Mark 12:28
One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?”
Authority
Jesus taught with authority, but He did not gain His authority from the religious leaders. He hadn’t studied with any of the respected Rabbis. He had never been a student in training for ministry. We can assume he attended Hebrew school like other Jewish boys, but there was no other training past the normal, expected education.
One day, this carpenter, a tradesman, just started teaching. Where did he receive his knowledge? Where did His authority come from? Private study? God? The religious leaders couldn’t recognize that His authority came from God for they had mistaken God for the law He had created and the educational system they had institutionalized. They didn’t know God on a personal level the way their ancestors had. They couldn’t risk Jesus being associated with God, for godly authority, in their eyes, came from the law and the oral traditions. They believed God was in the law and the oral traditions. God didn’t just make the rules, He was the rules. How could Jesus know God if He continually broke the oral traditions that were so entwined with who God is?
They were lost but didn’t realize it. They were blind and had no idea they couldn’t see. They were the blind leading the blind, in fact, that was why Jesus was there. He was to be their eyes, to bring sight to those who couldn’t see. He was to lead them back to God. He was their second chance. He was their reconciliation with the Father. He was their holy do-over. He was the truth they had been longing for. They just couldn’t see it. They were lost in the crowd.
But now, a question comes from outside the crowd. He isn’t hiding. He has a face, and he is looking right at Jesus and Jesus is looking at him. He is a lawyer. He is an expert in the law. He has an in-depth understanding of the intricacies of the law with years of specific training. In fact, his position comes with a high degree of respect, honor, and the expectation of wisdom. People look to him in the way he is now looking to Jesus. For answers.
The scribe had been impressed by the answers Jesus had given to the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Sanhedrin. Jesus had enjoyed success in His debates with the religious leaders and He had shown himself to be knowledgeable and wise. This fact was not lost on the scribe. He knew the earlier questions had been designed to trap Jesus. He knew the goal was to discredit Him. Yet, Jesus had easily side-stepped the traps and turned the misleading questions into teaching moments. He had been a light, and the difference between truth and fiction had become glaringly obvious. Instead of seeing Jesus as a false prophet, the scribe saw Him as a well of knowledge, a source of wisdom. A man who was worthy.
We do the same. We “size people up.” We decide whether they are worthy to answer questions based on their prior experience, the way they have answered others, the depth of their knowledge, and the wisdom they show in their answers. We measure them in the way they live their lives. We search them out for integrity. We look at the way they behave when others are not looking and base our expectations on who they truly are. It is ironic. We tell people not to judge, and yet, we do this with every single person we meet. We decide if the barber can cut our hair correctly based on our experience with them. We decide if a server is going to get our order correct based on how they have served us in the past. We trust information from a friend based on the level of truth they have shared previously.
I have heard many people say, “I don’t go to church. I have been to church before.” They are judging all churches based on one experience. It is a good possibility that they don’t want to go to church, and this is a great excuse not to go. It is like the adult who tried broccoli as a child discovering they like it as an adult. Years have passed not liking something because they weren’t supposed to like it anyway. They never knew what they were missing.
Before I became a pastor, I was a high school band director. I enjoyed a long and successful career and had the opportunity to teach many amazing and talented kids. But before the success, I endured several years of a slow, painful learning process. I had not had the advantage of going to a college with a marching band program. I didn’t learn any rehearsal techniques that applied to the field. I didn’t learn how to write shows or arrange music. I didn’t know how to teach color guard or majorettes. I needed help.
My first job was in the coal mining area of southwestern Virginia. I didn’t know anyone, and no one knew me. I searched for help from those teaching closest to me, but I didn’t get very far. The answers to my questions were either vague or I was told I would figure it out. It wasn’t until a few years had passed that I finally found someone who would help me understand design, arranging, marching techniques, and tips for balance, blend, phasing, beauty of sound, and ways to choose suitable music and competitions where my group would have success. My groups had always been talented, which was obvious from our concert success, but now I was able to showcase them on the field as well. The help came from someone I least expected.
As we stood on the sidelines during one rehearsal he said, “They play well, but they are soft. It’s like they are unsure.” They certainly may have been unsure for I didn’t do a particularly good job of filling them with confidence. It is hard to give something you do not have. “Have them play a section of the music as soft as they can,” he said. I did. “Now have them play the same section as loud as they can.” I did. He made a disgusted face. “That’s not as loud as they can play.” He looked at the band and said, “Play as loud as you can play, and I don’t care how bad it sounds!” I was amazed at the horrific sound that came out of my band. Thankfully he made them stop. He laughed as he told the kids, “Now, pull it back a notch. Play loud but make it sound good.” What happened next was amazing! They had never sounded that strong before. They had never sounded that good. In ten minutes, he had completely transformed my band and he had changed me along with it.
In looking back, I see how his experience, honesty, respect, talent, and even competitiveness gave his answers weight. He had authority. I later learned that he had attended a college with no marching band, and he had learned all he knew from a mentor who took the time to teach him what he was teaching me. I received many tips and tricks from other directors over the years, but it was this director who finally gave me the answers I truly needed.
We are not simply looking for an answer but looking for a valid answer. We may even be willing to change the course of our lives based on an answer given by someone worthy of respect. While in school, the worthiness of the teacher or professor was based on experience, level of education, the word of others, the books published, the articles written, and the standing in the educational community. But each of us has been disappointed when the educator does not measure up to their reputation. Some teachers are frauds. Some teachers are poor educators but have had extended careers. Some teachers are activists in teacher’s clothing. And some teachers are people who will change our lives.
But what happens when the valid answer strikes closed ears? What happens when the truth slams head-on into a hard heart? The result is not enlightenment but rejection. The religious leaders of this dead religion, standing in a dead temple, who refused to praise God and love the world, who were bound by rules, some from God and some from men, were not looking for truth, but for agreement. “Join us and agree or disagree and pay a price.”
I am sure many people in Israel heard this. “Join us!” Be part of our group and be accepted. Isn’t this what we hear so often today? “Join us!” Be a part of social media and say the same things we are saying, and all will be well! “Join us.” Accept alternate lifestyles, different sexual attractions, and open-minded unions. “Join us!” Embrace CRT, gender fluidity, and equity in our educational system. “Join us!” Allow different views of faith in your church, celebrate our diversity by embracing that everyone will eventually go to heaven, and embrace the gods of other religions or no god at all. Celebrate! Embrace! Tolerate! Love! Don’t judge! Let us all come together.
The problem is that is exactly the opposite of what God said. To be His we must be forgiven. To be forgiven we must accept and love His Son as Lord and Savior. To accept Jesus as Lord and Savior we must recognize His authority and believe in Him as the only Truth. If He is the authority, if He is the Truth, then all else is false and will result in everyone coming together in a place of torment. But if we don’t join, we will pay a price.
Jesus would pay a price. This would happen soon enough, but Jesus’ death would only seal His victory. They were blind by choice and would not see who He was. Jesus was no false teacher. He was no false prophet. He was fulfilling the law. Setting the record straight. Putting humanity on a collision course with the God of creation and they were too bound by their rules to see Him. Closed ears. Blind eyes. Poisoned lips. The Truth of the universe stood right before them and all they could do was plot how to put an end to His teaching. He is still standing here declaring the truth. Are we listening?
Worshiping God 