Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, He made the statement that He is greater than the temple (12:6). The chief priests and elders are indignant that they cannot stop neither Jesus nor the crowds’ positive response to Him. In this text, they challenge His authority: “By what authority do you do these things?” They refer, perhaps, to driving out the money changers, perhaps to the teachings He has been giving, perhaps to healing the lame in the temple complex (21:14), perhaps all of these and more. “And who gave to you this authority?”
The chief priests’ and elders’ question: 21:23:
When I was a child, in my teenage years, I would sometimes be bossy, especially to my younger brother. My mom would often ask me the question: “Who died and left you in charge?” The question of authority – who has the right to tell us what to do? Who has the right to regulate our behavior? Who has the right to regulate worship? Who has the right to make rules for the church of Christ? Those are all legitimate questions. It is a legitimate question that the chief priests and elders ask Jesus on this question.
Jesus’ question in reply – 21:24-25:
- First, John’s message was practically no different than the message of the OT prophets like Isaiah and Zephaniah: repentance. Give your heart to God and submit your lives to the teachings of His law.
- Secondly, John’s message was a little different than the prophets in that John was preaching – in contrast to them – that the Messiah had come. That is what the Jews acknowledge about John in John 10:41: “Everything John said about this man [Christ] was true.”
The chief priests’ and elders’ deliberations – 21:25-26:
If they answered “from heaven,” they knew Jesus would challenge them to obey John’s preaching (see 3:8-10), including John’s message about Jesus (see John 1:29). They could not afford, theologically, to give that answer! But, if they answered as their heart led them, “from men,” they feared the common Jew who held John as a prophet. The answer was simple but prejudice dictated that they respond, “We do not know.” That is a perfectly cowardly response.
Jesus’ implementation of Proverbs 26:4 – 21:27:
Jesus, then, refused to play their game and refused to answer their question. The answer, truly, was in front of their very eyes.
APPLICATION:
The chief priests and scribes were correct in asking about authority. There is nothing wrong with questioning one’s authority. We must obey Jesus’ authority in order to be saved (Heb. 5:8-9). Their problem was that they did not want to accept the answer.
Also, some questions do not need to be answered (Prov. 26:4), if the questioner is prejudiced and intends to use the answer maliciously. Consider these texts: 1 Timothy 6:4; 2 Timothy 2:23; Titus 3:9; Mt. 7:6).
We also ought to be careful and be humble toward the word of God and accept whatever the Scriptures teach us and not try to twist passages if they clearly teach something we have not believed before (see 2 Peter 3:14-16).
Let us continually submit ourselves to the authority of Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives.
Paul Holland
