THE TEMPLE WAR: Establishing Authority

Sep 6, 2026 • Rory Mosley

069 THE TEMPLE WAR: Establishing Authority

Mark 11:27-12:12

September 6, 2026

Tonight we move forward in this Passion Week drama.

TRADITIONALLY most have held that the triumphal entry happened on Sunday evening.

· Monday He went back to clear the temple.

· And now it is Tuesday.

JOHN MACARTHUR explains how it very well could have been a day later for all of those events.

· That the entry was Monday

· The cleansing was Tuesday

· And now it is Wednesday

He draws his timeline primarily from John 12, and his timeline is helpful because it explains what is an otherwise silent Wednesday.

EITHER WAY, WE’RE ON TO DAY 3.

· Jesus was offered a throne and rejected it.

· Jesus returned to overthrow the corrupt system He rejected.

· And now He has returned to restore what was broken.

I like to call it “THE TEMPLE WAR”.

Because what we witness here are battle after battle.

The enemy that Jesus exposed when He cleared the temple

Will regather and seek to flank Him today.

It will be attack after attack meant to kick this revolutionary out of the temple

And restore things back to the way they want them.

The first attack is launched by “scribes, elders, and chief priests”

· The attack is regarding authority.

The second attack is launched by the Pharisees

· The attack will center around paying taxes to Caesar.

The third attack is launched by the Sadducees

· The attack will center around the resurrection of the dead.

The fourth attack is launched by a lone scribe

· It will center around pleasing God.

By the time He is finished

He will have thoroughly humiliated the religious establishment

And left them no choice but to murder Him.

IT IS THE TEMPLE WAR.

Tonight we start with the first battle which has to do with authority.

It is an important lesson for us.

For not only are we reminded of the authority of Christ,

We are given opportunity to evaluate our submission to Christ.

YOU SHOULD RECOGNIZE THAT

The people Christ is dealing with here had not crucified Him…YET.

Crucifying Jesus was the full expression,

But it didn’t start with a chant to crucify.

It started with a question.

Questioning Christ’s authority is the root

Which bears the fruit of crucifixion

AS WE WITNESS THIS BATTLE,

May we look for seeds of rebellion in our hearts

And root them out as we see what they inevitably become.

We’re going to break down this segment into 3 points.

#1 REBELLION ACCUSED

Mark 11:27-28

“They came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple…”

There is a little different focus in Mark’s gospel.

Luke’s gospel states:

Luke 20:1 “On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him,”

· Luke clearly states that Jesus was “preaching the gospel”.

Now Luke doesn’t given any specifics beyond that,

But John’s gospel does.

John 12:44-50 “And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. “He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. “If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. “I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

Clearly it was a remarkable day as Jesus settles back in at the temple

And is offering salvation to everyone there.

BUT MARK DOESN’T FOCUS ON HIS PREACHING.

Mark simply says “He was walking in the temple”

He’s NOT saying that Jesus was “minding His own business”,

For certainly He was not.

It was not uncommon for Rabbis to walk among the pillars of the portico

And instruct the people as they walked.

But rather than focus on the content of Jesus’ message,

Mark’s focus is on the power of His presence.

Jesus was in the temple, “like He owned the place”.

· He was walking around there like He was supposed to be there.

· He was walking around there like it was His temple.

· He was acting like He was God.

It would have been quite the site to behold!

And that is when Mark introduces THE FIRST ATTACK.

(27b-28) “the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him, and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?”

Notice as Mark reveals the reason for the attack.

He does not reveal them to be taking issue with what He is saying

(though undoubtedly they hated it),

Mark reveals them taking issue with what He is doing.

1. This man entered the temple on a donkey’s colt.

2. This man then returned and cleared this temple out.

3. Now He has come back again and He’s walking around like He owns the place.

“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?”

He has assumed a position that in their minds He has no right to assume.

They are accusing Him of rebellion.

Well, if we want to discuss the authority of Christ

That is easy enough to do.

We don’t even have to leave Mark’s gospel to easily spot it.

Mark 1:22 “They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

Mark 1:27 “They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”

Mark 2:10-11 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.”

Mark 4:41 “They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Mark 5:41-42 “Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded.”

1. He spoke like God.

2. He commands the unclean spirits

3. He grants forgiveness

4. He commands the sea

5. He overturns death

That should give a sufficient picture of what kind of authority He has.

