- 6 days ago
We are examining the interactions between the Jewish leaders and Jesus during the last week leading up to His crucifixion. After Christ overturned the money changers' tables in the temple courts, the chief priests and leaders felt the situation was spiraling out of their control, with the crowd hanging on to Christ’s every word (Luke 19:48). Their jealousy and fear of losing their financial hold made them realize that their efforts to stop Christ’s popularity were ineffective. They said, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him” (John 12:19). They decided to undermine the people’s faith in Christ’s spiritual authority by asking Him for His ordination certificate to be a Rabbi. They wanted to know what religious school had taught Him and under whose authority He was acting. Of course, they knew He had not attended any seminary or yeshiva and had no formal authority from men. This tactic, they believed, would discredit and weaken the people’s faith in Him. To maximize their impact, they planned to interrupt His teaching in front of the crowd.
1One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. 2"Tell us by what authority you are doing these things," they said. "Who gave you this authority?" 3He replied, "I will also ask you a question. Tell me, 4John's baptism—was it from heaven, or from men?" 5They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Why didn't you believe him?' 6But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet." 7So they answered, "We don't know where it was from." 8Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things" (Luke 20:1-8).
The religious leaders believed they had trapped Him. All the people watched, waiting for Jesus’ reply. Jesus responded with a question of His own. If they answered His question, He would answer theirs. "The baptism of John; was it from heaven or from men?" (v. 4). This put the religious leaders in a tough spot because they rejected John the Baptist’s message of repentance for Israel (Luke 7:29-30). The Lord used the question to reveal the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. In discussing this passage, William Barclay writes:
“He asked them to answer the question, "Was the authority of John the Baptist human or divine?" The point is that their answer to Jesus' question would answer their question. Everyone knew how John had regarded Jesus and considered himself only the forerunner of the One who was the Messiah. If they agreed that John's authority was divine, they had to agree that Jesus was the Messiah because John had said so. The people would rise against them if they denied it because John the Baptist was perceived as a prophet. Jesus was asking them, "Tell me—where do you think I got my authority?" He did not need to answer their question if they responded to his.”
The religious leaders felt humiliated when Jesus refused to answer their questions. What could they say? They hadn’t believed John’s message about repentance and being ready for the Messiah, but they also knew most of the crowd had. They didn’t want to risk starting a heated debate that might lead to a mob reaction. They had to step back before everyone. The lesson for us is not to harden our hearts against the Messiah but to believe and trust Him. He has all the authority in the world. Keith Thomas
Shortened from the more extensive study at the following link: The Parable of the Vine-Growers.