27 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, 28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things? 29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. 31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? 32 But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. 33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. (Mark 11:27-33 KJV)
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
We have here Christ examined by the great Sanhedrin concerning his authority, for they claimed the power to call prophets to account regarding their mission. They came to him while he was walking in the temple—not for recreation, but teaching the people, first one group and then another. The cloisters, or porches, in the courts of the temple were well-suited for this purpose. The leaders were upset to see him followed and listened to attentively, so they came to him formally and essentially put him on trial with this question: “By what authority are you doing these things?” (Mark 11:28).
Now observe how they aimed to trap him and discredit him. If they could prove to the people that he lacked a legal mission—that he wasn’t properly ordained—then, no matter how qualified or effective he was, they would tell the people not to listen to him. This was their last resort in their stubborn unbelief. Since they were determined not to accept his teaching, they were also determined to find some flaw in his commission and would deem it invalid unless it was approved by their court. Similarly, Roman Catholics resolve much of their controversy with Protestants around the legitimacy of their ministers’ ordination; if they can claim it’s invalid, they think they’ve won the argument, even if Scripture supports the Protestants.
But this is a serious question for anyone serving as a magistrate or minister, and one that they should often ask themselves: “By what authority am I doing these things?” For how can anyone preach unless they are sent? And how can anyone act with confidence or hope of success unless they are authorized? (Jeremiah 23:32)
Jesus skillfully turned the tables on them with this question: “What are your thoughts about the baptism of John? Was it from heaven, or from men? By what authority did John preach, baptize, and gather disciples? Answer me” (Mark 11:30). He asked them to give a straightforward answer.
By linking his own authority to John’s, Jesus hinted that his teaching and baptism had the same divine origin and purpose—to usher in the gospel kingdom. He was well within his rights to raise this point, since they had already sent a delegation to investigate John (John 1:19).
So, Jesus asked, “What was the outcome of your investigation?” They knew deep down that John was sent by God. But the problem was what to say publicly. People who don’t commit to speaking truthfully always end up entangling themselves in such dilemmas.
- If they admitted that John’s baptism was from heaven, then Jesus would say, “Why didn’t you believe him?” And they couldn’t stand the idea of Jesus exposing them like that. They could tolerate the quiet rebuke of their own conscience because they had learned to suppress it. As long as they weren’t publicly shamed, they were content, just like Saul, who, even after being convicted, pleaded, “Honor me now before the people” (1 Samuel 15:30).
- If they said, “It was from men; he wasn’t sent by God, and his teaching and baptism were his own invention,” they would be in trouble with the people, who all believed John was truly a prophet. They couldn’t afford to say that publicly. This shows how even wicked rulers are restrained by a kind of worldly fear that God uses to maintain some order and prevent society from descending into lawlessness.
So, Jesus left them trapped in a dilemma. They were silenced and humiliated, forced to retreat by pretending ignorance: “We don’t know.” That was mortifying enough for such proud men and showed their malice and stubbornness. What Jesus did by his wisdom, we must try to do by our good behavior: “silence the ignorance of foolish people” (1 Peter 2:15).
Jesus came out with honor and rightly refused to answer their demand: “Neither will I tell you by what authority I’m doing these things.” They didn’t deserve an answer, because they weren’t seeking the truth but only wanted to win the argument. He didn’t need to tell them either, since his works already proved that he had authority from God; no one could perform such miracles unless God was with him. Let them wait just a few more days—his resurrection would make it unmistakably clear who gave him his authority, for by it he would be “declared to be the Son of God with power”—and by their rejection of him, they would be revealed as the enemies of God.