'27 They returned once more to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him 28 and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.” 31 They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘[Then] why did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet. 33 So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” Then Jesus said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things (Mk. 11:27-33).”'
Representatives of the Jewish leaders tried to trap Jesus into making a public claim that his authority came from God so they could accuse him of blasphemy (v. 28). Blasphemy was punishable by stoning to death (Lev. 24:13-16). Jesus avoided their trap by asking them, “Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin (v. 30)?” Was John the Baptist a true prophet or a false prophet? The chief priests, the scribes and the elders were the three groups from whom the 70 members of the Great Sanhedrin, the supreme religious authority in Israel, were chosen. The Sanhedrin, however, was under the authority of the Romans. They could sentence someone to death, but they could not execute them (Jn. 18:31). Jesus’ question implied that John the Baptist’s authority came from God and if so, why did the Jewish leaders not welcome him. John himself testified that Jesus was greater than he (Jn. 1:27) so Jesus’ authority would also have had divine origin. If they denied the divine origin of John the Baptist’s authority they would have opposition from the crowd who held John to be a prophet sent from God. Jesus’ opponents were trapped and silenced by the same trap they tried to set for Jesus.
Almighty God, like the Psalmist we ask that you break the evil one’s traps so we can and work together to protect and build up the house of God. May we be rooted and grounded in love so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith, and we may win the crown of eternal glory. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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