WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.960 So, we're going to look back this morning at the passage that we read in our ongoing 00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:07.360 study of Mark's gospel. 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:13.320 We begin to see structures and patterns of what Mark, through the Spirit of God, is trying 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:21.440 to do as he unpacks and unveils the character and the person of Jesus and applies him and 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:24.560 the truth of Jesus to our hearts and our lives today. 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:30.799 And I think that's very, very important recognition as we study Scripture. 00:00:30.799 --> 00:00:33.920 It's a living, breathing word. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:35.119 There's nothing like it. 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:38.719 And it comes into our hearts and comes into our lives. 00:00:38.719 --> 00:00:43.679 But I'm going to ask you to consider another statement from Scripture, from the Bible, 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:51.159 from God's word, a statement that's made in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 10. 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:56.919 Just as an introduction to make us think a little bit about our attitude to Jesus, okay, 00:00:56.919 --> 00:00:59.359 our attitude to Jesus Christ. 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:05.719 I'm sure, I think it will be a challenge, for we must all appear before the judgment 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:07.840 seat of Christ. 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:18.239 Now, that's immediately got to spark your interest or make you uncomfortable in your 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:24.560 seat or make you wonder about life and where I am in life and what I'm doing, for we must 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:28.919 all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. 00:01:28.919 --> 00:01:32.079 In many ways, it's a statement that should change the whole of our lives. 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:37.640 It should actually change everything about what we're saying and thinking today. 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:42.640 And in many ways, a statement like that, what it does for us, it triggers this reality for 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:48.119 us that what we do, you know, we're together, but how much thought did I put into coming 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:52.640 today and preaching, how much thought did you put into coming to church today? 00:01:52.640 --> 00:01:55.200 It's just a routine, it's something that we just go through. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:02:01.520 But in a sense, it should change your thinking because if that statement is right, then what 00:02:01.520 --> 00:02:04.120 we're doing here is all or nothing. 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:06.320 Well, if it's right, it's all. 00:02:06.320 --> 00:02:11.800 If it's wrong, then, well, let's just close up shop just now, because that is an incredible 00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:13.439 reality, isn't it? 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:19.599 It is a kind of all or nothing statement that we need to consider, because Jesus is either 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:25.120 who He claims to be and who Mark has spent all this time that we've been looking at revealing 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:28.159 Himself, or we should just ditch Him. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:33.479 Let's just ditch Him altogether if it's not true and if what is being told to us about 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:40.319 Jesus is not accurate, because we are called, as believers, we're called this morning to 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:42.079 accept by faith. 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:49.320 Yes, by faith, of course, that the Bible is God's revelation of Himself to us. 00:02:49.320 --> 00:02:52.920 That's what we're called to do, because if it's not that, then it's just a mishmash 00:02:52.920 --> 00:03:01.160 of religious musings that may have limited value or significance, but is of no real, 00:03:01.160 --> 00:03:06.000 powerful, life-changing, dynamic relevance to us. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:11.400 And it may be that subconsciously we think that, because if we go from here and the word 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:16.960 of God itself makes no difference to our day-to-day life as we move out of here, it's 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:23.680 maybe highly relevant for this one hour, but if it has no relevance from in our relationships, 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:28.719 in our thinking, in our workplace, in our decisions, in our actions, then it may be 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:34.800 that we've lost sight of who Jesus is, and that is absolutely easy to do. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:39.719 So we struggle sometimes, don't we, with the whole idea of God's authority and Jesus 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:42.039 Christ's authority. 00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:47.000 We find it difficult to, well, I find it often difficult to dovetail grace and love, which 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:50.319 we speak about a lot, with authority. