Mark Bradford's Bible Blog

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

¹One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. ²“Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”

This event also appears in Mark 11:27-33. See my post on that passage here. In Mark’s version of this, Jesus is simply walking through the temple courts when he is challenged by the religous leaders. Here in Luke, he is interrupted by them while he is teaching the people and preaching the gospel. Whatever the circumstances, the chief priests, teachers of the law, and elders were upset with Jesus for having kicked the money changers out of the temple the day before, and wanted to know what authority he had to do that. But their question was actually a trick question designed to get Jesus into trouble no matter how he answered. If Jesus says his authority is from God, they will call him a blasphemer. If he says he is acting on his own, then he has violated God’s temple. Jesus answers by turning their question back on them and asking a trick question of his own. This was a well known and accepted debate technique in rabbinical circles.

³He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me, ⁴John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or from men?”

⁵They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ ⁶But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”

⁷So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”

⁸Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Here in Luke, Jesus simply asks his question and demands an answer, but in Mark’s version of this event, Jesus says, “Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” (Mark 11:29) So Jesus agrees to answer their question if they will answer his. His question is not unrelated to theirs. It’s basically the same question, except that it’s in reference to John. Where did John’s authority to baptize come from? If the religious leaders can tell Jesus where John got his authority, Jesus will tell them where his authority to cleanse the temple came from.

The religious leaders’ fear of the people is evident here, because they are afraid to answer Jesus honestly about John, and they are also afraid to arrest Jesus openly. That’s why they were asking him these trick questions to try to discredit him. If they could get him to say something to incriminate himself, they could have him arrested and the people would not turn against them. But Jesus never gave them that opportunity.

The key to Jesus’ question is that John taught that Jesus was the Messiah. If the religious leaders had said that John’s baptism was from God, I don’t think Jesus would have said, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?” I think he would have said, “Why don’t you believe what he said about me?” If what John said about Jesus was true, then he had all authority to do what he had done.

It’s interesting to me that in Mark’s version of this, the religious leaders’ fear of what might happen to them if they give the wrong answer is not spelled out (Mark 11:32), but here in Luke, they say that if they say John’s baptism was from men, all the people will stone them! And these were the chief priests, afraid of being stoned by the crowds! This further shows that it was the leadership, not the Jewish people as a whole, who had Jesus crucified. And they did it for purely selfish reasons, to try to protect their own power. They were more interested in their own agenda than in finding the truth about who Jesus was. Did they succeed in preserving their own power by getting rid of Jesus? Maybe for a little while, but in a few decades, the temple and city they thought they were protecting would be destroyed because of their rejection of Jesus. Some of them, I’m sure, convinced themselves that they were protecting the people from reprisals by the Romans by having Jesus executed. But ultimately, their plan backfired on them and their people horribly. We may convince ourselves that we have the church’s interests at heart when we promote and protect our own agendas, but when we do that, the end result is never good for the Kingdom.

I am grateful to have been able to blog today from my hotel room in Minneapolis, MN after a wonderful weekend of ministry here. To God be the glory for the things he has done!

Mark Bible authority, elders, Jesus, John the Baptist, Luke

Jesus and John the Baptist

¹⁸John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, ¹⁹he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”

²⁰When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’ “

²¹At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. ²²So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy^[b] are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. ²³Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”

A first, this question from John is puzzling. He had known from before he was born that Jesus was the Messiah (Luke 1:41). They were cousins, close in age, and their parents surely taught them throughout their childhood who they were. John heard the voice of God from Heaven at Jesus’ baptism and called him “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29-34). John definitely knew who Jesus was. So where was this question coming from? Matthew tells us that John was in prison at this time (Matthew 11:2-3). He was imprisoned for having preached against Herod. So this question was probably asked out of discouragement. It seems John had certain expectations about what kind of Messiah Jesus should be. John was a “fire and brimstone” kind of preacher, and may have been wondering why Jesus didn’t call down the wrath of Heaven on his enemies and set him free. He may have thought, “If Jesus is who I thought he was, why am I languishing in prison?” John, like a lot of people, expected Jesus to be a political Messiah, to bring down the corrupt rule of Herod and the Roman occupiers, and to destroy the powers of darkness and judge the unrepentant. When we are discouraged, it’s easy to begin to question who Jesus is and ask, “If God is a God of love, why is this happening to me?”