He has absolute sovereign authority.

But that is not an authority they recognize.

· They think themselves to be in charge.

· This is “their” temple.

· They are the rightful leaders of Israel.

These men actually approach the Son of God

And question His actions

Because He did not first get their approval.

Let that sink in for a moment.

They accuse the Son of God of rebellion in His own temple.

This ought to end well...

Rebellion Accused

#2 REBELLION REVEALED

Mark 11:29-12:11

This is a big chunk of text

So we’re going to break it down a little further just to deal with it.

· Clearly Jesus is going to turn their accusation around.

· He wasn’t the rebel here, they were.

· And He’s about to further expose them.

And what He gives is a very detailed picture of

WHAT SPIRITUAL REBELLION LOOKS LIKE.

We pay close attention to this because

We know that this is precisely what we once were.

Romans 3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

· We were all rebels and enemies.

· We were all sinners who disobeyed God.

As the hymn goes:

“I once was an outcast stranger on earth; a sinner by choice and an alien by birth.”

What these men are, we all were.

And the danger is that some of those old seeds and habits remain.

As I mentioned a moment ago,

They didn’t start out crucifying Him, they started out questioning Him.

As we examine their rebellion

We look for traces of it remaining in our lives

So that we don’t follow the wrong example.

Jesus here reveals what true rebellion looks like.

He gives them 4 indicators.

1) YOU APPARENTLY DO NOT RECOGNIZE GOD’S AUTHORITY (29-33)

They asked Jesus where His authority came from.

He answers their question with a question

(which was a common way for dialogue in that culture).

“I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Seems reasonable enough.

(30) “Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.”

You all know about John the Baptist.

· He was that wild man in the wilderness who came calling men to.

· He was baptizing Jews like they were filthy converting Gentiles.

· And He stirred the place up.

These leaders were familiar with John.

They had investigated him thoroughly.

John 1:19-28 “This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. “It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.”

You also remember

· John calling the Pharisees a “brood of vipers”

· And that they should not think they would escape God’s judgment just because they were Abraham’s descendants.

THEY KNEW WHO JOHN WAS.

But even though they knew John,

They had not submitted to what John was saying.

Jesus pointed this out after John had been imprisoned, saying:

Luke 7:28-30 “I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.”

That verse also describes the dilemma these religious leaders are in.

John was a lightning rod.

I would not put him on the same level as John the Baptist obviously,

But today you could throw out the name Charlie Kirk

And you understand the kind of polarizing effect such a man can have.

Jesus wants to know

Where John got his authority to baptize people?

(31-32) “They began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ “But shall we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet.”

Well there you have it.

· They’ve got a problem.

· They want to stay in power.

They cannot condemn themselves by affirming that John was from God,

They also cannot offend their constituents by slandering a man they all love.

(33) “Answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

SO IF YOU’RE KEEPING SCORE

They wanted Jesus to reveal where He got His authority.

Jesus in effect, asked, “Are you familiar with where John got His authority?”

When they said, “We don’t recognize where John got his authority from.”

Jesus responds by saying, “Then you won’t recognize where I got mine from.”

Your problem is that apparently

You don’t recognize God’s authority.

You don’t see God as the ultimate sovereign over all things.

And let me just go ahead and remind you all tonight that

THIS IS THE START OF EVERY GREAT REBELLION.

When men fall into grievous sin or terrible acts,

It all starts right here with a failure to recognize God’s authority.

Let me give you one verse here:

Romans 13:1 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”

THERE IS QUITE THE PRECEDENT THERE.

Paul is NOT saying

That every governing ruler is worthy of respect or obedience in and of themselves.

· Most of them are quite wicked.

But Paul calls for us to submit to them

Because they are an expression of God’s authority on earth.

All authority comes from God.

· When we read that children are to obey parents

· When we read that wives are to submit to husbands

· When we read that churches are to submit to their leaders

· When we read that slaves are to submit to their masters

· When we read that citizens are to submit to their government

We understand that we do those things

Because of where their authority comes from.

Families crumble, marriages fall apart,

Civilizations rise into anarchy, churches split

When people fail to recognize the authority Christ mentions here.

DO YOU RECOGNIZE GOD’S AUTHORITY IN YOUR LIFE?

