's people became that
serious, our world would never hear the last of it! They would influence the news. Their message would go everywhere like
birds on the wing. They would set off a great revival of New Testament faith and witness.
Is this your reaction to seeing God’s authority, grace, patience,
and justice on display? Are you willing to say, “Lord, I give myself to
you! I give everything --- attitudes, actions --- whatever --- it is yours!” The Pharisees had that opportunity to repent.
Jesus put their wicked hearts on display for all to see. If they had repented
and turned to Christ, He would have cast that wicked heart as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:8).
But instead, it only stoked their contempt for Him! That is the result of a heart given completely over to self. When
confronted by their true condition of heart, they rebel and recoil from the life-giving Word of God.
This morning, I pray you are not rebelling from God’s authority! I pray you are embracing it and giving every last item of your life over to Him! Pray to Him this morning and ask Him to give you a servant’s heart that is submissive
to His will. I pray this morning that every one of your hearts would be broken!
Psalm 51:17
The sacrifices
of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
We must be broken from our authority and
humbled before a holy God before we can be restored and made right before Him. Don’t
take God’s authority and mercy and grace and patience for granted. A day
will come when we will have to make an account!