Jesus kindly corrects John with his reply. He refers to two Messianic prophecies that John would have known well, Isaiah 35:5-6 and Isaiah 6:1, which he quoted when he was rejected at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-19). By referring to these prophecies, he was basically saying to John, “Forget your preconceived ideas about what I’m supposed to do. I am fulfilling the prophecies about me, as you did.” With his last statement to John in verse 23, Jesus warns John not to fall away because Jesus is not doing what he expected. Lots of people lose faith because God did not answer their prayers in the way they thought he should. Blessed are they who continue to believe even though God’s answer to their prayers is different than they hoped.

²⁴After John’s messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? ²⁵If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. ²⁶But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷This is the one about whom it is written:
” ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’^{[c] 28}I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Apparently many who followed Jesus around had also been baptized by John. Jesus turned to the crowd after John’s messengers left and asked them who they went to see. The first two questions appear to be jokes. The crowd knew well that John was neither of those things. But they believed he was a prophet. Jesus confirmed this, but then tells them why John was superior to the other prophets. None of the other prophets, not Moses, Elijah, Isaiah or any of the others were predicted by other prophets. Only John was prophesied, by the prophet Malachi (3:1).

In the New King James, verse 28 is translated “no greater prophet than John the Baptist” rather than “no one greater.” That seems to be in context with the rest of what Jesus said here, but whether he said there was no greater prophet or no greater person than John, Jesus then drove home the point that even as great as John is, he is still less than the least in the kingdom of God. What does that mean? Jesus was ushering in the kingdom of God, which would be established by his death and resurrection. John’s baptism merely prepared people for it. John’s baptism did not save, it was a testimony of their need for a Savior. John did not live to see the kingdom ushered in. He didn’t witness the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and Pentecost. None of the prophets did. Does that mean that even the least of those of us who have been saved by the blood of Jesus are greater in the kingdom of God than Moses, Elijah, and John the Baptist? In the Amplified Bible, the word for greater is translated greater in incomparable privilege. I don’t think Jesus was saying think we’re greater in rank than those giants, but we’re greater in incomparable privilege.

²⁹(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. ³⁰But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)

As I said earlier, John’s baptism prepared those who received it for Jesus’ message. They had admitted their sin and their need for repentance, so they had ears to hear. The religious leaders did not receive John’s baptism, and they did not believe they needed to repent. So Jesus’ message only angered them.

³¹“To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? ³²They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:
” ‘We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not cry.’ ³³For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ‘ ³⁵But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

This must have been a common children’s rhyme or song in that culture, and the parallel, though sort of lost on us, must have been easily understood by those whom Jesus was talking to. I imagine that they found this funny as well as the first two questions about John. Jesus was pointing out the hypocrisy of the religious leaders who didn’t accept John because he was so strict, and didn’t accept Jesus because he wasn’t strict enough. But those weren’t the real reasons they rejected both John and Jesus. Those were just the reasons they gave. The real reason was that John’s and Jesus’ messages convicted them of their sin. Lots of people reject Christianity for false reasons. They may say it’s because of the hypocrites in the church, or they don’t like the pastor, or someone hurt their feelings, or they don’t believe in “organized religion.” But the real reason is that they don’t want to be reminded of the fact that they are sinners.

Mark Bible Jesus, John the Baptist, Luke

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

¹In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— ²during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert.

As in chapter 1, Luke sets the stage for his Gentile reader by listing who the rulers were at the time he resumes his story. He has skipped forward some 21 years, so he gives a sense of where in time he has jumped to this way. We can’t know the exact dates he’s talking about, but the best estimates are around 27-29 A.D. As I said in my blog on the first part of chapter one, some scholars believe that Luke’s gospel and the Book of Acts, which Luke wrote as one long work, may have been originally intended as legal briefs for Paul’s trial in Rome, since Acts ends with Paul waiting for that trial. Listing who all of the officials were may have been part of the official requirements for such a document. The striking thing about that list of names is how cruel, corrupt, or both all of those men were. John and Jesus lived and ministered during cruel, corrupt times.

John was to be a prophet, preparing the way for the Messiah. As with all prophets, the word of God came to him, and he delivered that word.

³He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
⁵Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
⁶And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’ “^[a]

John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. This was different from our Christian baptism, which is an outward testimony of our salvation. This was was more like the baptism that Gentiles received when they converted to Judaism. If, as a Jew, you submitted to this baptism publicly, you were saying that you were just as bad as a Gentile, and needed to repent. The Amplified Bible puts verse 3 this way:

³And he went into all the country round about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance (^[b]of hearty amending of their ways, with abhorrence of past wrongdoing) unto the forgiveness of sin.

