Matthew 21:23-27

²³ Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” ²⁴ But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: ²⁵ The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Commentary

Vs. 23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”

The Lord Jesus having cleansed the temple according to the Word of the Lord now returns to it the next day. Now when He enters the temple, the chief priests, the elders of the people confront Him as He is teaching saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” Obviously they were perturbed by what He did the previous day in overthrowing the money changers tables and driving out those who bought and sold doves in its courtyard. But more than that they wanted to know by what authority Lord Jesus was doing the things He did, both in doing miracles and in teaching and preaching to the people, for no one ever spoke like He did, and no one ever did what He did. Indeed, from the Lord Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, to His healing the blind after He cleansed the Temple, everything that Jesus was saying and doing were all clear indicators of His being the Messiah. And yet with their refusal to believe this they were left with only one option to try to preserve themselves and their positions over the people, and that would be to try to get Him to either blasphemy by declaring Himself as the Messiah, or if Jesus stopped short of that, but declared His authority as coming from God then they would also be able to confront Him and arrest Him, since they themselves were the ones who were appointed to govern the religious affairs of the people. 

Vs. 24-27 ²⁴ But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: ²⁵ The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

In responding to them, the Lord Jesus now says to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: ²⁵ The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?” Now in asking them about the baptism of John the Lord Jesus now turns their entrapment scheme on them, because for them to acknowledge that John’s baptism (that is his ministry in preparing the people for the Lord’s Arrival) as coming from heaven, they then would have no excuse for not believing him and being baptized by him. However, if they said that John’s baptism came from men, then they would have to contend with all the people, for they rightly considered John the Baptist to be a prophet sent by God to them. Therefore, in seeing no way out of the dilemma that they had created for themselves they say to the Lord Jesus, “we do not know”, therefore Jesus in keeping His Word to them now says to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” They then would be left to answer for their own conclusions which they had drawn about Him, along with all their schemes and plots which they worked against Him.

Scripture Quotations: The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.