Jesus' authority was questioned by the elders, chief priests, and scribes in Matthew 21:23-27, Mark 11:27-33, and Luke 20:1-8. The religious leaders “were afraid of the people” (Mark 11:32). They wouldn’t obey Jesus, but they would obey man because we obey what we fear.

Table of contentsThe Chief Priests, Scribes, and Elders Questioned Jesus' AuthorityThe Chief PriestsThe ScribesThe EldersThe Religious Leaders Tried to Trap Jesus, but He Trapped ThemThe Religious Leaders Played DumbJesus Would not "Give What Is Holy to the Dogs"We Obey What We FearSaul Disobeyed Because He Feared the PeopleLove and Fear Produce ObedienceAbraham Obeyed Because He Feared GodThe Hebrew Midwives Obeyed Because They Feared GodIsrael's Fear Would Produce ObedienceLack of Fear Produces Disobedience

https://youtu.be/qKES6njGGJc

Jesus' authority was questioned by the elders, chief priests, and scribes in Matthew 21:23-27, Mark 11:27-33, and Luke 20:1-8.

Henry Kissinger served as secretary of state and national security advisor during Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford’s presidencies. He wrote about the seven people he believed to be the most powerful in history:

Number 7: The American President since 1945 because of the nuclear weapons at his disposal

Number 6: President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)

Number 5: Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) the Emperor of the French Empire

Number 4: Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) the leader of the Indian Independence Movement

Number 3: Peter the Great (1672-1725) the czar of the Russian Empire

Number 2: Qin Shi Huang (259 B.C.-210 B.C.) the emperor of Unified China

Number 1: Julius Caesar (100 B.C.-44 B.C.) the Emperor of the Roman Empire

It’s a good thing nobody asked me who I thought the seven most powerful men in history were for two reasons. First, I don’t think I would have guessed many of the names on the list. Second, the Person I would have said is number one didn’t even make the list, and that’s Jesus. He said:

Matthew 28:18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Nobody has ever had more authority than Jesus because he has all authority. But you wouldn’t know that from the gospels. The religious leaders didn’t even think Jesus had the authority to cleanse the temple.

The context for this account is important. The triumphal entry is in verses 28 through 40. Jesus weeps over Jerusalem in verses 41 through 44. This was on Sunday, also known as Palm Sunday, and it began the last week of Jesus’ earthly life leading up to his crucifixion. Then, in verses 45 and 46, which was probably Monday, Jesus cleansed the temple. This went over terribly with the religious leaders. Not only did it make them look bad, it also cost them lots of money. If that wasn’t enough, Jesus followed this up by calling them robbers and thieves:

Luke 19:47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

They want to murder Jesus, but they can’t. This shows why they questioned Jesus' authority: they couldn’t directly get rid of Jesus because of his popularity, so they try to indirectly by trapping him.

After Jesus cleansed the temple, even though the religious leaders were trying to murder him, he decided to stay in the temple teaching during the week leading up to the crucifixion. In our sermon on these verses, I said it was like Jesus set up his headquarters in the middle of enemy territory.

Think about what it looked like when Jesus cleansed the temple. He bursts in, and we know by looking in all three synoptic Gospels he drove out everyone who was selling and buying, and overturned the tables of the money changers and knocked over the chairs of those selling pigeons. Mark 11:16 says he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple, which makes it seem like he interrupted everything that was happening. He rebukes them for being thieves. After all that, he’s bold enough to set up shop in the middle the temple and teach everyone.

If you were watching this, what might you say? “This Man must have an incredible amount of authority to be able to do this!”

But if you hated Jesus, what might you say? “Who does this guy think he is? Where does he get the authority to do this?” Which is exactly what the religious leaders asked:

Luke 20:1 One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” 

More than likely this is Tuesday of the Passion Week.

