1. Do have difficulty with authority structures?
2. Do you have a place of authority in any area of life?
3. Have you ever had a situation in which you had to challenge authority?
4. Have you ever had a situation in which you had to disobey authorities in order to obey God?
5. How do you feel about the authority structure in the family?
Last
week we looked at Jesus cleaning the Temple so obviously He was acting as
someone who had authority. Anytime
someone acts in authority there will always be those who challenge that
authority.
Today
we are going to answer a few important questions...who is in authority and how
do we as Christians respond.
Vrs
27-28 The Priests and Scribes wanted to
know where Jesus got His authority
Interestingly
enough Mark 2:10 Jesus proves His
authority early on. When He forgave the paralyzed mans sins and then proved He
could by healing Him.
Vrs
29-30
William Lane
states "answering a question with a question was common in rabbinic
debate"
The
ministry of John the Baptist affected the split between the people and their
leaders. When John came on the scene
proclaiming the path for the Messiah it caused a rift between the people and
the leaders.
Vrs
31-32 Their dilemma, If they say from
man the people will revolt because they saw John as a Prophet and if they say
from heaven they were saying John and Jesus where sent of God.
The
started to realize that without the support of the people they had no real
authority.
So
they said "we don't know"
Vrs
33 Neither will I tell you, the sentiment here is Jesus is saying you don't
really want to know for yourself you are just trying to cause trouble for Him
and keep your high position of authority.
The
chief priests and scribes authority was being challenged by Jesus and by the
fact that the people no longer wanted to believe them.
Jesus
question leads us to believe that there are two schools of thought on where
authority comes from. Man & Heaven
(God)
Where
does true authority come from?
Man? If these men realized it did not come from
man they would not have feared what man thought about them. They most likely believed that other people
where the reason why they remained in authority so they did not want to upset
those people.
If
authority solely came from man we may be in trouble. Here are a few things the Bible says about
man...
Authority is not
from people
-There
is a way that seems right to people
Proverbs 14:12
-People
betray Luke 22:48
-People
Lead others astray Psalm 40:4
-Some
trust in people Psalm 118:8 Micah 7:5-7
Authority comes
from Heaven.
If
authority comes from heaven what is that authority saying and shouldn't we
listen?
What
is heaven telling us?
-Wrath
against unrighteousness Rom. 1:18
-Do
not fear man Heb 13:6
-The
gospel from heaven, through the spirit, through others 1 Peter 1:12 GOSPEL
-Jesus
will judge all. 1 Peter 4:5
-Well
done for serving Matt 25:21
-Jesus
is coming again 1 Thess 2 Thess 1:7
So
if authority does not come from man...how come people are in authority, where does
their authority come from?, How should we respond? & Should we question
authority?
A Christian and
Authority
-Authority
always comes from God Romans 13:1-7
-Obey
secular authorities Col 3:23
-Obey
spiritual authorizes Heb. 13:17
-Family
authority structure. Parents Eph. 6 Husbands Eph. 5:22
-Make
sure authorities are doing right. Acts
17:11
-Obey
authorities unless they conflict with the Lord.
Acts 5:28-29
Bottom
line is...
When
we listen to heaven (Jesus) we don't have to be overly concerned about what man
has to say. Because true authority comes
from Heaven.
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