Jesus Authority Questioned
27 They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. 28 “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?” 29 Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!”
31 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.) 33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Horsham. 27th May 2025
‘The chief priests and teachers of the Law [..] were looking for a way to kill Him, for they feared Him, but the crowd were amazed at His teaching’ Mark 11:18
Many people travelled great distances to see what was going on when John was baptising people in the River Jordan. He offered a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4). What those people saw stirred them greatly. Many of them accepted John’s baptism for themselves.
In the eyes of many people, this John looked like a prophet. He dressed like a prophet. He spoke like a prophet. He acted like a prophet. Not surprisingly, vast numbers of people believed that John was a prophet sent by God. Many of them knew that this John had not only baptised Jesus, but had pointed to him as the Messiah. ‘Behold,’ he had said, ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.’ John had further raised the perception that he was a prophet because he had been martyred by Herod. John, however, was not recognised by the Jewish authorities. ‘Officially, they had not recognised John. So the official religious leaders kept a cool distance from the Baptist.. The crowds went to hear this preacher but the official leaders kept neutral.’ (Pawson, p.220)
Our familiarity with the story of what we call Holy Week can make us underestimate the impact of Jesus disrupting the activities at the Temple, turning over tables, releasing animals and scattering money. He presented a real challenge to the Temple authorities. They knew who he was and that his teaching was attracting a lot of people. His disruptive behaviour and his growing popularity was an affront to their authority. They needed to respond, and they needed to be seen to respond. They were already looking for ways to catch Jesus out, and to get him out of the way. They smelled an opportunity.
Their reasoning was quite straightforward. Obviously, even Jesus couldn’t be acting on his own authority. If he was, he should be arrested for causing damage. If he claimed to be acting on God’s authority, he would be arrested for blasphemy – a charge for which he could be quickly sentenced to death. Be in no doubt, they meant to kill Jesus. This was their opportunity, and they were going to take it.
The temple is packed. Jesus is teaching in the colonnades of the temple. Such is their confidence that they approach him in the midst of a crowd. They want as many people as possible to hear His blasphemous claims. The problem is, Christ’s response.
Do you remember asking a teacher a question and they answer by asking you a question? It can be really annoying. I know, because as a teacher, I do it all the time. This technique was normal practice for a Rabbi, and it was culturally appropriate to answer the rabbi and then rephrase your own question.
Jesus unexpected question causes a real dilemma. If they admit that John’s ministry was of divine origin, the crowd would be asking why they were not recognising the messianic anointing and authority of Jesus. If they say that John’s baptism was not of God, the crowd would be furious and they would themselves cause a greater disturbance than Jesus had caused the day before. They are caught in a dilemma of their own making.
The volatile crowd who they had hoped would witness the blasphemy of Jesus are now the crowd who are watching them, the temple authorities, floundering. They cannot safely answer his question. They have to publicly back down. They look weak and ineffective. Their pride is knocked. They are sinking further into the mess of their own making.
‘Those who will not face the truth have nothing but the prospect of deeper and deeper involvement in a situation which renders them helpless and ineffective. (Barclay, Loc 5648)’
They were intent of ridding themselves of this turbulent rabbi before, they are determined to do so now.
This is not over.
End piece
We know that as his ministry progressed, Christ’s teaching was increasingly oppositional to the existing power structures of Israel. Those in authority didn’t particularly care whether he was right or wrong. They saw him as a threat to their power, and they wanted rid of him. They were ready to use any tricks they could to do so. They were ready to ignore the constraints imposed upon them by the Law.
An animal is dangerous if it is injured. Powerful men are rarely more dangerous than when the injury is to their pride.
In time honoured tradition, they dismissed his teaching as fake news. They tried ignoring Him. They tried threatening Him. They tried to stir up opposition against Him. They tried cancelling Him. Now, they want to silence him. They are determined. They will succeed.
Fake news. Cancel culture. Abuse of authority. All sounds rather familiar.
‘What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.’ (Ecclesiastes 1:9)