Mark 11

Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question..." (Mark 11:29a)

I don't know about you, but I am continually amazed by Christ's ability to get to the heart of the matter. Ever been in a conversation where you sense that it all built on pretenses, where the substance and reality lays far deeper than the discussion audible to our ears?

We've probably all been there... when witnessing this is the proverbial hindrance to challenging someone to really consider the weight of the gospel message. Instead of looking inward with self-evaluation, you will hear the derailment questions, "But what about the dinosaurs?" or "Then where did God come from?". Don't get me wrong, these are valid questions, ones for which we must have coherent answers, but in reality they are a smokescreen for unbelief.

The Pharisees had asked Christ a seemingly valid question, "Where do you get your authority?" But the reality is they didn't truly care about the answer. They just wanted to trap Jesus in His words. They weren't doing any critical, significant introspection about Christ's identity. They wanted Him dead and needed evidence to convict Him.

Christ saw right through it. He goes to the heart matter, unbelief. He turns the tables and promises a reply if only they will answer His inquiry, "What about John?". The Pharisees had two options, either agree that John was from God (which the masses believed) or relegate him to past men who have come and gone as self-proclaimed prophets (which they truly believed!). But fearing the crowds they couldn't give their response.

Their lack of faith and unwillingness to repent were the true issues. Christ stopped them in their traps and pegged the issue. Instead of progressing further, caught by their own schemes, they leave as they came, for they really wanted nothing more of Christ to begin with than His head beside John's on that silver platter.

As we live each day and find ourselves sharing our faith, remember lost people have lots of smokescreens. It is our job to mimic Christ and get to the real heart issues of the gospel; repentance and faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. As you engage nonbelievers listen closely to their hearts (more so than their words) and seek to penetrate the layers of fa sod which deflect the true call of the gospel.

The gospel is a penetrating light into the soul of man. It is our job to help it hit its intended mark, trusting God to do the rest.