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:52.319 We love the idea of love. 00:03:52.319 --> 00:04:00.280 We all love the idea of love, but we recoil from a love that claims our submission and 00:04:00.280 --> 00:04:06.400 has its own authority, because these are two tainted words in our society. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:08.599 They are canceled words. 00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:16.759 We can't use submission and authority because of the connotations they have with things that 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:18.360 we recoil against. 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:22.680 Now, we recognize that authority always has to do with power. 00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:29.159 And in our minds so often, and in my mind so often, power is either something to be afraid 00:04:29.159 --> 00:04:35.279 of, something that's abused, or something that we want for ourselves. 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:38.480 And submission, on the other hand, is just weakness. 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:45.160 So you get power, and you've, sorry, you've got submission and you've got authority. 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:48.640 And these two things are dovetailed, both in that claim of Jesus, and we're going to 00:04:48.640 --> 00:04:49.640 come and look at it in a minute. 00:04:49.640 --> 00:04:50.640 I'm getting there. 00:04:50.640 --> 00:04:51.640 It's a long introduction. 00:04:51.640 --> 00:04:54.160 We're going to get to this passage. 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:59.280 But we find these two things absolutely dovetailed in the life of Jesus Christ. 00:04:59.280 --> 00:05:04.680 So you get Christ who makes this incredible, significant claim that He's uniquely God and 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:12.079 that He holds both perfect love and justice and power together in His infinite being without 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:13.079 abuse. 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:16.000 We know all about abuse, power. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:17.519 We know all about it in the church. 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:20.120 We hear about it all the time and we know it exists. 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:26.240 But here we have Jesus Christ who says He holds perfect power and also love without abuse. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:32.879 And also that He, secondly, that He claims absolute authority over every living human 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:41.439 being, including all of us in here today, as our Creator and as we saw in that verse 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:47.079 from Corinthians, our ultimate judge, the one before whom all of us will stand face 00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:48.079 to face. 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:56.680 Now, this passage is about Jesus meeting with different people who are questioning His authority. 00:05:56.680 --> 00:06:04.639 And His answers are soaked with significance and wisdom and revelation about Himself. 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:11.360 And I hope it triggers some deep responses in your own life and mind about whose authority 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:18.360 that you submit to and why or how you regard Jesus and whether He's maybe just a comfort 00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:22.120 blanket that we can pick up and drop as we need Him. 00:06:22.120 --> 00:06:26.680 What if He's the sovereign King of kings that He claims to be who is worthy alone of our 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:32.000 worship and of our submission to His authority? 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:40.280 Now, I recognize that perfect love and perfect justice under His authority is a hard concept 00:06:40.280 --> 00:06:44.160 to imagine because we don't see it in this world in which we live. 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:54.240 But we accept it by faith and we come to Him recognizing who He is. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:58.520 And as we recognize that, we do so knowing that there's a great cost to that. 00:06:58.520 --> 00:07:03.520 It'll be a great cost to you in your workplace, in your home life, among your fellow students, 00:07:03.520 --> 00:07:07.840 wherever we are, to submit to the authority of Jesus. 00:07:07.840 --> 00:07:11.000 It's not something people do. 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:22.639 And yet, in our lives, we're slavishly following our instincts so often or slavishly just submitting 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:28.519 to our own unpredictable selves or to the volatile crowd around us. 00:07:28.519 --> 00:07:30.519 So there's three different ways. 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:33.639 In this passage, it's neatly broken into three. 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:37.839 You can see that with the headings because Mark's introducing us to three different groups 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:40.279 of people who are undermining Jesus' authority. 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:43.599 We're going to look at that and then look at Jesus' responses quickly. 00:07:43.599 --> 00:07:47.919 So first of all, the first section is the section with the leaders, the Herodians and 00:07:47.919 --> 00:07:52.639 the Pharisees who question Jesus about paying taxes to Caesar. