1 One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and scribes, together with the elders, came up to Him. 2 “Tell us,” they said, “by what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?”

3 “I will also ask you a question,” Jesus replied. “Tell Me: 4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or from men?”

5 They deliberated among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ 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 was from.

8 And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Rebecca Shead

On a first reading of this passage, I felt sympathy for the chief priests, scribes and elders. It seems like they are being diligent leaders, testing Jesus to protect the people from a fake Messiah. It sounds like a genuine question. But remember what we saw yesterday in the verses immediately before these: “the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill” Jesus (Luke 19:47).

When they ask him, “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” their question was a trap. They have seen the “things” Jesus was doing – in fact, they have seen everything they need to draw the right conclusions about him. But they simply don’t want to, so they try to devise another question to discredit him.

In the previous chapters, Jesus has been teaching about the kingdom of God; he healed sick and blind people and even raised a girl from the dead; he entered Jerusalem as the promised king; and yesterday we saw that he cleared out the dishonest people from the temple.

The chief priests, scribes and elders knew their Old Testament. They should have recognised that everything Jesus did was fulfilling God’s promises. But their hearts were hard and instead of rejoicing that Jesus was the promised Messiah, they wanted to kill him! Jesus knew their hearts. His authority is reinforced by his clever reply to them.

This makes me think about how we respond to Jesus today. We know the end of the story – that Jesus will die on the cross and be raised to life again. We have even more evidence than the chief priests and scribes! I am so thankful that in his mercy, God has opened my eyes so I can see the truth about Jesus our saviour. Do you see it too? If you do, join me in praising God! If you don’t trust Jesus yet as your king, ask God to reveal Jesus to you by his Holy Spirit, and accept his gift of eternal life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rebecca is a member of our Bossley Park Morning congregation.