Chapter # 11 Paragraph # 2 Study #5
March 19, 2024
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(Download Audio)

⁽⁴⁷⁵⁾

Thesis:  The rejection of Jesus by the leaders of Judea was of far less magnitude in truth than the subsequent rejection by Jesus of these leaders.

Introduction:   In our last study we looked into Jesus' focus upon the need for men to operate on the basis of "the faith of God" in the light of the coming consequences for those who refuse to do so.

This evening we are going to look into Jesus' exposure of the "faithlessness" of the leadership of the nation.

• I. The Structure Of This Section.
  • A. Following the chiasm of 9:1-11:11.
  • B. The record of "rejection" begins with Jesus' curse upon the fig tree (11:12-26); a record that is structured in terms of "The Curse", "The Reason", and "The Necessity for Faith".
  • C. The record of the "interruption" between the segments of Jesus' treatment of the fig tree.
  • D. The challenge by the offended "leaders" of Jesus regarding His "authority" to act as He had the previous day.
    • 1. The leadership of the nation is represented by the three sets of men.
    • 2. They are likely shocked to see Him in the temple again, so soon.
    • 3. The nature of the three groups...
      • a. The chief priests...
        • 1) These were those who, in 11:18, wished to find a way to destroy Him. They were the primary "leaders" of the Sanhedrin and Sadducees by "theological leaning".
        • 2) In 8:31 this same "grouping" of the leaders is revealed by Jesus to be those who were going to kill Him; this is His first time to tell them this and it is immediately after Peter's declaration that He was the Christ, a concept that Jesus told His disciples to not mention at this point.
        • 3) In 10:33 the same point is made by Jesus but in this place there is no mention of the "elders".
      • b. The scribes are they who were first "recognized as incompetent" in 1:22 and, by way of contrast to Jesus, suffered the most humiliation.
        • 1) It was this group who made the biggest "deal" about Jesus' lack of conformity to "The Scriptures" because they were the ones who came up with the "inspired interpretations" (2:6; 7:1-5).
        • 2) In 3:22 it was this group who announced the "official positions" of those in control in Jerusalem and who had to "explain" how Jesus could contradict Nicodemus of John 3:1 notoriety.
      • c. The "elders" were the ones who gave "gravity" to the decisions of doctrine and practice and were the roots of the "traditions" (7:3).
        • 1) In 5 of the 7 references by Mark to these "elders", they are willingly in support of those who wanted to kill Jesus.
        • 2) They "filled out" the leadership in the decision to put Him to death.
    • 4. Their "issue" was "authority"
      • a. This began as early as 1:22-27, and continued to be "the" issue as 3:15 and 6:7 show.
      • b. It really is "the" issue; men are required to have an "authority" to appeal to for their beliefs, choices, and actions, but it is a mixture of external and internal "authorities".
  • E. The challenge by Jesus of these "leaders".
    • 1. Jesus forced this issue by putting them between a rock and a hard place so that the "truth" of their "so called" interest in "authority" would come to light.
    • 2. The record tells us that these leaders were not interested in divine "authority"; they only sought to retain their own.

(return to the top of the article)


This is article #476.
If you wish, you may contact Darrel as darrelcline at this site.