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:57.639 And they're questioning His impartiality really in many sense. 00:07:57.639 --> 00:08:04.479 So you've got this unholy alliance, insincere conspirators coming together to try and trip 00:08:04.479 --> 00:08:06.079 up Jesus Christ. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:10.239 And they very much together reflect the political situation of the day, which we all know about 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:16.519 it mainly, usually if we've been here and heard the story about Rome occupying Palestine 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:23.000 and the Jews being under submission and subjugation to the Roman Empire. 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:29.720 And the Pharisees hated the Roman occupation and all that it stood for, especially Caesar 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:35.360 who claimed to be a god and whose image on the coin that they were going to share shortly, 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:40.639 it was an invitation to recognize Him as a deity. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:44.879 And then the Herodians on the other half, they were a group of people who were kind 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:50.120 of political fly by knights. 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:55.120 They were people who enjoyed the situation of Roman authority because they were tended 00:08:55.120 --> 00:09:00.080 to be rich and powerful and they benefited from the ruling classes of the Roman Empire 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:01.080 being there. 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:06.600 They were the kind of tax collecting people and others who shared authority, even though 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:14.960 it was kind of a puppet authority in the region of Palestine. 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:22.160 So two very different groups coming together with different motives trying to trip up Jesus. 00:09:22.160 --> 00:09:27.000 And they thought they would find out that He had no authority over their particular 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:29.120 group. 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:34.399 He must have some ulterior motive that they could expose by asking them this question, 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:37.200 you know, who should we pay this money to? 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:44.720 Should we give authority to Caesar or should we give authority to God? 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:49.159 And they thought they could question any kind of rightful authority He had by bringing 00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:56.360 Him down to a human level and expose that He was only significant for one particular 00:09:56.360 --> 00:09:59.360 group or one particular idea. 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:09.120 Now, it's interesting that that's no real difference in what many people say today, 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:14.240 that Jesus can't have ultimate authority over every different kind of group. 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:21.159 There must be a motive behind what He's doing and also people take Him and use Him their 00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:22.159 own way. 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:26.719 So many people will argue that He's just a historical figure who's been hijacked over 00:10:26.719 --> 00:10:34.600 the centuries by whatever cause benefits from having Jesus as their liberator. 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:38.719 Many people will say He's just a Western Savior, which is kind of ironic, isn't it? 00:10:38.719 --> 00:10:41.719 Or He's a God of the political right. 00:10:41.719 --> 00:10:48.959 Or He's a Protestant God, or a Catholic God, or a liberation theological God. 00:10:48.959 --> 00:10:50.480 But He can't be everyone's God. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:11:00.800 He's a free church God, and He's a Baptist God, a God whoever needs Him on their side. 00:11:00.800 --> 00:11:02.639 But He's not my God. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.680 He's someone else's God. 00:11:05.680 --> 00:11:07.320 He has no authority over me. 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:09.240 He might be the Herodian's God. 00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:11.200 He might be the Pharisee's God. 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:17.480 He might be some God of the poorer classes of Palestine, but He's not my God. 00:11:17.480 --> 00:11:18.800 He's not my authority. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:20.919 He can't speak on my behalf. 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:26.359 And that's what they were trying to expose, that He had no authority over them, which 00:11:26.359 --> 00:11:33.559 brings us to the second group, the Sadducees in verses 18 to 27, who ask about the resurrection 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:37.279 with this rather strange illustration that they bring to Him. 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:45.519 They try to expose His lack of authority by ridiculing His theology, by ridiculing what 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:47.519 He believed. 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:53.439 Now, in this interaction, I certainly don't know, and I don't think the commentators know, 00:11:53.439 --> 00:11:56.240 a great deal about the Sadducees is a group. