Mark-Lesson 16...Continued from page 4

DAY FIVE: The Son of Man’s Authority is Questioned

Please carefully read Mark 11:27-33 and answer the following questions.

1.  The religious leaders had about enough of this.  The chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders comprised the Sanhedrin, which consisted of 70 members plus the presiding officer, the high priest; it was not the entire Sanhedrin that came, but a delegation from them.[xii]  As you may remember from an earlier lesson, the Pharisees oversaw the synagogues, and the realm of the Sadducees was the Temple.  As guardians of the Temple, and also trying to remain at peace with the Romans, these chief priests would see Jesus as a direct threat to their authority,[xiii] so they questioned His.  What did they ask Jesus in verse 28?

2.  Jesus used a counter question, which was a common Rabbinic debating technique, actually making His answer to them dependent on their answer to Him.[xiv]  How did Jesus reply to these men, no doubt in a way they never expected (verses 29, 30)?

3.  The religious leaders had “no use for a meek Messiah,” John Phillips said, but “wanted rather a militant Messiah, one who would make Israel the hub of a new world empire, they were alarmed at the sudden appearing of Jesus of Nazareth in the recognizable role of Messiah.”[xv]  How did Jesus further complicate this for them and put them in a real predicament (verses 31, 32)?

4.  What was their lame response to Jesus’ question, and what was His classic response (verse 33)?

Scripture Memory:  Can you write out this week’s passage by memory here below?  Give it a try, and keep reviewing the passage several times throughout the day.

Mark 11:24: