Authority Challenged - Matt. 21:23-27 Jesus answers a question with a question as he often did and turns the table on the chief priests and the elders. This exchange involves two categories - questions asked of Jesus and questions Jesus asked. It seems like a good idea to ask a question of a person when they ask you a question not to out smart them but to clarify the question and help to understand them and help them to focus their inquiry. Sometimes people go off and answer a question the person was not really asking and sometimes the person asking did not really ask the question they wanted to ask. In this case here I suspect that the chief priests and elders really did not want an answer but just did not accept Jesus. I do not think they were honest inquirers. Asking a question of someone who asks you a question can help determine the nature of the question asked and the intent of the inquirer.
23 When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” 24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.” 27 And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
