The Question about Authority †

Matthew 21:23-27 *

Mark 11:27-33 *

Luke 20:1-8 *

23 When he entered the temple,

the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said,

"By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"

24 Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?"

And they argued with one another, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' 26 But if we say, 'Of human origin,' we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet." 27 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know."

And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

27 Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple,

the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him 28 and said,

"By what authority are you doing these things? 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 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me."

31 They argued with one another, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' 32 But shall we say, 'Of human origin'?"–they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly 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 am doing these things."

20:1 One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and telling the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders 2 and said to him,

“Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?”

3 He answered them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me:

4 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?”

 5 They discussed it with one another, saying, “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; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” (Luke 20:1-8)

Cf. John 2:18-22: 18 The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20 The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

† Cf. Kurt Aland, ed., Synopsis of the Four Gospels, 1982; rev. printing, 1985, sec. 276, p. 241

* NRSV