Mark 11:27-33 NKJV – “Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. 28 And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?” 29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: 30 “The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.” 31 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 “But if we say, ‘From men’ “—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. 33 So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.””
V27 “Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him.” This would be Tuesday, because they evidently left Jerusalem and came again to Jerusalem. Jesus is just walking in the Temple. He is a Jew. He is in the right relationship with God, and yet, these evil Jewish leaders challenge Him. They want to trip Him in His speech, so they can kill Him. One would think that after a few years of defeat, they would surrender to the obvious—Jesus is the Messiah. O, the depths of human willful rejection.
Psalm 19:13 NIV – “Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.” Also see Hebrews 10:26.
V28 “And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?” These religious leaders should have known, but they spoke of human authority or even Mosaic law.
Barclay (beware) writes: “For a private individual, all on his own, to clear the Court of the Gentiles of its accustomed and official traders was a staggering thing. So they asked Jesus, “By what kind of authority do you act like that?”
“They hoped to put Jesus into a dilemma. If he said he was acting under his own authority, they might well arrest him as a megalomaniac before he did any further damage. If he said that he was acting on the authority of God, they might well arrest him on an obvious charge of blasphemy, on the grounds that God would never give any man authority to create a disturbance in the courts of his own house. Jesus saw quite clearly the dilemma in which they sought to involve him, and his reply put them into a dilemma which was still worse. He said that he would answer on condition that they would answer one question for him, “Was John the Baptist’s work, in your opinion, human or divine?”
V29 “But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things…” Jesus would answer, but first He wanted them to answer a question. Jesus’s questions usually cut to the heart of the matter. If we are talking about authority, what do you think about John the Baptist’s ministry? Where did he get his authority?
V30 “…The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.” Jesus even gave the choices. It should be an easy question.
V31 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?” They reason correctly but do not want to admit that Jesus is right.
V32 “But if we say, ‘From men’ “–they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed.” In this case, fear would force them to give this answer.
V33 “So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”” They simply refused to answer the question, so Jesus does the same—eye for eye and tooth for tooth.
Proverbs 26:4 (NKJV) Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him.
Proverbs 9:7 (NLT) Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return. Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt.
We learn:
- Jesus boldly continues His ministry in spite of opposition.
- Those who reject Messiah reject truth and logic.
- How to respond to fools.
Questions:
- What do we think of Jesus?
- How do you answer a fool?