Mark – God is On Our Side!
Authority defined by mankind: the power to determine, adjudicate, or otherwise settle issues or disputes; jurisdiction; the right to control, command, or determine. Who has the ultimate, final word in our own lives? Think about it.
Religious leaders are angrily asking Jesus “By what authority are you doing all these things?” The key to their anger is steeped in fear of losing their own human power over God’s people whom they have abused and manipulated with overbearing, man-made rules and regulations. The leaders, like the fallen angel, Satan, want to BE God. God, through Jesus, shows them the foolishness of who they are and what they are doing.
By whose authority, indeed…
HOLY PAUSE
Wait, when I go my own way, am I, too, defying the authority of God?
Mark 11, NLT
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
27 Again they entered Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking through the Temple area, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. 28 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right to do them?”29 “I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied. 30 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human? Answer me!”
31 They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. 32 But do we dare say it was merely human?” For they were afraid of what the people would do, because everyone believed that John was a prophet. 33 So they finally replied, “We don’t know.”
And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”
GOING DEEPER…
The Servant-Prophet
In the days that followed, the representatives of the religious and political establishment descended on Jesus as He ministered in the temple, trying their best to trip Him up with their questions. He answered four questions, and then He asked them a question that silenced them for good.
A question of authority (11:27—12:12). As the official guardians of the law, the members of the Sanhedrin had both the right and the responsibility to investigate anyone who claimed to be sent by God, and that included Jesus (see Deut. 18:15–22). However, these men did not have open minds or sincere motives. They were not seeking truth; they were looking for evidence to use to destroy Him (Mark 11:18). Jesus knew what they were doing, so He countered their question with another question and exposed their hypocrisy.Don’t think for a second that Jesus does not know our hearts!
Why take them all the way back to John the Baptist? For a very good reason: God does not teach us new truth if we have rejected the truth He has already revealed. This basic principle is expressed in John 7:17: “If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself” (nasb). “Obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge,” said the British preacher F. W. Robertson. The Jewish religious leaders had not accepted what John had taught, so why should God say anything more to them? Had they obeyed John’s message, they would have gladly submitted to Christ’s authority, for John came to present the Messiah to the nation. 
The Jewish leaders were caught in a dilemma of their own making. They were not asking “What is true?” or “What is right?” but “What is safe?” This is always the approach of the hypocrite and the crowd-pleaser. It certainly was not the approach of either Jesus (Mark 12:14) or John the Baptist (Matt. 11:7–10). Jesus did not refuse to answer their question; He only refused to accept and endorse their hypocrisy. He was not being evasive; He was being honest. PAUSE…
What am I hanging onto tightly? What do I fear I will lose?
What if I let go of the supposed power and control I think I have?
What if I just let go…
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord and Savior,
I repent of hanging onto what I think I can control. You are God and I am not. You have complete power and authority over all because You created all. So who am I to question? How foolish. May all I am and do today be as a result of complete trust and faith in You with a mind that is ready to obey quickly. Lead and I will follow. I’m listening, Lord, ready to serve.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Trust and obey
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey…
When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.
20 The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. 21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!”
FAILURE AND FAITH
PRAYER – OUR CONSTANT LIFELINE TO GOD!
Before we quickly condemn the Jewish religious leaders for their sins, we should examine our own ministries to see if perhaps we are making merchandise of the gospel. 
PAUSE, REPENT, PRAY
Jesus sent two of His disciples to Bethphage to get the colt that He needed for the event. Most people today think of a donkey as nothing but a humble beast of burden, but in that day, it was looked on as an animal fit for a king to use (1 Kings 1:33). Our Lord needed this beast so that He might fulfill the messianic prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9. Mark does not quote this verse or refer to it because he was writing primarily for Gentile readers. 
