Confronting Our Resistance

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0:00Good morning, everyone, again. It's good to be together. God is good every day. I was talking with someone coming into church today, and I said, it's a great day to praise the Lord, and they said, well, that's every day. It's good. It's a privilege to be with you and praise the Lord today.

0:22We're hopping back into Luke today, back into our Luke sermon series. We're going to be in and out of this until maybe about January, February, and then we'll be finished with Luke. We are coming in in Luke right after the triumphal entry, so it's what we now call Holy Week. It's going to be the next three chapters. It's all about what happens in this week, and there is a bit of a theme of conflict in this. Just all over the pages, there's conflict. It's a little bit apropos because we live in a very combative time, don't we? Very confrontational time, argumentative time. People are going at each other's throats like never before, it seems. Other people with other ideas are seen as threats. Right now, a common weapon that people use in this combativeness is our phones. We have a camera in our pocket or in our purse or whatever all the time. You can access the camera from the lock screen of your phone. You can immediately video someone at their worst moment, or you can try to catch them off guard. YouTube and TikTok are full of homemade gotcha journalism, where the goal is to ask someone a question, not to try to learn, but to try to trap them, to make them look foolish, to trip them up, and then to post it, get a lot of likes, get a lot of views, get a lot of clicks, and ultimately to discredit your opponent. These things are all over our feed, all over YouTube shorts, all over TikTok. That's what's happening in Luke chapter 20, minus the cameras, of course. But we do have it recorded for us in Holy

2:18Scripture. The religious leaders are making a last stand. They are bringing out the big guns, rhetorically speaking. They're bringing out all the best arguments, all of their strongest arguments. They're doing a full court press trying to get Jesus to say something that will expose him as a fraud and get public sentiment to turn against him. That's what Luke 20 is all about. In Luke 20, it's Tuesday. It's three days before Jesus is crucified. Jesus knows that his time is close. He knows what these people are doing. You might expect him to say, look, I don't have time for this. I'm going to spend my last few days of my ministry with the people that want to listen to me. Not with you people who are just looking to trap me, and yet he still engages them in these debates. I'm convinced that Jesus does this for our sake. Not primarily to prepare us to be like him and to be in conflict with people, to teach us techniques for debate. I think he does it for our sake because deep down we struggle with the same disbelief that these religious leaders have. The same stony parts of our heart is what they were struggling with. We strive against Jesus. We debate him. We oppose him.

4:02Jesus takes the time to refute these men because he wants to teach us about our own hearts, about ourselves. He's calling us out of darkness and into light, out of doubting and into faith. He takes the time to talk to them as an act of mercy. And so today we're starting a five-week little series. It's going to be in Luke 20 called Merciful Confrontations. You know, when you're walking down the wrong path or you're driving the wrong direction, the most merciful thing someone could do is get in the road and stop you, right?

4:40And confront you. It's an act of mercy for someone to do that. It doesn't feel like it, but it is. That's what Jesus is doing. These men, these religious leaders, they instigate things, but he's the one that confronts them. And it's an act of mercy. So together, let's invite the Holy Spirit to confront in each of us what needs to be challenged. Because it's a mercy. It's a mercy from God for him to stand in the road and get in our way and say, wait a second. Listen to this. Come to me.

5:21So with that being said, let's turn to Luke 20 and see what God has for us today. This is the holy, inspired word of God, faithful without error in every part. And it's the right thing to look to, to guide us in our faith and our practice, to teach and instruct us, to change us, because he speaks through it. Let's listen to him now. One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, tell us by what authority you do these things, or who is it that gave you this authority?

6:03He answered them, I will also ask you a question. Now tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? And they discussed it with one another, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say, why did you not believe him? But if we say from man, all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced John was a prophet. So they answered, they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Pray with me.

6:48Lord, by your Holy Spirit, seek out the hard places in our hearts and soften them with your grace, your mercy, your character. Show us who you are. Till up the soil in our hearts so that the word is planted deep and change us, Lord. We know that this is the work that you can do, that you have purpose to do, and only you can do it. So we ask you, please, we plead with you to do it in us. Sanctify us in the image of Christ. It's in his name that we pray. Amen. In this passage, Jesus is confronting our resistance. The authority of Jesus that we resist is what he uses to give us life. It used to be that prints of photos, photo prints, were made from negatives.