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:01.639 We don't really understand exactly all that they stood for or who they represented. 00:12:01.639 --> 00:12:04.000 But one thing we do know was they didn't believe in the resurrection. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:08.840 We're told that here in this passage as they question Him about the resurrection. 00:12:08.840 --> 00:12:12.799 They deny the reality of any kind of life after death. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:14.399 Okay? 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:18.840 And so what they did was they took this Old Testament law that was in the law of Moses 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:22.959 and from Deuteronomy 25, it's called the Leverite law. 00:12:22.959 --> 00:12:28.120 And it's a bit of a weird law for us, a bit strange for us. 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:34.319 This whole idea of the duty of a brother law for women was married to someone and didn't 00:12:34.319 --> 00:12:36.919 have children and their husband died then. 00:12:36.919 --> 00:12:44.159 The brother of the husband was legally duty bound to come and to marry her. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:48.639 So that there would be children and an inheritance and a future from them. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:52.959 And then they go on to this ridiculous idea of all seven brothers. 00:12:52.959 --> 00:12:55.360 Maybe that's where seven brides, where seven brothers came from. 00:12:55.360 --> 00:13:00.519 But this idea now, whose husband would she be in the resurrection? 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:05.519 Now, I know that the law itself seems a bit weird to us, but in the ancient Near East, 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:10.639 the passing on of the family name and the inheritance was hugely significant within 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:14.759 that tribal reality. 00:13:14.759 --> 00:13:19.679 Very important in lots of different ways, in economic ways, in social ways and religious 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:20.679 ways. 00:13:20.679 --> 00:13:23.759 Important for the widow as well as for the family. 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:31.279 But they used this Old Testament practice to mock the whole idea of the afterlife and 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:34.439 give us a sense of who's who of the afterlife? 00:13:34.439 --> 00:13:39.639 Who's going to be married in this context in the afterlife? 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:45.439 I wonder if that's any different again from today, you know? 00:13:45.439 --> 00:13:53.519 The whole idea of mocking the theology, the teaching of Jesus, the teaching of God's word 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:56.840 to make it seem ridiculous and to make it seem unbelievable. 00:13:56.840 --> 00:14:02.240 And it may, how many people will mock the idea of the resurrection itself if we take 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:04.439 this particular example? 00:14:04.439 --> 00:14:09.159 You know, what is it going to be like if all these things are going to happen? 00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:15.399 How can it be that there will be a resurrection and they mock Jesus' authority to teach such 00:14:15.399 --> 00:14:16.399 things? 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:19.639 And it's, I don't think it's very different today. 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:20.799 An uncreated God. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:22.799 Ah, who created God? 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:25.279 Surely you must have an answer to that. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:33.799 God coming in the flesh, the virgin birth, miracles, a crucified physical resurrection, 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:39.559 this confined within a loving marriage, the sanctity of the unborn, heaven and hell, all 00:14:39.559 --> 00:14:44.839 of these things are used by many people just to mock the teaching and mock the authority 00:14:44.839 --> 00:14:46.839 of Jesus. 00:14:46.839 --> 00:14:56.799 Seriously, seriously, you're asking me to submit to the author of these fantasies and his authoritative 00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:58.719 claims in our life? 00:14:58.719 --> 00:14:59.719 It's ridiculous. 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:06.040 It's mockery, which is what the Sadducees were doing to deny the authority of Jesus 00:15:06.040 --> 00:15:07.040 over them. 00:15:07.040 --> 00:15:14.639 And then lastly, we come to an interesting interaction between this religious leader, 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:19.800 one of the scribes, who had heard Jesus' responses and who asked him about the greatest 00:15:19.800 --> 00:15:20.800 commandment. 00:15:20.800 --> 00:15:26.840 And Jesus gave this remarkable answer about love being the loving of God and the loving 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:35.879 of one another, which is truly remarkable, remarkably beautiful answer to the one question 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:42.639 about the one command, the two are fused in together, loving God and loving one another. 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:50.480 And now, we may differ on this, and I'm probably coming to a slightly different conclusion, 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:57.320 but I wonder whether this scribe was, Jesus says he's nearly in the kingdom, okay? 00:15:57.320 --> 00:15:59.720 So it's a wise answer. 