The Danger of Power Over Truth

Reading in Mark 11.31-32 this morning where the chief priests and scribes—those who know the Scriptures the best among the people—are trying to wiggle out of the trap into which Christ puts them when they ask him by what authority he does what he does. He responds with another question: "Is John's baptism from men or from God?"

The obvious answer, and one that every person who was familiar with John's ministry would give is, "from God of course." Those who opposed Christ were not interested in truth, they were interested in power. So they say, "if we admit the truth, we are exposed; if we say that John's baptism was not from God, the people themselves will rise against us, because everyone (including ourselves) believes that it was from God."

For the sake of power, they do not face the truth.

One can replace power with anything else people hold that keeps the from the truth. For the sake of possessions, or money, or a person, or anything else, people do not face the truth of Christ.

What barrier keeps you from seeing the truth?

Hit 'Em!

Ouch! That's all I can say about Christ's interaction with the chief priests and elders in the temple in Matt 21.31-32. What a slap in the face it is to them when Christ says that tax-collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before them!?! It would be roughly similar to Christ coming to our church and standing up and saying that Democrats and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before the people in the church. We would be outraged! I assume the chief priests and the elders were outraged. So outraged that they never asked themselves if what Christ said was true; never wondered if perhaps their own hearts were not right. The essence of what Christ is saying here is that "you religious leaders (he emphasizes "you" again and again in these verses) think that you are the most religious, the most faithful, but in reality you are furthest from the kingdom of God.

A couple of lessons here for us. First, we always have to be assessing the state of our hearts so that we do not end up in the place that the chief priests ended in. Second, the message of the gospel is always and ever meant to be applied to our own hearts first. If we are sitting in the pew thinking, "I hope that Mr. X is listening to this message," then we've missed the point because always! the gospel applies to us first.