“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
MATTHEW 28:18
Given the breathtaking and all-encompassing nature of the above claim, the religious authorities had the gall to ask Jesus for His credentials.
“While Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. ‘By what authority are you doing these things?’ they asked. ‘And who gave you authority to do this?’”
MARK 11:27-28
This Sunday, Kenny Clark will open up this passage for us, and we will leave with an even greater appreciation for our Lord and Savior and the authority that is His alone.
The religious leaders had run out of patience with Jesus. He had just cleansed the temple of buying and selling, and the uproar from the venders must have been intense. “How dare He? Who does He think He is?” You can bet that the religious leaders were under tremendous pressure to do something about Jesus, and in this passage, we see them try – and fail – in grand fashion.
John MacArthur states:
Rabbinical teaching had no inherent authority. The rabbis quoted the rabbis who quoted the rabbis who quoted the rabbis who quoted the rabbis and that’s the only authority they ever had. And you had to get approval from the Sanhedrin. You had to be ordained by the Sanhedrin to function as an accepted rabbi. But Jesus was His own authority because all authority had been given to Him by God. And He never had authorization from men for anything at all. In fact, He ignored their whole system of authorization.
Ultimately, this will be Jesus’ undoing, for in just a few days, the shouts of “Crucify Him!” will echo in the streets.
What about you? Do you question Jesus’ authority? Do you keep Him confined to the pages of your Bible, or are you willing to let Him call the shots in your life? Does He have control or do you? Have you placed your trust in Him? Is your confidence in Him?
Be praying that we will submit to the call of Christ this Sunday, and that He will truly become our Lord.
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