15 

The Confrontation over Authority
(Mark 11:27–33) 

They came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him, and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” They began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. Answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” (11:27–33)

This passage initiates the final confrontation between the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostate heads of Israel’s religious system. It began on Wednesday of Passion Week and culminated in His crucifixion on Friday. The initial phase of that confrontation runs through the end of Mark 12.

As the Gospels make clear, the Jewish leaders hated Jesus for what He said, both against their hypocrisy and their legalistic works righteousness (e.g., Matt. 23:1–36; Mark 12:1–12). But their challenge recorded in this passage was not sparked by what Jesus said but by His outrageous behavior. On Tuesday the Lord had assaulted the temple, which, with its crass commercialization by the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, symbolized the corrupt Jewish religion. That incident ignited this confrontation on Wednesday of Passion Week.

As they had when Jesus drove the corrupters out of it at the outset of His ministry (John 2:13–18), the leaders challenged His authority to launch this assault on the temple. Two Greek words translated “authority” in the New Testament reveal the scope of the Lord’s legitimate dominion. Dunamis refers to the power or ability; exousia to the right or privilege. Because Jesus possesses authority infinitely, never in His earthly ministry did He ask any humans for permission to enact His and the Father’s will.

Jesus repeatedly affirmed His absolute authority. In Matthew 28:18 He declared, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Earlier in Mathew’s gospel He said, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father” (Matt. 11:27). In John 3:35 He added, “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand” (cf. John 13:3); in other words, He granted Him “authority over all flesh” (John 17:2). The writers of the New Testament epistles also affirmed Jesus’ absolute authority over all things (1 Cor. 15:27; Eph. 1:21–22; Phil. 2:9–11; Heb. 1:2; 1 Peter 3:22). Christ’s sovereign authority over all things offers clear proof of His deity.

Jesus not only taught with authority (Matt. 7:29; Mark 1:22, 27) but also acted with divine authority. He claimed the right to forgive sin (Mark 2:10), and the implications were not lost on His opponents. After Jesus forgave the sin of a paralyzed man whom He had miraculously healed, “The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, ‘Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?’” (Luke 5:21).

Jesus also demonstrated His complete authority over the forces of hell. On one occasion when He cast a demon out of a man, those who witnessed the miracle “debated among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him’” (Mark 1:27).

Another aspect of Christ’s sovereign dominion is His right to grant eternal salvation. In the prologue to his gospel, the apostle John wrote, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). Later in John’s gospel Jesus declared, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (6:37), and in 7:37–38 “Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, “From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”’” In Matthew 11:28–30 He invited people to come to Him for salvation: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

The extent of the Lord Jesus’ authority is also revealed by the Father’s granting Him the right to be the ultimate judge. “For not even the Father judges anyone,” Jesus declared, “but He has given all judgment to the Son … and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man” (John 5:22, 27).

Finally, Christ has full authority over life and death. In John 10:18 He said, “No one has taken [My life] away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father,” and in Revelation 1:18 He added, “[I am] the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”

Although Jesus’ authority is infinite and absolute, it is always exercised in perfect agreement with the will of the Father. That truth is a particular emphasis of John’s gospel.

That Jesus never sought permission from the Jewish authorities for His teaching and actions—thus treating them and their religious positions with disdain—infuriated them. It led to their bringing about His execution at the hands of the Romans (Acts 2:23). Their hearts were hardened; they were children of Satan (John 8:44) and apostate enemies of God.

This clash between them and Jesus, the climax of three years of animosity on their part (cf. Mark 2:6–7, 16, 18, 24; 3:2–6, 22; 7:5–8; 8:11–12; 10:2), unfolds in three scenes: the confrontation, counter, and condemnation.

THE CONFRONTATION

They came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him, and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” (11:27–28)

When the Lord and His disciples came again to Jerusalem from Bethany on Wednesday morning, He began walking in the temple grounds. As noted in the exposition of 11:15 in chapter 13 of this volume, the temple encompassed a vast complex of courtyards and buildings. As He had throughout His ministry, Jesus, in a typically rabbinic method of teaching, was walking among the thousands milling around the temple grounds (cf. John 10:23) “teaching the people … and preaching the gospel” (Luke 20:1; cf. 4:18; 8:1; 19:47; Matt. 4:17; 11:1; Mark 1:38–39; John 18:20). The Lord occupied center stage in the temple courtyard. It was His classroom, His pulpit; it was God’s temple for one final day, where the truth would dominate in the place of lies.

Christ’s message on this occasion was likely a summary of what He had taught throughout His ministry. He surely talked about the wretchedness of sin, and the folly of hypocritical, legalistic false religion that could not restrain it, the hopelessness of trying to achieve righteousness by one’s own efforts, and the folly of pretentious prayers and superficial religious deeds, performed to be seen by men rather than God (cf. Matt. 6:1–5; 23:5–7). His teaching must have included warnings about the inevitability of divine judgment and eternal hell, about the need for humility, bankruptcy of spirit, and a broken and contrite heart, the hope for reconciliation for all transgressions, peace, and reconciliation with God, based on the compassionate love of God for sinners, the promise of forgiveness, entrance to the kingdom of salvation, eternal life, and the hope of heaven. He probably talked about false humility and the danger of spiritual pride, and surely reminded His hearers about the cost of following Him through self-denial (Luke 9:23–24). His teaching likely also included such subjects as the persecution and suffering those who identified with Him would face, the importance of the Word of God, honesty, true riches, repentance, faith, grace, and mercy. In short, the Lord’s teaching would have encompassed everything pertaining to the good news of salvation.

