The challenge to jesus' authority mark 11:27-33

Questions and Answers ... In today's passage, Jesus' authority is questioned by the Sanhedrin, the highest ruling body in the religious life of Israel. From Jesus' perspective it must have seemed ridiculous that these men, who He created, were arrogant enough to challenge Him. With His typical wisdom, Jesus attacked their question with a question of His own about the authority of John the Baptist. This question revealed that both He and John's authority were given by God which implied that the Sanhedrin's authority was not.

Bowing to the true authority ... The answer to the Sanhedrin's question concerning Jesus' authority was simple-- God was the source of Jesus' authority. God endorsed Jesus repeatedly as Israel's Messiah (Mk. 1:11& 9:7), but the religious leaders of Israel were unwilling to accept this because it threatened their own positions of power. We must not be like them; instead we must bow our knee to the one God has highly exalted (Philippians 2:5-11).

Recognizing the imposters... The men of the Sanhedrin seemed to be legitimate, they had credentials, degrees, and positions but they had cut themselves off from the true source of their authority-- God. The same false religious authority continues today when educated and ordained pastors support the skepticism of our day and raise doubts about Jesus and the Word of God.

*Questions for Reflection:

1. What should we look for in discerning if someone's spiritual authority is from God or not?

2. What have we seen in Mark's Gospel that helps us know that Jesus' authority is from God?

3. What does the poor example of the Sanhedrin teach you for your own life?