I do believe that all of us at some point in our lives struggled with and questioned our parent’s authority. I know I did and when I didn’t obey what they were instructing me to do, they saw to it that I received the proper discipline that reminded me that they had the authority because they were my parents. Some of us have grown up in Church and have learned about who Jesus is and some of us haven’t. The world today struggles with Christ authority and just like the religious leaders of Jesus’ day we question his authority. Please read Mark 11:27-33. This isn’t the first time the religious leaders question Jesus’ authority. When He told the paralytic man that his sins were forgiven the religious leaders questioned in their hearts “who does this man think he is, only God can forgive sins.” Jesus knew what the religious leaders were thinking and his response to them was so that you may know that the Son of Man has the authority to forgive sins he told the paralytic to get up, pick up your mat and go home. (Mark 3:8-11) The religious leaders are questioning Jesus’ authority on the accepting of peoples praise, the cleansing of the temple in hopes of trapping him so that they can charge him as a fraud. Jesus in his wisdom asked them one question about John’s authority, was it from man or from God. As you have read the religious leaders refuse to answer the question because they feared the people and not God. What is behind this heart of questioning Christ authority? The Bible teaches us that it was Adam’s rebellion against God that allowed Eve to sin and it was the religious leader’s rebellion against God that allowed them to tell the Son of God, the Son of Man we don’t know. The Bible also teaches that an unbelieving heart will also question and reject God’s authority. The author of Hebrews in chapter three addresses the heart of unbelief and instructs the early church to “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. So you may want to stop, be still before the Lord Jesus and ask him to search your heart to see if there is in you a heart of unbelief. If you cannot hear the voice of the Lord speaking to you your relationship with the Lord Jesus is in trouble. The reason why I write this is because for followers of Jesus Christ the ministry of the Holy Spirit has been given to them to make known what is on the Lord’s heart. (John 14-16) We know from the Scriptures that Jesus’ authority has been given to him from God the Father not because Jesus said so but because God validated his earthly ministry through his death burial and resurrection from the dead. Will you submit to the Lord Jesus’ authority today and obey him instead of questioning his authority?
Categories: Weekly Sermon