7:48The high school that I went to, it had a dark room. I took photography class. I learned how to do all that stuff. It was pretty fun. Negatives were what was produced by the film in your camera, in case you didn't know this. There's half of the room now that's like, hmm, interesting. And the other half is like, yeah, duh. So you would take a picture, and the film would be exposed, and you would go and develop it, and it would produce a negative. The negative would look like this image. I know, ugh, right? All of the colors, all of the contrasts was completely opposite of what it really was. You'd put negatives in a machine, you would shine light through it, and you would make a print from the negative. The religious leaders in Luke 20, they're like this image, especially in this chapter of Luke. They are the complete opposite of what it looks like to follow Jesus faithfully with devotion. The complete opposite. But knowing that, they're helpful for us because they show us ourselves, places where we need to repent and change, and when we bring our real self to Jesus in repentance and faith, he shines light through us. He changes us. He leads us in a new direction through the gospel, and in him, the photo becomes positive. So I want you to think of the Pharisees, the scribes, the high priests, the religious leaders in this chapter like a photo negative.

9:28They're the complete opposite of everything that you want to be like. It starts with this, resistance in the temple. So Jesus is in the temple. He's got a little class going. He was teaching. He's preaching. This might not seem controversial to you. He's Jesus after all. But it was controversial. Jesus was considered a rabbi, someone who teaches scripture, but he had never been ordained. He'd never been approved by the Sanhedrin, which was the body of religious leaders that was the religious leading body in Judaism. He was never approved by the Sanhedrin.

10:11It's one thing for him to be invited every now and then to teach in a synagogue, but this is the temple. This is the great temple in Jerusalem, the center of worship for the Jewish people. The very fact that he's teaching there is a claim to authority. He knew what he was doing. He's not surprised that they're frustrated, and that's why they confront him. The chief priests, this is a group that includes the current high priest, any former high priest from previous years, and anyone who might be considered for that position. The scribes are the theologians, the scholars. These are the teachers, like seminary professors. And the elders, they were respected heads of tribes elected to serve in the Sanhedrin as lay people. Together as one group, they go to Jesus and they say, tell us by what authority you do these things or who it is that gave you this authority. In other words, show us your credentials, which they know that he doesn't have any because they would have been the ones that approved him to be there. In Jewish culture, authority was given to you. You didn't just claim it for yourself. And if you think about it, our society operates on the same premise.

11:39If you've ever been to a fast food restaurant and you wanted a refill and you walked up to the counter and everyone's busy and you're holding, sitting there with your cup, you've already taken the lid off, you're waiting for someone to take it and refill it for you, you might look over at the dispenser just 10 feet away and think, I could just go fill this myself right now. But I bet that you don't do it because you know I'm not supposed to be behind that counter.

12:10Even in a silly example like that, most people would be like, I guess I could, but I shouldn't. I'll just wait until someone notices me. Authority is usually conferred. You don't just claim it for yourself. And when these men come up and they say these things, by what authority do you do these things, they're not just referring to his teaching that day. They're thinking of the day before when he drove out the money changers, the merchants from the temple in a rage, a holy rage. They're thinking about the day before that, when he rode into Jerusalem amid shouts of Hosanna, blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.

13:01They're thinking about that too. Everything that Jesus has done since he arrived in Jerusalem has attested to his authority. And now they're trying to say, hey, you've got to prove where this authority comes from. Prove it to us, Jesus. Tell us, make it clear. We're asking where it comes from. Except they're not really asking. And Jesus knows it. That's why he responds the way that he does. He says, okay, I'm also going to ask you a question. Tell me what was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?

13:43Jesus is not being coy. He's not trying to shut them up. He's actually clarifying clarifying things. He's clarifying them to themselves. John the Baptist claimed that his ministry was from God. The Old Testament backed him up about that. There was an inherent power to it.