The Chief Priests, Scribes, and Elders Questioned Jesus' Authority

Because each of these groups was part of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council, more than likely they met together to orchestrate this attack. They didn’t think Jesus had the authority to do what he was doing, but they believed they had the authority to do what they were doing. Let me tell you why they thought they had authority, but didn’t think Jesus had authority.

The Chief Priests

The chief priests claimed their authority from the Mosaic law, because it said that Levites, or the tribe of Levi, could be priests. They looked at Jesus, and what tribe was he from?

He’s from the tribe of Judah. They don’t know he is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, so they didn’t think he could claim his authority from his tribe or the law. So, they didn’t think he has the authority to be a priest, say nothing about coming into the temple like a priest and then driving out the priests.

The Scribes

Scribes were students of the law who claimed their authority from the rabbis whose interpretations they studied. In other words, the scribes studied rabbis writings about the law, the way we would study commentaries. The scribes would defend their positions, or demonstrate their authority, by quoting these rabbis.

Mark 1:22 They were astonished at [Jesus’] teaching, for he taught them as one WHO HAD AUTHORITY, and NOT AS THE SCRIBES.

For a few years I wrongly thought this meant that Jesus spoke very boldly and confidently…or authoritatively. Instead, it means he didn’t quote anyone the scribes who quoted rabbis. I don’t think we have any idea what Jesus sounded like when he taught. We know the content of what he taught. But we don’t know how he taught. Maybe he taught very gently and calmly.

But the point I want you to notice is because Jesus didn’t quote any rabbis – like the scribes did – they didn’t think he had the authority to teach what he did.

The Elders

The elders of Israel were the leaders of families and clans. They were usually chosen because of their experience and wisdom. They could point to their election for their authority. They could say, “The people chose us for these positions.”

But Jesus wasn’t chosen by anyone. In fact, he was rejected by many, including the religious leaders themselves. Or in other words, he was rejected by the most prominent and respected people who would have given him some authority: the religious leaders.

And it gets even worse. He had 12 disciples with him that he could point to, but Peter, James, John, and Andrew were fishermen, Matthew was a tax collector, and we don’t know what the other disciples did. But we do know this: they were ordinary men. They were not men you pointed to when you wanted to establish your authority…because they had no authority themselves.

So, the chief priests, scribes, and elders were certain of their authority, and they were not afraid to confront Jesus about his perceived lack of authority.

The Religious Leaders Tried to Trap Jesus, but He Trapped Them

Jesus can’t say that he doesn’t have authority, or he wouldn’t be justified in cleansing the temple, overthrowing the moneychangers and vendors, and then setting himself up like a prophet for everyone to hear. But Jesus also couldn’t say his authority came from man. Because the temple was God’s house, Jesus needed God’s authority to cleanse it. If he says he only had man’s authority then it looks like he did something without God’s permission.

But Jesus also couldn’t say his authority came from God, because then the religious leaders would accuse him of blasphemy and have him executed. He responded:

Luke 20:3 He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, 4 was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” 

Earlier I said Jesus couldn’t look to the 12 disciples to establish his authority. But there was one earthly figure Jesus could point to, and that was John the Baptist. John was well-known as Jesus’ forerunner. He’s the one who introduced Jesus to the nation.

You might wonder why Jesus  asked them whether John’s baptism was from God, versus asking whether John himself was from God? Why ask about John’s baptism versus simply asking about John? John's ministry is associated with baptism. He’s John the Baptist, or John the Baptizer. Asking about his ministry was asking about the legitimacy of what he was doing as Jesus’s forerunner.

With Jesus' one question, he turned the tables on the religious leaders. And they knew it:

Luke 20:5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 

If the religious leaders admitted John’s baptism was from heaven, people would surely ask, “Then why didn’t you believe John when he said Jesus is the Messiah?” They would be answering their own question and acknowledging Jesus’ authority came from God.

Luke 20:6 But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 

On the other hand, they also can’t deny that John’s baptism is from heaven,