Luke 20:1-8
Who Says?
\\#1\\ - "on one of those days" - One of the last four days of Jesus’
life \\#John 12:1, 12\\. Jesus made His triumphant entry in the last
chapter. He went from there to running the money changers out of the
temple. Now, although His life was in danger, He continued teaching
the people. Sometime during those days, the religious leaders came to
ask Him by whose authority He did these things.
I. \\#1-2\\ It was the right question to ask.
A. It was a question that should have been settled a long time
ago.
1. When a person comes claiming to have insight from God, the
first thing to be determined should be, "IS HE OR
SHE OF GOD?"
2. If a person is of God, the person can be trusted as much
as they lead in the Scripture.
B. However, this is not an easy thing to determine.
1. The Bible says that even the devil can transform himself
into an angel of light and that—if it were possible—the
anti-Christ would deceive the elect!
2. How can we know? We must watch to see that our leaders
align themselves with the Bible in three areas:
a. In lifestyle - Sorry, but drunkards, adulterers,
lairs, and thieves are not of God.
b. In purpose - Their purpose should not be to be
wealthy or famous, but to glorify God.
c. In doctrine - We must know the Bible for it to help
us.
C. For Jesus, the only question that really mattered was , "IS
HE GOD?"
1. Jesus didn’t claim to just be OF God.
a. He made the claim to be the ONLY way to heaven.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me.
b. He made the claim to be God’s Son. (Jesus used the
phrase "MY FATHER" 37 times in 35 verse in Gospel
of John alone.
c. And He made the claim that we are to believe in Him to
get to heaven.
John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
believeth on me hath everlasting life.
2. If Jesus is God, who would want to be found standing
against God?
3. If He is not God, you are left with the task of finding
out if there is a god and—if so— how do you get to Him?
D. Of course, knowing the answer places a responsibility to serve
Him.
1. Most people in our area have decided that Jesus is God.
2. Many would go further and agree that the salvation He
offered is a grace and faith salvation, not a work’s
salvation.
3. Yet, having decided that, they still do not serve Him.
4. They are like the Jews of the Old Testament.
1Kings 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the
people, and said, How long halt ye between two
opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if
Baal, then follow him. And the people answered
him not a word.
5. The Jews were truly religious. Their problem was halting
between two gods.
6. Our problem is we tend to halt between God and the world
that we live in.
Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for
either he will hate the one, and love the other;
or else he will hold to the one, and despise the
other.
1John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him.
II. \\#3-7\\ They had the wrong motive.
A. The religious leaders finally got around to asking the right
question, but Jesus didn’t answer them!
B. You need to understand this wasn’t a question for
verification. It was a trap.
1. This is the TRAP CHAPTER.
2. The motive of the religious leaders is plainly given.
Luke 20:20 And they (the religious leaders)
watched him, and sent forth spies, which should
feign themselves just men, that they might take
hold of his words, that so they might deliver
him unto the power and authority of the governor.
3. And their traps are fairly obvious.
a. \\#1-8\\ They tried to trap Jesus with an authority
question.
b. \\#22\\ They tried to trap Jesus with a tax question.
c. \\#28\\ They tried to trap Jesus with a marriage
question.
d. \\#Matt 22:36\\ They tried to trap Jesus with a
theological question. (greatest commandment)
C. The reason Jesus didn’t answer them was their motive was
wrong!
1. Regardless of what Jesus said, the irreligious would have
Him.
a. If Jesus claimed to be of God, they would say He had
blasphemed.
b. If Jesus had said of men, they would have said that He
was no prophet.
2. So Jesus answered their question with a question, a very
similar question, concerning John the Baptist.
a. \\#4\\ Basically, Jesus asked them who was the
authority behind John the Baptist.
b. \\#5-6\ They reasoned similar to Jesus!
(1) If they said of God, Jesus would say, "Why didn’t
you believe him.
(2) If they said of men, the people might stone them.
c. Like Jesus, they decided they could not answer the
question.
3. Notice the difference in motives.
a. The religious leaders’ motive was to trap Jesus.
(1) There was no other outcome.
(2) Because of their motive, Jesus would not answer.
b. Jesus’ motive was to bring them to the truth.
(1) There was no other outcome.
(2) Because of Jesus’ motive, they would not answer.
D. Perhaps not on earthy but in heaven a lot will be determined
by our motives.
1. What is the proper motive for religion? for church?
2. Why are you here tonight?
a. Guilt - Maybe going to church will help sooth your
quilt for a while but it can never take it away.
b. Heritage - Momma did it so you are doing it. You may
have the correct action but with that motive, it is
vain.
c. Expectations - Someone expects (demands) you to be
here. Again, the right action with the wrong motive
is vain.
d. All of those motives negate whatever good you are
attempting to accomplish.
3. Aren’t there some good motives? Yes.
a. Curiosity - Not about us but about Jesus. Curiosity
is not the best reason to come but it is a good one.
It can lead you to faith in Jesus Christ.
b. Worship - That’s the prize motive. This is the reason
every person should be at church!
III. But they asked too late.
A. These people had been presented with plenty of evidence.
1. They knew the prophecies.
2. They had heard John the Baptist’s verification.
3. They had heard the thunder when God had verified Jesus at
His baptism.
4. They had seen the mighty miracles.
B. No answer to their question would not have changed their
minds.
1. They were at the place of hopeless.
2. They were at the place of damnation.
C. There have been several times when either a location or
generation was hopeless.
1. Noah’s day
2. Sodom and Gomorrah
3. Israel in Amos’s day
a. \\#Amos 4:6\\ Cleanness of teeth
b. \\#Amos 4:7\\ Drought
c. \\#Amos 4:9\\ Blasting and Mildew
d. \\#Amos 4:10\\ Pestilence
e. \\#Amos 4:11\\ Defeat
Amos 4:11 …yet have ye not returned unto me,
saith the LORD."
12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel:
and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to
meet thy God, O Israel.
D. Don’t let a stubborn, rebellious nature lead you to this
hopeless place!
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