Christ’s powerful teaching both enraged and alarmed the chief priests (the current and former high priests and other high-ranking priests) and the scribes (mostly Pharisees) and the elders. These three disparate groups are often mentioned together (cf. Matt. 27:41; Mark 14:43; 15:1; Luke 9:22; 22:66). Although on many matters they disagreed with each other, they were in full agreement that Jesus had to be eliminated.

Desperately attempting to silence Him before He further discredited them in the eyes of the people, they came to Him, and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” This question was not prompted by curiosity; it was an attack (the Greek word translated “confronted” in Luke 20:1 can be translated “attacked” [Acts 17:5]). The Jewish leaders faced a dilemma. On the one hand, “the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy [Jesus]” (Luke 19:47). But “they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said” (v. 48). They were furious in their hatred, but paralyzed as to any action against Jesus because His teaching had captivated the people.

Still they refused to give up on their plan to trap the Lord into discrediting Himself publicly with the hope that trap could lead to support for their murderous intent. Knowing that in the past He had claimed that His authority had come directly from God, they assumed He would do so again. They would then accuse Him of blasphemy and call for His execution. In reality, however, they were the blasphemers (Luke 22:65).

THE COUNTER

And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” They began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. Answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” (11:29–33a)

The Lord’s devastating response evaded their clumsy attempt to trap Him and in turn trapped them in an inescapable dilemma. He prefaced it by saying to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.” By answering a question with a question, Jesus was being neither rude nor evasive. To interact in this fashion was accepted rabbinic practice, designed to force the questioner to consider the issue at a deeper level. In this case, the Lord’s counterquestion unmasked their hypocrisy. As noted above, they already knew that He claimed that His authority came from God. They were not pursuing knowledge but rather trying to get Him to repeat that claim publicly, so they could accuse Him of blasphemy.

The Lord’s counterquestion, “Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me,” put the religious chiefs squarely between the proverbial rock and hard place. John the Baptist was the extremely popular forerunner of the Messiah, the greatest prophet who had ever lived up until his time. He was chosen by God and ministered in the wilderness, preaching repentance in preparation for the Messiah. The phrase baptism of John extends to encompass his entire ministry; his preaching, his teaching, his calling of the people to preparedness and repentance, and most importantly, his declaration that Jesus was the Messiah. Christ challenged them to declare whether they believed John’s ministry was of divine or human origin.

That challenge turned the tables on the Lord’s attackers and put them in an impossible quandary. They withdrew temporarily and began reasoning (dialoging, debating) among themselves, futilely seeking a way out of their dilemma. On the one hand, if they said “From heaven,” they would have no answer for Christ’s inevitable follow-up question, “Then why did you not believe him?” Nor were they comfortable putting their official seal of approval on one whom they did not believe was a true prophet (Luke 7:28–30), and who had publicly denounced them:

But on the other hand, they did not dare reply, “From men,” because they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. Denying the popular view that John was a true prophet would have had severe—possibly even fatal—consequences. Luke records that they said to one another, “But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet” (Luke 20:6). To reject God’s true prophet was tantamount to rejecting and blaspheming God Himself.

Since the only two alternatives were unacceptable to them, the religious leaders could only reply, “We do not know.” To thus plead ignorance was a bitter pill for these proud, egotistical men to swallow, since they viewed themselves as the unrivaled experts in theological matters and wisdom in debate.

THE CONDEMNATION

And Jesus said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” (11:33b)

Having reduced His opponents to silence, Jesus ended the discussion with a condemnation of them. He was through communicating with them. After three years of teaching, and performing miracles to verify His claims (John 5:36), the Lord had provided ample proof that He was the Messiah. No further information would be granted. They had rejected the light, and the light had gone out (cf. John 12:35). Jesus would not cast pearls before swine (Matt. 7:6). Their house was left to them desolate (Matt. 23:37–38).

There is a limit to God’s patience, as I noted in an earlier volume in this series:

The unique authority that Jesus possessed to say and do what He wanted to was, amazingly, delegated to the apostles. In Luke 9:1 He “called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.” Having that delegated authority, they spoke the same truth and wielded the same power that Jesus did.

There were unique elements of that authority given only to the apostles: signs and wonders and miracles. But the authority to proclaim the truth has been passed down to all Christians in the Scripture. Paul wrote to Titus, “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you” (Titus 2:15). Though Titus was not an apostle, he was still commanded to proclaim sound doctrine with authority. Believers also may confidently proclaim God’s revealed truth with authority.

The most important reality in this lost, fallen, sinful world is divine truth. The only way people can hear is through believers, who are the instruments in whom God has deposited His Spirit and to whom He has entrusted His Word. “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?” Paul asked in Romans 10:14, “How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”

Jesus also promised eternal authority to those in His future, glorious kingdom: “He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations” (Rev. 2:26). The glorious reality is that the Father has all authority, He gives it to the Son, and the Son will delegate it to believers in the future.