EXPLORE THE TEXT
We can expect some to oppose or reject Jesus’s authority.
23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said,
“By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question,
and if you answer it for me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25 Did John’s baptism come from heaven, or was it of human origin?”
They discussed it among themselves,
“If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’
26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we’re afraid of the crowd,
because everyone considers John to be a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Jesus had moved out of Galilee and had arrived in Jerusalem to the south.
Jesus had created a stir during the “triumphal entry” and when He had cleansed the temple.
He represented a threat to the religious leaders’ power,
so they questioned His authority:
The chief priests and elders were confronted with the possibility of losing face before the crowds surrounding Jesus.
They could say how they truly felt about John’s ministry, but then they would suffer the wrath of the crowd for that opinion.
Or they could admit that John was a prophet with divine authority, and by association, admit that Jesus had the authority of God on His own ministry.
Either way, they would come out the loser. (PSG, p. 84)
The leaders ended up affirming Jesus’s authority through their silence.
Since Jesus and John shared the same Source of authority (God),
the prophetic authority of both was valid.
The leaders fell into the very trap they had hoped to set for Jesus.