Mark 11:30

As always, the most bitter opponents of Christ are the religious leaders of a corrupted system... These religious leaders thought only of themselves and their religious reputation. They cared nothing for the needs of people, and nothing for the holiness of God's house. They wanted to keep their own authority, so they were jealous of anything done in religion that they had not directed. They were indifferent to the corruption in God's house, and unable to deal with it themselves. So they oppose the One who can, and does, deal with the evil — by raising the question of authority.

So the Lord, with admirable wisdom, asks them a question in return. He promises that if they answer Him, He will answer them. "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?" Where did John get his authority? Heaven's authority had never entered their earth-bound minds. So they are now in serious difficulty. If they admitted the truth, that John's authority came from heaven, they would condemn their own unbelief. On the other hand, if they lied, saying that it was from men, the common people, who knew better, would oppose them.

He appeals neither to miracles nor prophecy, but to conscience. How clearly God had fulfilled the ancient prophecies in Him — in His person, His life and His ministry! How full was the testimony of the signs and wonders He did! Yet their question proved how useless all of it had been. His question proved either their dishonesty or their blindness. In either case, who were they to judge? They never realised what they were doing. As they tried to examine the Lord of glory, they were only showing their own distance and alienation from God. So it always is. How we judge what concerns Christ — or refuse to judge it — is an unfailing measure of our own condition.

He did this, not mainly to put them in danger with the crowd, as their evil hearts suspected. He did it to lead them, in God's own appointed way, to the answer of their own question. They should have had 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.

They had sent a special delegation to the Baptist to look into his claim, and everyone knew how the Baptist had recognised the Lord... In any case they had the means of answering their own question.

So they chose to hide behind an ignorance that looked careful. Who were they, then, to question the authority of Jesus? If all they could say was "We do not know," they confessed their own incompetence. Those who could not settle the question about the servant were surely not fit to judge the Master. And their inability was the smaller fault. Their hypocritical wickedness was the greater: the fault lay in their will even more than in their understanding.

A similar question is before people's minds today. It is not now about John, but about the Bible. A book is in our hands, with the highest claim to a divine mission. The challenge therefore comes to us: is it from heaven, or from man? If it is from heaven, the next question follows: "Why then did you not believe it?" But if the Bible is from man, let us put it in a museum. It is only a curious relic of an ignorant past.