23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” 24 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: 25 The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
There is a running question of Jesus’ authority in 21:23-46.
21:23
Now when He came into the temple,
The day after the cleansing of the temple Jesus returned to the temple. This was His third visit to the city in successive days.
the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching,
Religious authorities confronted Jesus while He taught propositional truth. They had grown increasingly disturbed by the events of the last three days.
and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”
Jesus’ public teaching afforded leaders in Israel an opportunity to confront Him about His authority and the source of His authority for teaching, cleansing the temple, Triumphal Entry, and miracles. Jesus was never ordained by Jewish authorities. They had to admit that His authority was obviously supernatural, so they questioned whether His authority was from God or the devil. Their questions were not an attempt to gain information about Him but to challenge His authority and to undermine Him before the public.
21:24
But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:
Jesus did not directly answer their questions because He knew they sought to undermine Him. Jesus offered a counter-question to get at the heart of the issue.
21:25
The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”
The “baptism of John” formally introduced the Messiahship of Jesus. Everyone baptized by John accepted Jesus as Messiah. Jesus’ counter-question had to do with the source of authority of John the Baptist. Was John’s authority from God or from some other source? There were only two mutually exclusive answers to that question. John introduced Jesus’ public ministry with the statement: “Behold the Lamb of God” (Jn 1:32-26).
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
If the leaders said, “From heaven,” then the message of John the Baptist would validate the Messiahship of Jesus. That would demand that they believe on Jesus as the Messiah. John plainly asserted Jesus as the Messiah.
21:26
But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.”
The general population believed John to be a true prophet and that would put the leaders on the defense. They gave more consideration to what the crowd thought than to the truth.
21:27
So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”
The leaders ducked the question. They became evasive and noncommittal to Jesus’ question. They would not face the fallacy of their unbelief. They cared more for their tradition than for truth.
And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
The answer as to whether Jesus’ authority was from God was not in doubt, but He was not about to fall for their set-up question. Jesus did not answer them because they were already in unbelief. They were not open to the idea that Jesus was the Messiah.
PRINCIPLE:
God does not reveal truth to people who do not believe His revelation.
APPLICATION:
Refusal to believe God may result in cessation of revelation. Once we reach a place of implacable resistance to God, the Holy Spirit will stop working in our lives. As Jesus told people who watched the Triumphal Entry, “You did not recognize the time of your visitation” (Lu 19:41-44).
Jn 7:17 If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.
