A Trustworthy Authority
Mark 11:27-12:12
Main Idea: We can build our life on Jesus because he has a trustworthy, heavenly authority over all things.
I. The Water (11:2-33):
The religious leaders reject Jesus for 3 reasons:
They are unwilling to acknowledge his authority (11:27-28)
They are unwilling to consider the evidence in good faith (11:29-31)
They fear man more than they fear God (11:32-33)
II. The Vineyard (12:1-9)
Hebrews 1:1-2: Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
Matthew 23:37-38: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate.
Romans 2:4: 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?
His graciousness is as conspicuous as his glory. There was never such a one as he. None of us loves men as Christ loves them; and if the loves of all the tender-hearted in the world could be run together, they would make but a drop compared with the ocean of the compassion of Jesus… He hid not his face from shame and spitting, nor his body from the shedding of blood, nor his soul from deadly agony; but he loved the church, and gave himself for it. It is this lover of souls that becomes God’s advocate with us, and pleads with us that we would cease from our rebellion. Do not refuse him! If you reject him, he answers you with tears; if you wound him, he bleeds out cleansing; if you kill him, he dies to redeem; if you bury him, he rises again to bring us resurrection.
~ Charles Spurgeon, “The Pleading of the Last Messenger”
III. The Stone (12:10-12)
In Hebrew, the punch line involves a provocative pun: a story about a rejected son (‘ben’) becomes a lyric about a rejected stone (‘eben’), which then becomes the most foundational stone of all. For those with ears to hear, it is a parable about Jesus: the Son, and the Stone, who is cast aside, only to be vindicated and exalted to the place of highest honor.
~ Andrew Wilson, The God of All Things
