Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
The chief priests, scribes and elders have challenged Jesus in the temple. They demand to know who gave Him the right to act. He does not answer them. He puts one question of His own to them instead. Why does He answer a question with a question — and why is that not evasion but the fairest thing He could have done?
Why they raised the question at all
The challenge did not come from puzzled onlookers. It came from men who were guarding their own place at the top of the religious system.
Hamilton SmithThey wanted to keep their own authority. So they were jealous of any religious action that they did not direct. They did not care about the corruption in the House of God, and they were not able to deal with it themselves. So they raise the question of authority to oppose the One who can, and does, deal with the evil.
The question also showed the size of their world. They asked who had licensed Him, and only one sort of licence had crossed their minds.
Leslie M. GrantOf course, being blind as they were, they were thinking only of man's authority. So the Lord, with admirable wisdom, asks them a question in return. He promises that if they will answer, He will answer their question.
The terms He sets
His offer has one condition. He asks first, then He answers. It also puts the judges themselves on trial.
Numerical Bible NotesThe question of authority is the one they raise first. On the face of it, it is folly beyond words. His works bore witness to Him, and no one could suppose that He had gained such divine power by unlawful means. So He refuses to answer their question unless they answer His own first. If they were able to judge about Him, they should know about the baptism of John, whether it was from heaven or of men. And if they were not able to judge, there was no use in answering them.
The easier question comes first. Their answer to it would show what they were made of.
William KellyIt was an appeal to conscience. But they had no conscience, except a bad one. It pulled back at once. It was afraid to commit itself, but not afraid to trifle with God and man... Who were they, then, to question the authority of Jesus? If they could only say "We do not know," they confessed their own incompetence. Those who could not settle the question about the servant were certainly not fit to judge the Master.
The answer hidden inside His question
His one question was not a trap for its own sake. Had they answered it, they would have answered their own.
J. G. BellettHe put it to them to decide about the authority of John's baptism, whether it was "from heaven or of men." His aim was not so much to put their safety with the crowd at risk, as their evil hearts suggested. His aim was to lead them, in God's own appointed way, to the answer of their own question. They ought to have felt no hesitation in deciding that John's baptism was "from heaven." That answer would have shown at once by what authority He was acting, for John's ministry was God's testimony to Him, the Christ.
He answers the man, not the query
This is a pattern in how Jesus deals with people. The words He gives are shaped by the state of the person speaking.
The Bible TreasurySomeone has rightly said that the Lord never answered a curious question curiously. He answered their heart and conscience. So here He answers their question by asking another.
What their silence cost them
They weighed both answers for safety, not for truth. Then they chose the reply that admitted nothing, and the exchange ended there.
Hamilton SmithBefore they answered the Lord, they reasoned among themselves. That reasoning proves they had no principle at all. Whatever they believed, they were ready to answer either way, as a matter of policy. But they judge that either answer might expose them to condemnation from the Lord or from men. Therefore they fall back on silence.
Summary
- Authority challenged. The leaders raised the question of authority to guard their own place. They cared nothing for the corruption in God's house.
- Authority tested. His one question was a fair trade and a test. Settle the smaller question about John, and you show you can judge the greater question about Jesus.
- Authority revealed. The answer they refused to give was the answer they had asked for. John's whole ministry was God's testimony to Christ.
- Authority put to conscience. Jesus does not satisfy curiosity. He speaks to the heart behind the question. Here that heart chose policy over truth.
- Authority withheld. Men who will not say what they know keep only what they claimed — ignorance. So He declines to tell them.