And I don’t just mean do you read the Bible

And understand that you are supposed to obey it.

I MEAN Do you recognize God’s authority as He has expressed it and ordered it on earth?

· When you ask the government, “Who do you think you are?”

· When you ask your parents, “Who do you think you are?”

· When you ask your husband, “Who do you think you are?”

· When you ask your church leaders, “Who do you think you are?”

· When you ask your boss, “Who do you think you are?”

DO YOU GET THE POINT?

Are you able to recognize God’s authority at all?

These men didn’t recognize Christ

Because they didn’t recognize God.

You apparently do not recognize God’s authority

2) YOU HAVE ALWAYS RESISTED GOD’S AUTHORITY (12:1-5)

I know there is a chapter break, but it’s all the same conversation.

Jesus here returns to an Old Testament parable that we are very familiar with.

· It is that famous “Song of the vineyard” from Isaiah 5.

You remember the story about

· The vineyard owner who did everything imaginable for His vineyard,

· But still it produced only worthless grapes

· So the vineyard owner ended up neglecting the vineyard and giving it over to ruin.

Isaiah 5:1-2 “Let me sing now for my well-beloved A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones.”

Well here Jesus gives more information to that story

That even Isaiah did not give.

We find out that the problem wasn’t only worthless grapes,

But ultimately it was a bad tenant farmer that led the vineyard to ruin.

Jesus says, “and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey.”

He ISN’T absolving the vine of it’s guilt,

· Like that fig tree, plants are meant to bear fruit

· Those that don’t are judged.

But He does explain why they produced bad grapes

And it is because they were under bad management.

And we find that out

When the vineyard owner sent slaves to gather some of the produce.

(2-5) “At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive some of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. “They took him, and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. “Again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. “And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others.”

· When the slaves showed up there was no fruit to give.

· These men had ruined the vineyard.

Their only recourse was to seek to steal the vineyard for themselves

And relinquish all accountability.

So slave after slave was beaten and sent away.

· Some they “wounded…in the head”

· Some they “treated shamefully”

· Some they even “killed”

AND WE UNDERSTAND THE ANALOGY.

The vineyard owner is still God

The slaves that were sent were all the prophets

Who continually approached the vineyard seeking fruit.

AND THEY WERE REPEATEDLY PERSECUTED FOR IT.

2 Chronicles 24:20-22 “Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, “Thus God has said, ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, He has also forsaken you.’ ” So they conspired against him and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of the Lord. Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which his father Jehoiada had shown him, but he murdered his son. And as he died he said, “May the Lord see and avenge!”

Jermiah 38:1-5 “Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord, ‘He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.’ “Thus says the Lord, ‘This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’ ” Then the officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.” So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you.”

Amos 7:10-13 “Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words. “For thus Amos says, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.’ ” Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go, you seer, flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying! “But no longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence.”

It was a constant problem.

Jesus would later point out:

Matthew 23:29-33 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?”

The point is that their rebellion is not new.

They had always resisted God’s authority.

· They never wanted to hear what God had to say.

· They always valued their own will over God’s.

· They have always been a people who err in the heart.

They apparently do not recognize God’s authority,

But in reality they never have. They always resisted God’s authority.

So their questioning of Christ was not a new develop

In response to Christ’s behavior.

Their questioning of Christ is the same old behavior

That Christ exposed.

NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

3) YOU WILL ACTIVELY REJECT GOD’S AUTHORITY (6-8)

Now that Jesus has established who they are,

It is not difficult to predict what they will do.

Dog’s return to their vomit and sows return to the mud.

(6-8) “He had one more to send, a beloved son; he sent him last of all to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ “But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ “They took him, and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.”

No one here is confused about who we are talking about now.

· It is God who is the vineyard owner

· It is God who sent His only begotten Son into the world.

· The Son is Jesus Christ

And the expectation from God was clear: “they will respect my son”.

That is NOT God being naïve.

· It’s not God saying, “I hope they will respect My Son.”

That is full out expectation.

“You WILL respect My Son…or else!”

BUT THEY DIDN’T.

They saw the opportunity to totally eradicate any chance that vineyard owner had of reclaiming that vineyard.

If they eliminate the heir they think the vineyard will have no owner.

We read over and over in the Kings

About how a king will arise and immediately kill all the heirs of the last regime.

