Matthew 21:23 - 27
23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Question: Was Jesus just playing their game, or was there a reason He didn't answer them plainly?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bible-studys.org/Bible%20Books/Matthew/Matthew%20Chapter%2021%20Continued.html says:
ReplyDelete“Who gave thee this authority?: They were forced to acknowledge that He had some source of indisputable authority. His miracles were too obvious and too numerous to be fraudulent. Even His teaching was with such force and clarity that it was obvious to all that there was authority in His words.
They realized that Jesus was taking great authority in the temple this time. They, also, had no idea who they were speaking to. The Sanhedrin had quickly met, and decided they must stop Him any way they could.
Instead of realizing these miracles that He performed were authority enough, they were trying to trap Him into saying that God authorized Him, so that they could call this blasphemy.
“The baptism of John, whence was it?” Jesus caught the Jewish leaders in their own trap. They had no doubt hoped that He would answer by asserting that His authority came directly from God (as he had many times before – John 5:19-23; 10:18).
They then accused Him of blasphemy and used the charge as an excuse to kill Him – as they had also attempted to do before (John 5:18; 10:31-33). Here, however, He asked a question that placed them in an impossible dilemma, because John was widely revered by the people.
They could not affirm John’s ministry without condemning themselves. And if they denied John’s legitimacy, they feared the response of the people (verse 26). In effect, Jesus exposed their own lack of any authority to examine Him.
http://www.simplybible.com/f75g.htm says:
ReplyDeleteThe question was impudent because Jesus had clearly shown by his signs and wonders that he had great authority from God.
Those in charge of the temple, the house of God, were allowing its sacred precincts to become a place of money making. Animals were being sold for sacrifice. Opportunistic merchants and bankers had invaded God’s house. Jesus was even moved to call them robbers.
If anyone was going to question authority for what went on in the temple, surely these leaders should have questioned themselves. Who gave them authority to turn the temple into a market?
Jesus was using the temple as a place for teaching truth and healing the sick. The things he was doing were perfectly scriptural and appropriate on that sacred ground. Yet his authority was questioned by those who were condoning sacrilege in that place.
Jesus saw through the hypocrisy of these dishonest men. He knew they were rejecting him in the same way they had rejected John the Baptizer. So he threw that at them.
So they said, lamely, “We don't know”. They could not be honest one way or the other and face the consequences. So Jesus rejected their right to question him.
And finally, http://www.ctrchurch-mhk.org/sermons/Matthew21_23-32Agnosticism.htm says:
ReplyDeleteJesus is timing His death to happen at Passover, and He has a couple of days yet, so He buys that time by avoiding the obvious answer and instead answering the question indirectly with another question.