What is true repentance? A hearty amending of our ways, with abhorrence of past wrongdoing. Do we really amend our ways? Do we abhor the way we lived before we were saved? I’ve thought for years that one of the reasons, if not the reason modern American Christianity is so weak is that we don’t hate sin like God hates it. We hate other people’s sin, but not our own.

Luke then quotes from Isaiah 40:3-5, again establishing John’s credentials in prophecy as the one who God sent to prepare the way for Jesus. I’ve often wondered what this prophecy meant with all that stuff about filling in valleys and bringing down mountains, and making crooked paths straight. I think what it could mean is that Jesus came to make what was previously a difficult way to be saved easy. Before Jesus, you had to make regular sacrifices and follow thousands of rules. When Jesus came, he paid a terrible price to make salvation easy for us to receive. To paraphrase Oswald Chambers, the reason salvation is so easy for us to attain is that is cost God so much. And as Luke stresses throughout this gospel, salvation was no longer just for Jews, but for everyone. Luke was a Gentile writing to a Gentile audience, and this was a point of emphasis for him. All mankind will see God’s salvation.

⁷John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Not exactly Public Speaking 101. Crowds come out to hear you preach and be baptized by you, and you start by calling them the offspring of snakes? John’s attraction was not in his smooth speaking style. He wasn’t the kind of guy a girl would bring home to her parents. Kids today would call him a freak. And he pretty much was. He lived in the desert, wore weird clothes, and ate bugs and honey. But prophets have always been weird. If you think you’d like to have the gift of prophecy, take a look at the short, sad life of John the Baptist. Read the Book of Ezekiel. These guys didn’t have a lot of fun. When the Word of God really comes upon you in such a way that you’re compelled to shout it to whoever will listen regardless of your own comfort, you’re not going to win any popularity contests. Prophets usually don’t usually live happily ever after.

John’s demand was that the crowds who came to be baptized, showing their need for repentance, actually show that they’ve repented by the way they live. It’s easy to say we’re going to repent, but do we really change our ways? Do our lives show that we’ve repented? Jews often believed that simply being a Jew was enough to be saved. Many people today think that because they were raised in a churchgoing home, or because they were baptized as children, that means they are Christians. But if, as John said, God could raise children of Abraham from stones, can he not also raise marginal Christians from stones?

¹⁰“What should we do then?” the crowd asked.

¹¹John answered, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.”

¹²Tax collectors also came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

¹³“Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told

them. ¹⁴Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

John’s replies to the people’s questions are interesting to me because they are all “social justice” sorts of issues. There’s nothing about sexual sin here, which we’re so fixated on today in our culture. None of these things are what we would call “cultural” issues. They are about sharing with those who have less than we do, not cheating others, and refraining from abuse of power. And what would we say if a preacher told us to be content with our pay? Today, we get so concerned in the Evangelical church about the so-called cultural issues that we tend to forget about issues of social justice. But what does Micah 6:8 say is required of us? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.

¹⁵The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ.^{[b] 16}John answered them all, “I baptize you with^[c] water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” ¹⁸And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them.

¹⁹But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, ²⁰Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

When the crowds wondered if John might be the Messiah, he set them straight. What he was doing was all about Jesus. When you’re drawing big crowds, it easy to make the mistake of thinking that it’s all about you. But like John, we must always be pointing others to Jesus and away from ourselves.

Mark Bible Bible, John the Baptist, Luke

John the Baptist Beheaded

¹⁴King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying,^[c] “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

¹⁵Others said, “He is Elijah.”
And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”

¹⁶But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

¹⁷For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. ¹⁸For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, ²⁰because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled^[d]; yet he liked to listen to him.

When news about Jesus reached Herod and his court, those around Herod speculated about who Jesus was, but Herod immediately assumed Jesus was John the Baptist come back to life. He thought this out of guilt for what he had done to John. John did not perform miracles that we know of, so it’s not rational that Herod would think Jesus was John, especially when Jesus and John were contemporaries. How could Jesus be John raised from the dead when John had baptized Jesus when they were both alive? But guilt is rarely rational.

Herod had been fascinated by John’s preaching, even though John railed against Herod for his sin. It seems as though Herod was open to the idea of repentance, but could not go through with it. I’ve often heard that Elvis Presley wanted to become a Christian, but could not give up his riches and lifestyle. There have always been people like that, and it appears that Herod was one of them. What is so precious to you that it keeps you from committing to Christ?

²¹Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²²When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” ²³And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

²⁴She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”
“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.