14:05Thousands and thousands of people saw and they felt that his ministry had a divine authority to it. And Jesus is saying, you want to talk about sources of authority? Okay, fine. Let's talk about John. Either what he said and did came from God and so it should be received or it didn't and so it shouldn't.

14:31But the religious leaders had never made up their minds about John. They didn't respond to his ministry as if it was true but they never refuted it either. And now we know why because when Jesus puts the question to them they have to confer. Now the fact that they confer just shows how disingenuous they are. You don't have to have a meeting with other people to decide what you believe about something. You have to just think about it yourself. Right?

15:00So they're not really considering the question. They're considering the consequences of their answer. And then they'll pick their answer to Jesus. Everything is exposed about them in this moment. And that's what Jesus wants to do. They're not driven by the fear of God. They're driven by the fear of man. They can't say John was a fraud because that would make them hated and maybe even their life threatened. They're not driven by the love of God. They're driven by love for self.

15:35They can't admit what they really believe or maybe what they want to believe or maybe what they have thought about but dismissed. They can't possibly admit that John came from God because that would mean that you need to believe him including what he said about Jesus. Remember John called Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. So to believe John is to believe Jesus. So they take a pass. No comment.

16:11We all know what it means when a public figure says no comment to something controversial. Right? They're trying to avoid the embarrassment of being honest. It's a saving face measure. This is a huge cause this is a colossal failure on the part of these so-called leaders. These were the religious leaders.

16:37This is like asking a meteorologist if a hurricane is coming and him saying I don't know. You'd be like why am I even listening to you? But here's the thing we resist authority to. We have to at some point be honest with ourselves and stop looking at the Pharisees and just saying how ridiculous they are. And instead start saying but for the grace of God there go I. Because we are all natural rebels. I definitely am although it's hard to admit. It is hard to admit.

17:21My parents had very very reasonable rules for me growing up. Even the ones that I thought were ridiculous at the time I now look back on and I understand. I'm like oh I guess they have a point. But even the ones that back then I thought were reasonable I still chafed against. I expended so much mental energy trying to avoid doing the things that they told me to do. And then covering it up so I wouldn't get caught. So much mental energy. I could have learned a foreign language with the amount of mental energy I put in to rebelling.

18:07A little bit harder was the fact that the first job I had after college I got fired from. It was humiliating. It really was. When I asked my boss why he said to me and this is pretty much word for word I remember it very clearly. He said well when I asked you to do this thing you told me no I'd rather do it this way.

18:40Somehow in my mind it was his fault. It couldn't be as simple as I resisted authority and I experienced the natural consequence of that. It couldn't be as simple as a stupid kid in his first job told his boss no I know better than you and then his boss said I don't want this guy working here anymore. It couldn't be as simple as that could it? Yeah pretty much. But that's pretty humiliating to admit. I mean church I went years telling people that I left that job for other reasons.

19:25I couldn't even admit to other people when I had another job. Years later I couldn't admit that I got fired. We do not like other people being in control. Our default thinking is I don't have a problem with authority give me some and I'll prove it to you.

19:54One of the great feats of American mythology is turning rebellion into a virtue. Read our history books. That's what we've done. We've turned rebellion into a virtue. Ben Franklin one of our founding fathers said it is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority. The first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.

20:23But we are far from the only country to champion this. Other history books from other countries do it too with their history. Rebellion is baked into the human heart. It is an aspect of inheriting a sinful nature from Adam the first rebel. Speaking of rebel who do we call the good guys in Star Wars? The rebel alliance right? Good guys rebels. You see how much that leaks into our identity? So of course we resist Jesus' authority. Because if he has it that means we don't.

21:08We think if his teaching is from God then I really ought to listen and I'm not sure I like the implications of what he says. Some of it bothers me. Some of it hits too close to home.

21:22We think if he drove the merchants out of the temple what might he drive out of my life? I have it set up just the way that I want. Everything is just so. I like my work here and my hobbies here and my family here and my friends here. Jesus you can come inside as long as you don't touch anything.

21:48And when we read of him riding into Jerusalem as the coming king we think you know if he comes into my life I know who he's coming to dethrone. Me. I'm the king or the queen that he's kicking off the throne.