And of course that’s exactly what they’ll do to Christ.

Later Stephen will say it perfectly:

Acts 7:51-53 “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

· That is them, full of rebellion.

A failure to recognize God’s authority

Leads to a resistance to God’s authority

And ultimately a final rejection of God’s authority.

REBELLION ISN’T IDLE.

This is why we say, it didn’t start by them yelling, “Crucify!”

BUT THAT’S THE ONLY POSSIBLE END.

This is why we cannot think of our rebellion as a small thing.

Remember when Samuel confronted Saul?

1 Samuel 15:22-23 “Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.”

Rebellion is not a small thing,

Even if it appears small in your life, it will not stay that way.

And you might be tempted to say,

“Well slow down preacher, I don’t want to crucify Jesus!”

GOOD,

But that’s not how it starts.

I wouldn’t ask a young person if they want to kill Jesus,

· I’d ask them if they honor and submit to their parents.

I wouldn’t ask a wife if she wants to kill Jesus,

· I’d ask her if she wants to honor and submit to her husband.

I wouldn’t ask a congregation if they want to kill Jesus,

· I’d ask if they want to honor and submit to their leaders.

YOU GET THE POINT?

We’re not looking for final rebellion,

We’re trying to expose seeds of rebellion.

The rebellion that led this group of people to crucify Jesus

Was a rebellion that started years ago,

And left unchecked it grew to an unbelievable level.

Jesus just exposed their rebellion, but He still had one more point to make.

4) YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY RECEIVE GOD’S JUDGMENT (9-11)

It’s a simple question:

“What will the owner of the vineyard do?”

Mark’s version is actually the most generous.

Matthew’s says, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end.”

But at the very least:

“He will come and destroy those vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others.”

What is the point of Jesus here?

THERE IS NO FUTURE IN REBELLION.

· A child may successfully break lose from the authority of their parents.

· A wife may successfully dominate her husband.

· A rebellion may successfully overthrow a government.

But do you suppose you won?

Do you suppose you got away with it?

And what of the day when you stand before God

To answer for the rebellion you thought you succeeded at?

Only then to find that you rebelled against God

And the war wasn’t yet over.

You feasted and celebrated on the day you killed the heir,

But you forgot about His Father to whom you must still answer.

THERE IS NO FUTURE IN REBELLION.

Jesus even returns to the Psalm

That was sung over Him as He entered the city.

(10-11) “Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

That is again a quote from Psalm 118.

· Remember that Psalm is the Psalm of a champion who fights a battle against overwhelming odds.

· And even appears at one point that he is losing the battle.

But then God swoops in, rescues the champion, and delivers the victory.

Psalms 118:22-23 “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.”

You can reject the stone all you want,

But if God has selected it, how do you suppose you will win?

Do you remember the 2nd Psalm?

Psalms 2:1-6 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

You’re rejecting the One God has already selected.

It’s not going to work well for you.

And that is Jesus’ answer to these who came questioning His authority.

They want to know who He thinks He is

To enter this temple and walk around like He owns the place.

AND JESUS SAYS,

· You wouldn’t understand if I told you for in fact you have been told several

times and you don’t understand.

· You have been a rebel your whole life and your rebellion continues to grow.

And in His explanation we see a true picture of rebellion.

· It doesn’t start all at once.

· It is gradual and it grows.

But if we do not learn to repent of our rebellion

And submit ourselves to the sovereign God and all of His word,

Those seeds of rebellion will grow and sprout into something awful.

And something that God will destroy.

Now there is one more point here in our text:

Rebellion Accused

Rebellion Revealed

#3 REBELLION FULFILLED

Mark 12:12

Jesus quoted two Old Testament passages

To explain what these men were.

And we find in verse 12 that they didn’t learn a thing.

They continued in their rebellion.

(12) “And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the people, for they understood that He spoke the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away.”

· No apology

· No repentance

· No submission

They were filled with rage and “were seeking to seize Him”

Why didn’t they?

“they feared the people”

· Seems like that’s why they couldn’t answer Jesus’ question too. (11:32)

· Seems like that’s why they did nothing when He cleared the temple. (11:18)

But they “understood that He spoke the parable against them.”

And instead of bowing in submission, “they left Him and went away.”

They wanted to do to Him

What they had done to every other prophet they had encountered;