By What Authority?
TRANSLATION
(1) One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests, the teachers of the Law, along with the elders approached and asked him, (2) “Tell us this: by what authority are you doing these things or who is it that gave you this authority?” (3) And he responded, “I will also ask you a question. Now tell me, (4) was the baptism of John from heaven or of human origin?” (5) They discussed this among themselves reasoning, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ (6) but if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” (7) And they answered, “We do not know where it was from.” (8) Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
OBSERVATIONS
By its three-fold repetition, “authority” clearly stands out as the key word of this segment. All three times it referred to Jesus’ right to minister and teach, appearing twice in the mouths of the hostile Jewish leaders (vs. 2) and once in Jesus’ own statement (vs. 8). Two more phrases were repeated: “from heaven” and “of human origin” (both in vss. 4 & 5).
OUTLINE
I. The Jewish leaders challenged Jesus’ authority to minister and teach. (1 & 2)
II. Jesus responded with a question regarding John’s baptism. (3 & 4)
III. The leaders’ unwillingness to answer Jesus’ question showed who really was in charge. (5-8)
IDEA STATEMENT
Jesus’ authority to minister and teach was never seriously challenged by those opposing his ministry.
APPLICATION
“Outclassed” is a word we use when a clearly superior athlete or athletic team faces an opponent that has no chance to defeat a champion that hardly ever loses a match. Whenever Jesus faced those who sought to discredit or question his authority, he proved himself unassailable. He simply outclassed the opposition.
In this narrative, Jesus effectively countered a direct challenge to his authority from Israel’s most influential leaders, powerfully demonstrating his right to minister and teach. He did not bother to defend his authority or prove his right to teach. He merely asked the Jewish leaders a question regarding John’s baptism, something with which everyone was familiar. When they heard his question, they realized that they had been caught in an ambush. To express a favorable opinion of John’s baptism would have been to affirm the ministry of the one he came to introduce to the nation, namely, Jesus himself. To dismiss the significance of his ministry would have completely undermined their credibility because John was held in such high esteem by everyone in Israel. When the leaders told him that they were at a loss to answer his question, Jesus refused to answer their challenge to his authority. With this dismissal, he brilliantly demonstrated who really was in charge.