December 21, 2016 Matthew 21:23-27 Authority Challenged.
23 And when he (Jesus) was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? 24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? 26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. 27 And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
First, lets see just who these people were who were challenging Jesus. They were a mixture of priests and the laity who had been chosen from the Elders of the Community to be members of the ruling Sanhedrin. (some say Sanhedrim) The main point here is that THEY HAD BEEN CHOSEN or elected. Their question was WHO CHOSE YOU, we didn't!! We need to understand that prior to this, Jesus walked into their Temple and threw out the money changers and cleansed His Fathers house of prayer.
This action of Jesus highly upset the Sanhedrin, I would say, "they were torqued off!" In essence, they were asking "where did you get the authority to march into our Temple and do what you did." Mark says, it was "as Jesus was
walking in the temple": and at the same time teaching the people, who flocked about him. So this was not a formal teaching situation, but a casual stroll around the Temple area teaching doctrine as He went along.
The question of where Jesus got His authority and commission to teach in the Temple was a trap, as they thought. Their question is similar to my ordination service to the Baptist Preaching/Teaching Ministry. On April 3rd 1980, an ordination counsel was set up at the Baptist Church that I was the Pastor, and for the next 5 hours I was questioned on my doctrine's, theology, church policies, counseling procedures and so on. This is what the Sanhedrin was looking for especially because they were the only legal counsel to issue such authority, and they had nothing to do with Jesus.
Jesus knew that they were laying a trap for Him, so to skirt this snare, He asked them a question, that if they answered it, He would give them the answer to their question.... by what authority did John administer the ordinance of water baptism, which had never been administered before by any? who sent him to preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, a doctrine the world had never heard of before? was it from God or man?
They reasoned with themselves. I can just see these men huddled together like a football play,
saying, if we shall say from heaven; if we shall return for answer, that the baptism and ministry of John were of divine appointment, and that he acted by a divine authority....John Gill has this to say about these words....
"But if we shall say of men,.... They reasoned with themselves, that should they give their answer in this form, and say, that the ministry and baptism of John, were merely human, and what he took up of himself, or which he performed by an authority derived from men, we fear the people; that were then upon the spot, in the temple; who, as many of them were now the followers of Christ, more of them had been the admirers of John, and probably had been baptized by him: wherefore the Sanhedrin were afraid of them, lest if they should affirm, that the authority by which John acted was human, they would immediately rise up against them; and, as Luke says, "stone" them: so high a veneration had they for him, and so dear was his memory still unto them, for all held John as a prophet. These are the words of the high priests and elders, and not of the evangelist, expressing the reason of their fears from the people, who, in general, were thoroughly persuaded, as Luke expresses it, and firmly believed that John was a prophet, that was raised up, and sent immediately by God; and did not derive his authority and commission to preach and baptize from any man, or set of men, whatever."
He will say unto us, why did ye not believe him? why did not ye believe the doctrine that he preached? and receive the testimony that he gave concerning the Messiah? and why were ye not baptized by him? why did ye reject the counsel of God against yourselves? They saw plainly, that if they owned the divine authority of John's baptism and ministry,
they must allow Jesus to be the true Messiah, John bore witness to; and consequently, that it was by a divine authority he did what he did; and then there was an end of the question, and is the very thing that Christ had in view.
Well, it's looks like Jesus was the Victor in this saga of the Sanhedrin trying to find something to stone Jesus for. Thank you Jesus for your wisdom and knowledge.