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:03.759 He responds to the wise answer of Jesus in a good way. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:07.840 But I wonder whether also with him, because he's not yet in the kingdom, Jesus says, 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:13.639 whether there's a sense in which he's at this point still patronizing Jesus a little bit 00:16:13.639 --> 00:16:19.120 as simply being a good moral teacher and not the divine son. 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:22.639 It's quite interesting, isn't it, this section? 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:25.600 He's called in verse 34, not yet a follower. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:32.639 There is a degree of insight, but we're not told that he gets up and follows Jesus. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:39.519 We're not giving an indication yet that Jesus is the King of kings, that he would follow. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:42.840 He may have gone on to do so, we hope and pray. 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:47.240 But he liked the moral teaching of Jesus and the wisdom of Christ. 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:53.840 But it almost comes across in this little section that it still seemed to be on his own terms. 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:58.560 He asks Jesus the question and Jesus give the answer and he says, yeah, you're right. 00:16:58.560 --> 00:17:01.200 Perhaps, yes, you've got it right. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:05.160 It's almost as if he's saying, Jesus agrees with me. 00:17:05.160 --> 00:17:10.359 Now, that might be a bit harsh and that might just come from my harsh, unforgiving spirit. 00:17:10.359 --> 00:17:18.240 But we don't know exactly what was in his heart, but it does seem to be that he's going 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:24.959 to Jesus and is measuring Jesus' answer against his own standard. 00:17:24.959 --> 00:17:29.439 And maybe that comes a little bit more into our own context rather than the other two, 00:17:29.439 --> 00:17:33.599 which are more overtly antagonistic towards Jesus. 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:40.759 Maybe in a church context, this is more common that people are sympathetic with the moral 00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:42.439 teaching of Jesus. 00:17:42.439 --> 00:17:45.639 They like everything about the Christian faith. 00:17:45.639 --> 00:17:46.919 There's a sympathy there. 00:17:46.919 --> 00:17:54.959 They may find that they live more or less by much of the moral code and conduct that 00:17:54.959 --> 00:17:56.639 Jesus espouses. 00:17:56.639 --> 00:18:01.279 But within their own framework, it's almost like they take bits of Jesus. 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:06.920 And if it matches their own framework for living, then that's great. 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:09.720 And they can say, yeah, that's great when Jesus teaches about that. 00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:11.879 That fits in with my thinking. 00:18:11.879 --> 00:18:18.480 And admire his wisdom, but to follow him, to submit to his authority. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:21.399 Well, that's just going a bit too far. 00:18:21.399 --> 00:18:23.559 That's maybe just fanatical. 00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:28.039 I'll just be a Christian from a distance. 00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:29.279 I don't need his people. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:31.039 I don't need to be under his authority. 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:34.399 I love some of the things that he talks about. 00:18:34.399 --> 00:18:43.039 But there's not that submission to his lordship and to his authority and to his salvation and 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:53.960 to his right to our lives as the one before whom we will all stand one day. 00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:56.319 So there's these three interesting situations. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:06.439 Now briefly, let's look at Jesus' three responses and apply them into our own hearts and situations. 00:19:06.439 --> 00:19:10.919 As he is challenged about his authority in different ways, Jesus answers beautifully in 00:19:10.919 --> 00:19:11.919 these passages. 00:19:11.919 --> 00:19:18.319 With regard to the first situation paying taxes to Caesar, there's an implicit teaching 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:22.159 that he gently pushes out towards them. 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:26.279 He says render to Caesar things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's and they 00:19:26.279 --> 00:19:27.279 marvel that. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:36.519 Now there's a definite play on words and on what he's trying to get across here. 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:42.880 There's a play in the word image because we're told that when he's given the coin about 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:47.880 paying taxes to Caesar, he says, bring me a denarius, bring me a coin. 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:52.720 And he says whose inscription is on it, whose likeness and inscription. 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:57.960 Now in Greek, these are the words that are used in Genesis of us being made in the image 00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:00.960 of God. