GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 11:32
Superior Orders.
There is a story about a ship’s captain who was sailing on a dark night when he saw a light on a collision course. So he called his signaler to flash a message: “Alter your course 10 degrees south.” A signal flashed back: “Alter your course 10 degrees north.” Thinking the reply was impertinent, the captain then signaled, “Alter your course 10 degrees south. I am a commander.” The signal light flashed back: “Alter your course 10 degrees north. I am a seaman third-class.”
In Jesus’ meeting with the temple authorities—the high priests, the scribes, and the elders—who demanded to know by what authority he had driven the religious-items merchants from the temple courts, Jesus laid before them a proposition: “You tell me whether John’s baptism was from God or man, and I’ll tell you the source of my authority.” The authorities debated. If we tell him John’s baptism was from heaven, then he’ll ask why we didn’t accept it. “But if we say, ‘From men’…? They feared the crowd, for all held that John was really a prophet.” (Mark 11:32)
The word used for “crowd” (ὄχλος, ochlos), which usually means a large group of people, in this instance refers to a large number of people of relatively low status—the common people, the populace, in contrast to the rulers. These rulers looked down on the “common people” who followed an itinerant preacher—one who lived a solitary life, wore strange clothes, had an unusual diet, and baptized people who repented. This is somewhat like the ship’s captain receiving a command from a seaman third-class.
Back to the ship story: At the end of his patience, the captain signaled, “Alter your course 10 degrees south. I am a battleship.” Almost instantly, a reply arrived. “Alter your course 10 degrees north. I am a lighthouse.”
Previous
Next
Directory