22:06Like the religious leaders we are afraid to embrace his authority because it's going to mean change. It's going to mean repentance. And so we keep our distance. We play games with him. Don't we just like them and we ask tell me by what authority you say here. I know you say this. Tell me by what authority you tell me that. Who gave you this authority over me? We don't listen to him honestly sometimes. We only think of what's going to happen to us if he really is in charge.

22:45We think of the consequences and then we'll give you the answer. But there's good news because Jesus is standing in the road confronting us right now. Just like he confronted the religious leaders long ago about their resistance to his authority. Friends, the gospel overcomes our resistance. He overcomes it. Abraham Lincoln said if you want to test a man's character give him power.

23:20So let's look at Jesus. Let's test his character by how he uses his power. Jesus has been saying the whole time that he comes from the father that he speaks from the father's authority that he works with the father's authority. But what does he do with that authority friends? He blesses. He liberates. He saves. When he entered Jerusalem that day, he entered it to save his people. That's why he was on a cult and not a mighty war steed. Because he was taking the low place to die in the place of sinners and redeem them.

24:06Nothing was going to stand in his way. Not of that throne but of the cross. That's where he was going. No other king does this. No other ruler does this. When we repent and we put our faith in him, what he drives out of our hearts and our lives are the things that obstruct our worship. He wants nothing to stand in the way between him and us and that's why he cracks the whip. To drive out those things that impede our worship. Because he is our peace.

24:43And his word has power but it is good news. It is a call to life and rest. He's like a loving parent calling to a hungry child come to dinner. He's like a loving parent calling to a tired child it's time for bed. Stop what you're doing and go to bed because you're tired. Author and speaker Jen Wilkins says this. God never requires submission to a harmful command. In commanding what brings him glory he commands what brings us good. Now you can take that one to the bank.

25:25In commanding what gives him glory what brings him glory he commands what brings us good. They're not competing. They're in cooperation. When he seeks to glorify himself you can get behind that. Because it will work out for your blessing and for your good. Because your good is found in finding him to be the most beautiful person in your life. The highest object of worship in your life.

25:58The resistance that we have is not because we've seen too much of Jesus. It's because we haven't seen enough of him. That's why we resist. Don't be like the religious leaders.

26:11They only came close enough to hear what they would have to give up and then they stopped. The disciples be like them. They came all the way in. All the way to Jesus. When you do that you see him for who he is and experience the change. You know that it's good because he is good. What he brings into your life is good because he is good. The one with all authority this is what he says to you. Come to me come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

26:48Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Don't you want to this is the Savior that we need this is the authority figure that we can submit to that we can follow.

27:20Come to him bring all of yourself to him repent where you have to and walk forever that his authority is for our good and having the right authority makes all the difference. If you've ever had a good boss a good commanding officer a good mentor or leader then you know the blessings are enormous. Hard work somehow seems easier and more enjoyable. A really ambitious goal somehow seems more achievable when you have the right authority figure. The right authority provides assurance to you about the most important things.

28:21The right authority can say to you this is who you are this is what is good and this is where we're going. In Jesus in Christ you don't have to search for answers to those questions anymore. You can look to him and have him answer those questions which is such a different way to go about life than to be on a constant quest for the answers to those questions. Think of how much more you can do. Think of how much more satisfaction you can have in everything that you do with those questions coming from him answered defined.

29:02This is who you are. You're my loved and adopted child by faith. This is what's good. Being a part of my kingdom. Elevating my name. Coming under my care. Walking in the good works that I've prepared for you. And this is where we're going together. We're going home. We're going to the new heavens and the new earth. The place where I have made you to dwell with me forever. Where I will be your God and you will be my people. There will not be any sun because I will be your light forever.

29:40Think how much different life is with those questions answered. With him as your authority instead of you your own authority looking casting about trying to find the answers to those questions with everything that you do. They are answered for you in Christ.

30:00Who better to lead you than the one who has sanctified you. He's with you now and always. This is the one who has all authority that we should come under and live under gladly and joyfully. Let's pray.