Read Mark 11:26-33
Did Jesus Come From God Or Not?
Once again Jesus and his disciples go to Jerusalem and enter the Temple Courts. They were just there the day before when he cleansed the temple by turning over the tables of those using God’s house for selling and cheating people with the sales of animals. When Jesus had done this, the chief priests and teachers of the law were furious and we’re planning on how they could kill Jesus.
So when Jesus showed up again, they asked Jesus, “Who gave you the authority to do the things you are doing?” Jesus saw that their evil hearts were trying to make false accusations against him. Jesus was more concerned with the revelation of the truth than he was in playing games with them. So he answered their question with a question that actually would give a revelation of who he was and by what Authority he was doing all these things.
Jesus answered, “If you answer my question then I’ll tell you by what Authority I am doing these things. Was John’s baptism from heaven or from human origin? Tell me!!” Wow, he was putting it all on them to answer the question!
The chief priests and the teachers of the law discussed this amongst themselves. They drew this conclusion:
“If we say he is from God then Jesus will ask us why didn’t we believe what John the Baptist said? ” In other words, Why didn’t they believe John was a prophet that prepared the way of the Lord? Why didn’t they believe the revelation that Jesus was the Messiah? That Jesus’s Authority came from God. But then they also said, “If we say “John’s did not come from God,” then they feared the people because they saw Jesus as the Messiah, the one whose authority came from God. So rather than admit the truth they chose to answer, “We don’t know!”
So Jesus, having made his point in answering their question that his Authority came from God, he responded, “Neither will I tell you by what Authority I am doing these things.” When in fact Jesus really did tell them by the question he asked. But he said it in a way so that the chief priests and the teachers of the law could not make accusations against him. He answered their question without playing their games.
So by what Authority do you say Jesus did all he did? Was it from God or was he just another man that came to Earth and eventually died? How you answer this question will determine how you live your life for Jesus. To say he was from God, that he is the Messiah who saved us from our sins, means you will surrender your heart to Jesus and follow him 100%. But for some people that means giving up some of the pleasures of this world. Here are three answers that some may give to the question:
1. They deny Christ’s Authority and declare he was just a “good man” that came to Earth.
2. They just outright say we don’t believe in God because they don’t want to be held accountable for living in sin. Not believing in God convinces them that there are no consequences for their life choices.
3. We give up everything in this world that has become our god, our crutch, are selfish pleasures and then we follow Jesus 100%. I pray you choose not to play games with Jesus because the consequences are eternal and he does hold us accountable for our choices we make on Earth.