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:04.760 Then he goes on to say render to God what is due to God. 00:20:04.760 --> 00:20:13.640 And in a sense, Jesus is saying, well, look, the Pharisees hated Rome and they hated paying 00:20:13.640 --> 00:20:14.640 taxes. 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:19.800 But it's interesting, I think, as a little aside that Jesus doesn't have a coin himself. 00:20:19.800 --> 00:20:21.560 We don't know why necessarily. 00:20:21.560 --> 00:20:25.600 That was the case except that he didn't really have any money, it seems to be. 00:20:25.600 --> 00:20:28.320 But the Jews actually obviously did. 00:20:28.320 --> 00:20:33.200 And so they thought it was good enough to have the coins, but yet they despised everything 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:34.520 that Rome stood for. 00:20:34.520 --> 00:20:38.560 But anyway, the image of Caesar was on this coin. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:45.559 And Jesus, in a sense, pushing the authority and the leadership of Rome into its rightful 00:20:45.559 --> 00:20:50.359 place, he says, well, if it's his coin, and he's paying taxes, then pay to Caesar what 00:20:50.359 --> 00:20:51.559 is due to Caesar. 00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:57.079 But this image, he says, it's only an image on a coin. 00:20:57.079 --> 00:21:03.319 It's fading, the coin will be thrown away, it'll be handled and mishandled by sweaty 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:13.000 grubby hands, but he says, give to God the honor that is due to him because we are made 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:15.000 in his image. 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:17.960 And that is an image that can never be wiped away. 00:21:17.960 --> 00:21:23.319 He's worthy of our allegiance because he made us and we are made in his image. 00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:26.159 He's our only God, he's our only Creator. 00:21:26.159 --> 00:21:31.000 We're made for him and by him and to be with him. 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:35.920 And as our Creator, we owe him our life, every single one of us owe him the breath that allows 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:38.400 us to be here today. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:48.279 And we will stand before him on that great day, as will Caesar, whose image as an idol 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:52.200 was on these coins. 00:21:52.200 --> 00:22:00.000 And here is Jesus Christ, who's taken on that image, standing in the flesh, in perfection 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:08.440 because we have seen our image before God and our relationship with God broken and marred, 00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:09.440 needing restoration. 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:19.440 True of every living soul, and he has taken on our flesh in order to be a redeemer, in 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:24.480 order to make that day a great day. 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:30.920 Consider why Jesus took on flesh and consider that Jesus at this point, shortly before his 00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:38.160 death, had his mind on a greater debt that he was about to pay on our behalf as they 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:40.559 talked about money and taxes. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:46.079 He was thinking in his flesh of a greater debt that he was about to face. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:52.640 So you are an image bearer, is why Jesus Christ is the authority over us today because 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:55.960 we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 00:22:55.960 --> 00:23:03.800 But the second response is brilliant when he speaks to the Sadducees. 00:23:03.800 --> 00:23:05.360 Mark finishes with it. 00:23:05.360 --> 00:23:09.040 It's very dramatic and it's very stripped back. 00:23:09.040 --> 00:23:11.880 He just says, you are quite wrong. 00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:13.720 You're just quite wrong. 00:23:13.720 --> 00:23:16.720 That's the response that he gives. 00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:20.640 On the resurrection specifically, he says, you're badly mistaken. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:26.360 You could be translated, you have greatly gone astray. 00:23:26.360 --> 00:23:30.960 So in this question about the resurrection, he appeals to the Bible itself, the authority 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:36.759 of the Bible's revelation, the power of God, the nature of heaven, but it becomes his own, 00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:37.759 doesn't it? 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:40.080 Read that again, read that section again. 00:23:40.080 --> 00:23:47.440 Jesus is speaking with incredible confidence about heaven, where he's come from, and about 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:49.240 the resurrection. 00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:55.120 These before his own resurrection, he could say, when the dead rise, this is what will 00:23:55.120 --> 00:23:56.120 happen. 00:23:56.120 --> 00:24:04.599 Not only is he in fleshed as he is bearing our image, the brokenness on our behalf, but 00:24:04.599 --> 00:24:11.120 he is about to die on the cross and know that in his power and in the glory of his strength 00:24:11.120 --> 00:24:16.079 and in the depth of his love, he's going to defeat death and on the third day rise. 