Mark 11:27-33--The Authority of Jesus Challenged

Mark 11:27-33
English Standard Version
​
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

---

After explaining the meaning of the fig tree to the disciples, He again entered Jerusalem (it's still Tuesday--the day after He cleansed the Temple).  The scribes and Pharisees decide to challenge Him to ask Him by what authority He has done these things and who gave Him the authority to do such things (they are likely speaking of Him cleansing the Temple but may also have been speaking of the Triumphal Entry.  They may literally have been asking "Who died and made you king?").

Jesus knows their hearts and from what place they are asking the question.  It was not that they were looking to get an answer to increase their faith, they were looking for Him to say something that they could use against Him so that He would be indicted by His own words.  So, Jesus answers them with a question of His own saying that He would answer their question they would answer one of His (in doing so, He showed that He was the One who would examine and judge the hearts of men, which is what they thought was their job).

The question He asked them was this, "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?  Answer me."  They huddled to discuss before answering and realized the trap He had laid for them.  If they answered, "from heaven," it would be obvious that they should have listened to John and repented, because John called them out for their hypocrisy, but if they said, "from men," then they knew the people would riot who were there in the Temple, for all the common people, even from far away, regarded John as a prophet of God.  They decided the only answer they could give was the non-answer of, "We do not know."

Jesus knew they knew the answer and refused to be honest with Him, which revealed their heart to everyone else, so Jesus said that because they refused to answer His question, He would also refuse to answer their questions.  That wasn't going to stop them though because they will send wave after wave of people to try to question Jesus--people that never before got along, but they all want to see Jesus arrested, so "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."  Jesus is going to be thoroughly questioned and examined and will be shown to be without blemish--just like how the sacrificial lambs had to be thoroughly examined before being sacrificed for Passover.