Jesus Is Questioned About His Authority (21:23-27).
The idea that the leadership of Israel were in fact only a sham is now emphasised in this incident. In it the leaders of the people, the religious authorities of the Temple (the chief priests) and the lay authorities of Jerusalem (the elders of the people), challenge Him about His authority, and as a result He demonstrates that they are not really suitable people to decide about such things, because their hearts are hardened and they are not willing to respond to the truth.
We must see this as at least a semi-official approach from the Sanhedrin, the Jewish governing body, for these people, along with the Scribes (included by Mark), were constituent parts of the Sanhedrin. They had seemingly been waiting for His next visit to the Temple, and approached Him as soon as He began teaching. We should note that He was there to pray and to teach, as the Scribes also did (Luke 2:46). He made no attempt to hide Himself, for His challenge was now open and bold. So they came to Him with the deliberate purpose of showing Him up before all the people, for they knew that it would be necessary to get at least the tacit support of the people for what they wanted to do to Him. Thus their first aim was to demonstrate to the crowds that he had no demonstrable authority.
Their question seemed reasonable. All knew that it was their responsibility to check the credentials of any who claimed religious authority, and that they were also responsible for public order, especially in the Temple, and that He had after all caused some disarray and had challenged that authority, even if He had done it as a prophet. So there could be no criticism of their checking up on Him. But it was the way in which it was done that proved that it was not genuine. They had had plenty of opportunity for questioning Him and weighing Him up beforehand, had they really wished to do so, and they could easily have spoken with Him in private. However, their aim was not to discover truth, but to openly confront and denounce Him, and the way in which Jesus dealt with them demonstrated that He in fact saw their challenge at this point as hostile, and not neutral.
That their approach was over more than just His actions in the Temple comes out in the strength of the deputation. His act in the Temple could have been dealt with discreetly by the Temple police, and with a warning. It was His whole activity that was in question and the challenges that He was thus making.
The approach was high handed and officious. ‘By what authority -- who gave you this authority?' Their first hope was that He would have no answer and be caught unprepared. Then the people would see by His hesitation that He was a charlatan. Alternately they were hoping to make Him declare Himself, and say something ‘foolish', possibly even something that could be portrayed as blasphemous, and whatever He said they would then be able to use against Him. They could then accuse Him of self-exaltation, or worse, of being a false prophet, a Messianic claimant or a rebel. The question was, what was He claiming Himself to be? Was He claiming to be a prophet? Was He claiming to be the Messiah? Was He claiming to be the coming Elijah? And if He was not claiming to be anyone important how could He claim to have God's personal authority for doing what He was doing? Compare Matthew 6:15; John 1:19-25. Had He responded as they expected by claiming to be acting in God's Name with no one to back up His position they would then be able to demand from Him a sign from Heaven, their favourite response to any such claims (compare Matthew 16:1).
Analysis.
a And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority do you do these things? And who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23).'
b And Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I will similarly tell you by what authority I do these things” (Matthew 21:24).
c “The baptism of John, from where was its origin? From heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25 a).
d And they reasoned with themselves, saying (Matthew 21:25 b).
c “If we shall say, ‘From Heaven' he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him? But if we shall say, ‘From men', we fear the crowd, for all hold John as a prophet” (Matthew 21:25-26).
b And they answered Jesus, and said, “We do not know” (Matthew 21:27 a).
a He also said to them, “Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things” (Matthew 21:27 b).
Note that in ‘a' they ask Him about His authority, and in the parallel He refuses to give His authority. In ‘b' He challenges them with a question, and in the parallel they admit that they do not know the answer. In ‘c' He asks whether he origin of John's baptism was from Heaven or of men, and in the parallel they debate the two possibilities. Centrally in ‘d' they reason with themselves.