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:21.480 Before we've looked at that recently, three different references to the resurrection that 00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:25.359 he gave to the disciples, and they didn't understand that they didn't know what he's 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:26.639 talking about. 00:24:26.639 --> 00:24:33.599 And his anticipation, sorry, his resurrection anticipates and seals your resurrection and 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:36.000 mine if we trust in him. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:44.720 And it's just such an incredible reminder of the authority of Jesus over death and over 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:52.000 truth that he claims with confidence and that he says is going to be the reality shortly 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:56.759 as he defeats the power of evil and grief and death on our behalf, as he becomes forsaken 00:24:56.759 --> 00:24:58.640 so that we aren't forsaken. 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:05.839 That's the reality and that's the beauty of what he is revealing by his authority. 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:11.360 And it's a, maybe it's a wake up call sometimes to us about the complacency of with which 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:19.240 we treat the authority of his love, which is incomprehensible and the glory of his justice, 00:25:19.240 --> 00:25:20.479 which is inscrutable. 00:25:20.479 --> 00:25:28.719 But here he speaks with authority about who he is, about his relevance to every living 00:25:28.719 --> 00:25:33.799 being, every living human being because we are made in his image, and authority because 00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:36.799 he is power over death in the resurrection. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:44.200 And lastly, we come to the greatest commandment that this scribe asks him about. 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:55.519 And in responding to this, again, Jesus is basically saying, I'm the king, you're not. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:56.519 I'm the king. 00:25:56.519 --> 00:26:01.279 But isn't it interesting in his response to the guy gives a pretty good answer? 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:09.519 Well, he agrees with Jesus' good answer and he responds himself with a good answer. 00:26:09.519 --> 00:26:13.960 Jesus says, yeah, but you're not far from the kingdom. 00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:17.839 Now, only the king can say that. 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:19.879 Only the king. 00:26:19.879 --> 00:26:23.519 Only the king can make that authoritative statement about the heart of this guy. 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:24.759 I can't. 00:26:24.759 --> 00:26:26.720 We don't really know his heart. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:31.240 We can surmise whether he was sympathetic or whether he was just cat-catch me. 00:26:31.240 --> 00:26:34.039 But Jesus could say, you're not far from the kingdom. 00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:36.799 Great, gentle, yet powerful words. 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:44.319 And he's responding to this question about the command with this great recognition that 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:50.880 there's only one entry point to eternal life, only one entry point to the kingdom. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:52.720 And it's Jesus himself. 00:26:52.720 --> 00:27:00.480 Because Jesus himself, as he stands here, is the only one who loves God with all his 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:04.160 heart, soul, strength and mind and loves his neighbour as himself. 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:09.000 He is the living answer to this question that he gives. 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:14.120 He is this expression of love that none of us can reach up to and none of us can meet. 00:27:14.120 --> 00:27:20.880 But he does it in our place so that we can come to him and be forgiven because of him 00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:24.120 taking the cost in our place, the substitute. 00:27:24.120 --> 00:27:29.320 We get his righteousness he receives and takes our guilt upon himself. 00:27:29.320 --> 00:27:31.360 He is this love. 00:27:31.360 --> 00:27:37.040 He is this perfect love that's worked out through his death and resurrection. 00:27:37.040 --> 00:27:41.680 Is that a great verse of that greater love as no man in this? 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:44.800 And you lay down his life with his friends? 00:27:44.800 --> 00:27:49.480 That's what gives him authority. 00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:55.279 Even before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, because he's the authority because of his 00:27:55.279 --> 00:28:01.360 deep and powerful and substitutionary love in our place. 00:28:01.360 --> 00:28:07.920 He is the one who alone loves in this way but who gives that love to us so that we might 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:08.920 be saved. 00:28:08.920 --> 00:28:09.920 There is no other name. 00:28:09.920 --> 00:28:12.759 There's no other name. 00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:14.720 Can you name one? 00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:17.240 Given among men by which we could be saved. 00:28:17.240 --> 00:28:18.240 Is there? 