²⁵At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

This whole episode appears to have been orchestrated by Herodias, Herod’s wife. She was the one who hated John and wanted to kill him because of his preaching. Her reaction to John’s condemnation of their sin was very different from Herod’s. Some are drawn to calls for repentance, and others react with hostility when their sin is exposed. The depths to which Herodias was willing to go to get rid of John are shocking. We have all seen Salome’s dance portrayed in Biblical movies, but what we see in the movies is almost certainly very tame compared to the actual event. The kinds of dances that took place in these settings were very sexual in nature. What other kind of dance would have pleased Herod so much that he would promise her anything she wanted, up to half his kingdom?

In the decadent court of Herod, he would have seen this sort of entertainment many times, but it would have been performed by professionals, not the royal daughter of his wife. Royal women did not do that sort of thing. It was considered beneath them. Salome was Herod’s niece, and it seems that Herod had a “thing” for her, and Herodias knew about it. Rather than object to it, Herodias decided to use it to her advantage. What kind of mother would put her daughter up to something like this? After the dance, when Herod promised Salome whatever she wanted, she went straight to her mother to ask what to ask for. How many teenage girls do you know that wouldn’t know what to ask for if she was promised whatever she wanted? This just proves that Herodias was behind the whole thing. Herodias knew just what would get through to Herod, and she used it to get what she wanted, even to the point of using her own daughter. If we are ever tempted to consider sexual sin attractive, this is the kind of decadence it leads to.

²⁶The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, ²⁸and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. ²⁹On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

Herod had been willing to imprison John and keep him in chains to please his wife, but he did not want to kill him. But now he felt as if he had to because of peer pressure. He would much rather have given Salome half his kingdom, because in order to do that he would have married her. But now he had to follow through on his promises so as not to lose face in front of all the prominent citizens of Galilee. Be careful what you commit to in front of others. You might have to keep your commitment.

Mark Bible Bible, Herod, John the Baptist, Mark, Salome's dance

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

¹The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.^[a]

²It is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”^[b]—
³“a voice of one calling in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’ “^{[c] 4}And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. ⁶John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷And this was his message: “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸I baptize you with^[d] water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

I feel like I should go through one of the gospels next. I chose Mark because I’ve already done John, and Mark is the only other one that doesn’t start with the Christmas story. When I’m starting a book in December I’ll do Matthew or Luke. The Gospel of Mark is the earliest gospel, as far as we know, and the original “synoptic” gospel. That means, basically, that Matthew and Luke copied from Mark a lot. That was considered OK in those days. The author is believed to be John Mark, one of Jesus’ disciples, but not one of the twelve. His only appearance in his own gospel is believed to be in chapter 14, verse 51-52, in the Garden of Gethsemane. A rather embarrassing debut!

Mark starts with John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus. He preaches much the same message that Jesus would preach. Repent, be baptized, and be saved. John was always very clear about the fact that he was not the Messiah, and that he knew who was. In my view, John’s ministry was the “unofficial” start of the church. The “official” start, of course, was Pentecost. But throughout the gospels the Bible tells us that many believed during Jesus’ ministry, which, in a way, was begun by John. John paved the way and handed off his crowds and disciples to Jesus. Therefore, I believe that many of the Hebrews that were written to in the last book I blogged about may well have first believed during the ministries of John and Jesus. The church began right here.

The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus

⁹At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

¹²At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, ¹³and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

The Gospel of John gives a much more complete account of this story. We know from Luke’s account that John and Jesus were cousins. They were close in age, and probably knew each other very well. I imagine that they planned Jesus’ baptism with the agreement that after that, John would hand off his followers to Jesus. But the voice of God speaking and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove is not something you can plan. Those of us who plan church services can plan the best service we know how, and prepare spiritually as best we can, but God moves in his own time and in his own way.

The Calling of the First Disciples

¹⁴After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ¹⁵“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

¹⁶As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” ¹⁸At once they left their nets and followed him.

¹⁹When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. ²⁰Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Mark’s account of the calling of the first disciples is brief and without many details. We know from John’s gospel Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, and that he talked to Peter about following Jesus. So when Jesus came to call on them, they were ready to follow. We don’t have a back story for James and John, but I suspect something similar happened. Nobody leaves their family business and everything they’ve known without some groundwork having been laid by someone. When we witness to others, whether it be with words, or simply by living a consistent Christian life in front of them, we are laying the groundwork for them to respond when they feel the call of Christ on them. We can witness, but only God can call.

Mark Bible Bible, Jesus, John the Baptist, Mark