Read 2 Samuel 8-9, Ezekiel 47, and Mark 11.
This devotional is about Mark 11.
Jesus had been to Jerusalem many times before, but here in Mark 11, he entered the city in a way that he hadn’t entered it before. In verses 1-11, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a colt in an event known as the “Triumphal Entry.” This event had been prophesied in Zechariah 9;9 and everyone who saw this knew that Jesus was declaring himself to be the prophesied Messiah, the coming king. You can see that in verse 10a where the people shouted, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
After presenting himself as king in verses 1-11, Jesus demonstrated his authority as Messiah by cursing a fig tree that immediately withered (vv. 12-14, 20-25) and by driving from the temple the men who had turned it into a marketplace (vv. 15-17). In the middle of that section, Mark wrote in verse 18 “The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.”
Before killing him, the same bunch of people—the chief priests and the teachers of the law (cf. vv. 18, 27)–tried to discredit Jesus. They challenged him to authenticate his authority. Verse 28 says, “‘“By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?'”
God is the obvious answer to their question. Jesus had fulfilled many prophesies about the coming Messiah to show that he was from God. He had demonstrated his miraculous power over and over again to show that he was God. This was more than enough evidence to prove that he had the authority of God with him and behind everything he did. These men who were chief priests and teachers of the law should have been the first to recognize Jesus as Messiah! They knew God’s word and were supposedly waiting for the Messiah, so they should have known who Jesus was and should have welcomed him, the king, just as ardently as the people did in verses 9-10.
Instead of receiving their king, these religious men were looking to kill him and discredit him. When they questioned Jesus’s authority in verse 28, Jesus agreed to answer their question on one condition: They had to tell Jesus whether John the Baptist’s teaching was from God or if John made it all up himself. If these priests and law-teachers gave Jesus either one of the two possible answers, Jesus said he would tell them where his authority came from, according to verse 29.
These religious leaders knew that Jesus had them. If they affirmed that John’s teaching came from God, Jesus would ask they they didn’t accept John and follow his teaching (v. 31). But if they said his teaching was from men, they would lose credibility with the people. Verse 32 says, “‘But if we say, “Of human origin”‘ … (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)” So, they refused to answer Jesus’s question and he, in turn, refused to answer their’s.
The purpose of this story in Mark’s gospel is to show us why Jesus didn’t become king but, instead, was crucified. Jesus’s enemies conspired against him and got him executed. This was all part of God’s plan because we needed God to provide redemption for our sins, which Christ did when he died on the cross.
But the point for us to consider today is about why people reject Jesus. These men claimed to love God and they definitely knew scripture. Jesus gave them every scriptural reason to receive him and no scriptural reason to reject him. But reject him they did because they had a spiritual problem. Like every unbeliever, they needed the saving grace of Christ to turn from their unbelief and trust him.
Some people do have genuine questions about Christ. When Jesus encountered people like that, he answered their questions directly. But many questions–especially ones that are designed to trip you up–are simply expressions of unbelief by someone who has rejected who Jesus really is.
So, whenever we speak about Christ, we need to pray for those who hear us, that God will open their hearts to the gospel. And, we need to focus on talking to those who want to hear, rather than those who want to argue. I hope you have an opportunity to share Christ today. If you do, ask the Lord to open the heart of the person you talk to so that he or she will hear what God’s word has to say.