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:20.839 Is there anyone else? 00:28:20.839 --> 00:28:29.839 He is the king of kings and he speaks as the king of kings here about his lordship and about 00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:35.559 the significance of love, a loving God and loving one another. 00:28:35.559 --> 00:28:45.000 It's a remarkable passage and following all of this, nobody asked him any more questions 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:51.599 because his answers were so authoritative and they marveled at him. 00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:54.279 And that's the challenge that we find in a passage like this. 00:28:54.279 --> 00:28:59.079 It's all about the authority of Jesus, not the authority of the church, not the authority 00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:05.200 of an individual, not our own authority, but the authority and the claims of Jesus Christ. 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:09.279 Go back to the opening verse that we read from 2 Corinthians 5, 10, for we must all 00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:14.759 appear before the judgment seat of Christ. 00:29:14.759 --> 00:29:22.440 Before the judgment seat of popular thinking or of the latest zeitgeist of the day or even 00:29:22.440 --> 00:29:28.640 our own standard of judgment, we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:36.440 And he unpacks his authority for that in these passages as we are made in his image, as he 00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:43.119 alone has defeated the power of death and he's the one who only can live the love of 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:51.399 God that enables him to be our redeemer and therefore the King of Kings. 00:29:51.399 --> 00:29:56.439 And as we take Christ for ourselves in life, then that judgment seat of Christ will hold 00:29:56.439 --> 00:30:02.719 no fear for us whatsoever as our Lord and Savior because when we meet Him on that day, 00:30:02.719 --> 00:30:06.359 He will smile at us. 00:30:06.359 --> 00:30:12.039 And He will just say, welcome home, which is a remarkable truth and it's nothing to 00:30:12.039 --> 00:30:15.759 do with our own goodness or our own efforts. 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:19.200 It's as the fruit of His resurrection and His salvation. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:25.519 He will welcome us home, He will smile. 00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:29.879 And the opposite is fearful. 00:30:29.879 --> 00:30:36.879 And so we must consider His authority and His love and His claims over our lives. 00:30:36.879 --> 00:30:38.159 Let's pray. 00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:43.000 Father God, help us to understand You better. 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:51.720 May time not dissolve the significance of Jesus. 00:30:51.720 --> 00:30:58.680 Help us to understand the time and place in which Jesus lived and the reality of that 00:30:58.680 --> 00:31:05.600 life and the uniqueness of His claims and of His death and of His resurrection. 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:13.719 And deep in our faith, we pray, strengthen us when we struggle to submit to Your authority. 00:31:13.719 --> 00:31:19.119 Help us to see clearly that if we don't submit to Your authority, we're always still submitting 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:27.240 or to someone or something, often just ourselves and our own wisdom, but often the fear of 00:31:27.240 --> 00:31:38.039 man, the desire to be part of something bigger that's human, desire to think in ways that 00:31:38.039 --> 00:31:44.440 other people think and be submissive to their thinking or their ideology. 00:31:44.440 --> 00:31:50.240 Remind us of that Lord, of an open arise to see where even as Christians, maybe as 00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:57.519 specialists Christians, we wrongly submit to authority that is not Yours, especially 00:31:57.519 --> 00:32:03.559 when it's just ourselves, when we think we know better than Jesus. 00:32:03.559 --> 00:32:09.519 How often is it, even in our prayers, by what we're asking for, we're thinking, Lord, if 00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:15.120 only You would give us what we think is right, because we think we know better and because 00:32:15.120 --> 00:32:18.720 our authority is actually in ourselves rather than in You. 00:32:18.720 --> 00:32:24.279 So give us faith, especially in the things we don't understand and the things that are 00:32:24.279 --> 00:32:25.279 not revealed. 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:31.839 Give us faith to trust, even in the many circumstances we find ourselves in in this world. 00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:39.240 Give us faith to believe that You're good, that You're just, that You're loving uniquely, 00:32:39.240 --> 00:32:43.960 infinitely, and that one day it will all make sense to us. 00:32:43.960 --> 00:32:51.920 So remind us of that and remind us as time passes so quickly of the reality of being 00:32:51.920 --> 00:32:59.240 accountable to our Creator, to our Maker, to the One who has reached down to redeem us, 00:32:59.240 --> 00:33:03.759 which we will remember in these next few weeks as we come towards the end of the year, the 00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:05.799 Advent season. 00:33:05.799 --> 00:33:10.519 Remind us of all these things we pray and make Jesus very real to us through the power of 00:33:10.519 --> 00:33:14.240 the Holy Spirit in our lives, in our worship, in our hearts. 00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:42.559 And I thank You for the word, we pray to You individuals and moved thread as we went