Mark 11:27-33
Jesus' Authority Questioned
27 Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. 28 And they said to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?"
29 But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: 30 The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me."
31 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' 32 But if we say, 'From men'"—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. 33 So they answered and said to Jesus, "We do not know."
And Jesus answered and said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day confronted Him and kept questioning His authority because they had rejected His divine identity and right as creator (John 1:1, Colossians 1:15-17) and Sovereign Ruler over them. They even denied the works He did which proved who Jesus is (John 10:25, 37-38) and yet they chose to reject even what the evidence before their eyes witnessed to them. They were blind because they were hardened and stiff-necked to the word of God and His wisdom which fell on deaf ears; all they could think of was losing their status as all-knowing among the people they religiously ruled over. That is ironic considering that the omniscient One was standing before them and their interrogations fueled by disbelief and pride. But God is not mocked and so He wisely asked them a question which they could not answer without either admitting the truth of who John the Baptist was and the source of his baptism for repentance that he brought. Their response was also in disbelief and dishonesty, saying they did not know so they did not bring the people against them who believed John to be a prophet and so they did not get caught in the next question of Jesus as to why they did not believe the messenger Elijah as scripture foretold and repent (Malachi 4:5-6, Matthew 11:13-14) from their sin and turn to Him. When they refused to answer the question and lied to God about this, the Lord told them He would likewise not answer their questions about His authority which they had already rejected. He had shown and told them often e where His power and sovereign authority came from and they refused to submit to God and His word in their prideful desire to hold the power and authority of knowing good and evil to themselves as they imagined. That is the source of Adam and Eve’s sin to want to usurp God’s revelation of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17, 3:5, 17) and which we need to listen to the Lord teach us as Hebrews 5:14 reminds us. Anyone calling themselves a religious leader who teaches us to question and doubt or reject any part of God’s word is like a serpent inspired Pharisee who repeats this original sin. We are instead to remember the scriptures are God’s very word (2 Timothy 3:16-17) given to accept by faith that we may accept the speaker of those words and heed them to learn from God what is good and evil and not by man’s reasoning or philosophical arguments as we see so often today to nullify the word and authority of God in Christ alone. We must never respond with disbelief and rejection of the truth that sets us free so we may honor God with trust to take Him at His word instead of repeating the original sin of spiritual rebellion because man is made to live by every word (Matthew 4:4) of God.
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