Many patriotic Jews from the crowd of pilgrims eagerly joined the procession that proclaimed Jesus as the King, the Son of David come in the name of the Lord. The visitors from Galilee were most prominent in the procession, along with the people who had witnessed the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 12:12–18). You sometimes hear it said that the same people who cried “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday ended up crying “Crucify Him!” on Good Friday, but this is not true. The crowd that wanted Him crucified came predominantly from Judea and Jerusalem, whereas the Galilean Jews were sympathetic with Jesus and His ministry.
Our Lord’s “triumphal entry” was nothing like that, but it was a triumph just the same. He was God’s anointed King and Savior, but His conquest would be spiritual and not military. A Roman general had to kill at least five thousand enemy soldiers to merit a Triumph, but in a few weeks, the gospel would “conquer” some five thousand Jews and transform their lives (Acts 4:4). Christ’s “triumph” would be the victory of love over hatred, truth over error, and life over death. 
As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2 “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it and will return it soon.’”
PAUSE TO PRAY
49 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”
At first, the crowd tried to silence them, but when Jesus stopped and called for the men, the crowd encouraged them! Desperate people do not permit the crowd to keep them from Jesus (see Mark 5:25–34). Bartimaeus threw off his garment so it would not trip him, and he hastened to the Master. No doubt some of the pilgrims or disciples helped him. 
Matthew tells us that Jesus was moved with compassion and touched their eyes (Matt. 20:34), and immediately they were healed. Out of gratitude to Jesus, the men joined the pilgrim band and started toward Jerusalem, following Jesus. This is the last healing miracle recorded in Mark, and it certainly fits into Mark’s “Servant” theme. We see Jesus Christ, God’s Suffering Servant, on His way to the cross, and yet He stops to serve two blind beggars! What love, what mercy, and what grace! 
32 They were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear. Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus once more began to describe everything that was about to happen to him. 33 “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans. 34 They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again.”
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord and Savior,
My Sunday School class was probably going to be a small group that morning because of a previous late night snow storm. The first student to arrive was Ashley with her mom. Her mom apologized for being so early but she didn’t know how hard it would be to get to church and then went on to her class. As I was getting all the activity pieces laid out for the students, Ashley, a six year old, who always had words to say, talked non stop about her week. We talked about the snow and what she was going to do in the snow after church. 
26 The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.
29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, 30 will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. 31 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”
Of all the people who ever came to the feet of Jesus, this man is the only one who went away worse than he came. And yet he had so much in his favor! He was a young man (Matt. 19:22) with great potential. He was respected by others, for he held some ruling office, perhaps in a local court (Luke 18:18). Certainly he had manners and morals, and there was enough desire in his heart for spiritual things that he ran up to Jesus and bowed at His feet. In every way, he was an ideal young man, and when Jesus beheld him, He loved him. 
Jesus assured His disciples that no one who follows Him will ever lose what is really important, either in this life or in the life to come. God will reward each one. However, we must be sure our motives are right: “For my sake and the gospel’s” (see Mark 8:35). The well-known Christian industrialist of the twentieth century, R. J. LeTourneau, used to say, “If you give because it pays, it won’t pay!” If we sacrifice only to get a reward, that reward will never come. 
Can you imagine the scene? Crowds of people, children included, trying to get close to Jesus. The children have heard their parents, aunts and uncles talk about Jesus and now they long to see who this Man in person! Children must see, ear, touch and feel as they relish every moment of learning and discovering. Parents are merely following the custom of bringing their kids to be blessed by the Master Teacher, a Rabbi. To be touched by the Hands that heal would be such a blessing! So, they all try to get as close as they can.
I imagine children, who sense and know authentic love, skirting artfully through the crowd to get to Jesus. Because Jesus loves beyond all our thinking, he welcomes these kids clamoring to get to him. This unnerves the disciples who suddenly become “security” body guards to Jesus and forget the mission for a bit. Children “in that time” were to be seen and not heard.
First marriage, then children; the sequence is logical. Unlike many “moderns” today, the Jews of that day looked on children as a blessing and not a burden, a rich treasure from God and not a liability (Ps. 127— 128). To be without children brought a couple both sorrow and disgrace. It was customary for parents to bring their children to the rabbis for a blessing, and so it was reasonable that they would bring the little ones to Jesus. Some were infants in arms (Luke 18:15), while others were young children able to walk, and He welcomed them all.
Why would the disciples rebuke the people and try to keep the children away from Jesus? (See Matt. 15:23 and Mark 6:36 for other instances of the disciples’ seeming hardness of heart.) They probably thought they were doing Him a favor by helping Him protect His time and conserve His strength. In other words, they did not consider the children to be important! Their attitude was strange, because Jesus had already taught them to receive the children in His name and to be careful not to cause any of them to stumble (Mark 9:36.). Once again, they forgot what He had taught them. 
The phrase “much displeased” is too tame. Our Lord actually became indignant as He openly rebuked His disciples for standing in the way. Then He announced that the children were better kingdom examples than were the adults. We tell the children to behave like adults, but Jesus tells the adults to model themselves after the children! 
We enter God’s kingdom by faith, like little children: helpless, unable to save ourselves, totally dependent on the mercy and grace of God. We enjoy God’s kingdom by faith, believing that the Father loves us and will care for our daily needs. What does a child do when he or she has a hurt or a problem? Take it to Father and Mother! What an example for us to follow in our relationship with our heavenly Father! Yes, God wants us to be childlike, but not childish! 
Dear Heavenly Father,
How many times have you played a game for the first time with only one person who knew the rules of the game. When things aren’t going well in the game, all eyes turn to that person who introduced you to the game in the first place. We whine and tell this person, “Change the rules, this is too hard to play it this way.” The purpose of the game is then lost. 
Jesus, who came to fulfill The Law, explains the intentions of what God originally provided as His best for us. Those who love Him base their marriage on His Love that is forever, never-changing, unconditional and relentless, not the world’s cheap imitation of love that is fickle and easily cast aside. 
4 “Well, he permitted it,” they replied. “He said a man can give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away.”
Jesus explained that Moses gave the divorce law because of the sinfulness of the human heart. The law protected the wife by restraining the husband from impulsively divorcing her and abusing her like an unwanted piece of furniture, instead of treating her like a human being. Without a bill of divorcement, a woman could easily become a social outcast and be treated like a harlot. No man would want to marry her, and she would be left defenseless and destitute. 
While the spiritual element is vitally important in marriage, the emphasis here is that marriage is a physical union: the two become one flesh, not one spirit. Since marriage is a physical union, only a physical cause can break it—either death (Rom. 7:1–3) or fornication (Matt. 5:32; 19:9). Mark did not include the “exception clause” found in Matthew, but neither did he say that death breaks the marriage union. 
Where there are two or more pastors, the first question asked among them will invariably be, “How many did you have on Sunday?” The pastor with the greatest number will have the biggest smile while the others begin to make excuses for why their number is less. 
Serving in a growing church, I am learning that people are drawn to the first impression they have of the people inside whose heart’s desire is to tell you about Jesus and how He restored their lives. Some people give church a try because these same people are the same at work as they are at church! New concept for the unbelieving world! 
39 “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. 40 Anyone who is not against us is for us. 41 If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded.
What do we learn?
Some people come to an event, place of worship, grocery store, place of work, anywhere and talk about others behind their backs in order to show their listeners how much greater they are than the persons they are talking about. It makes us feel more powerful, “in the know”, for about a nano second. 
Jesus takes his disciples for a walk in the country, avoiding the crowds, so he can teach them. Unfortunately, these young followers are so full of themselves, that they are missing the main point of the first discussion while arguing over who will be sitting next to Jesus in His Kingdom. 
Oh be careful little eyes what you see?
30 Leaving that region, they traveled through Galilee. Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he was there, 31 for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead.” 32 They didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.
33 After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” 34 But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”
True humility means knowing yourself, accepting yourself, being yourself—your best self—and giving of yourself for others. The world’s philosophy is that you are “great” if others are working for you, but Christ’s message is that greatness comes from our serving others. 
Dear Father, Savior and Lord,
