1 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him 2 and spoke to Him, saying, “Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?” 3 But He answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me: 4 The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?” 5 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it was from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
In this section, temple religious authorities attempted to publicly discredit Jesus’ authority and ministry. With this event, Jesus was a few days from His crucifixion.
20:1
Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him
While Jesus taught in the temple and preached the gospel, temple authorities confronted Him.
20:2
and spoke to Him, saying, “Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?”
The religious authorities asked Him by what authority He taught in the temple. They may have referred to both the cleansing of the temple and His teaching ministry.
20:3
But He answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:
Jesus did not answer their question but posed a counterquestion of His own, raising the stakes of the gospel and His authority.
20:4
The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?”
Jesus asked a catch-22 question; He knew their ploy. He queried what authority John the Baptist had to do what he did. This question placed the authorities on the horns of a dilemma, a dilemma they could not escape. To reject John as a prophet was to reject God’s messenger.
20:5
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
The religious leaders did not want to answer Jesus’ question because if they denied John, the crowd would react to them. They reasoned that if they answered the question in the affirmative, Jesus would ask them why they did not believe John had announced His messiahship.
20:6
But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”
If the authorities had responded negatively to Jesus’ question about John, the people would have stoned them because they had come to believe John was a genuine prophet.
20:7
So they answered that they did not know where it was from.
The religious authorities responded with a political answer that they did not know about John’s authority. Antagonism toward Jesus is an evasion of His credentials.
20:8
And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Jesus replied that if they would not answer His question, He would not answer their question.
PRINCIPLE:
Skepticism of the gospel leads to undermining Jesus’ authority.
APPLICATION:
Liberal and progressive religious leaders are hostile to the gospel in our day. They are so because they do not accept Christ’s claims. The Father gave Jesus all authority in heaven and on earth (Mt 28:18). Jesus had the authority to forgive sin (Mt 9:6-8). Religious phonies today reject the idea of needing a Savior or being saved from sins. Although Jesus presented His credentials for three years, they still do not believe Him. As the leaders of Jesus’ day did not meet their end of the bargain, religious leaders of our day reject the clear credentials of Jesus to save. They often operate covertly in doing so. Either we accept our own authority or that of Jesus.
The same could be said about so-called evangelical leaders who blur the gospel message in their teaching; they covertly cover the gospel so that it is not seen clearly.
