27 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, 28 and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” 29 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. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” 31 They began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. 33 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.”
Message: The Authority of Jesus
Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.
What the Lord is Saying:
Preface - Jesus is in Jerusalem. It is his 3rd day there with the disciples. He came in on a colt, cursed a fig tree, removed his presence from the temple, pronounced dissatisfaction on the chief priests and scribes for turning the temple into a market for their own benefit rather than reaching out or making the Gentiles welcome, and then took time to talk about the importance of being a servant and having faith in God. We are to trust God and then to forgive others. Our focus is to be on God and others.
They came again to Jerusalem - It seems that they are going from Jerusalem to Bethany and to the Mount of Olives and back and forth. It is perhaps day 4 and maybe still day 3. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him. The chief priests had just recently been bothered by the words that he had said about turning the temple into a robbers den. Perhaps this was the same group. But, this time they were coming to him.
They began saying to Him. By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” This is interesting. Jesus had spoken with an heir of authority toward the scribes and chief priests and they obviously don't understand who he is. Yet, this question they asked was meant to trap Jesus. They had seen earlier what he had done in forgiving the paralytic sins and it seemed clear already that he was doing things that were possible only if the Lord had his backing.
Jesus responds to their question with his own question about John's baptism. But, they didn't answer because they were concerned of how their response would sound. The elders question was clearly not asked to contend for truth, but rather victory over Jesus and this was found out when Jesus responded for they refused to answer, lest they look bad. They were concerned about how they looked before the people than contending for truth (they were afraid of the people).
From the pulpit commentary (edited by Joseph Exell and Henry Donald Maurice Spence who pulled together the notes of 100s of authors during the 19th century):
The argument is incontrovertible. It is this: "You ask from whence I derive my authority - from God or from men? I in my turn ask you from whom did John the Baptist derive his authority to baptize and to teach? from heaven or from men? If he had it from God, as all will confess, then I too have the same from God; for John testified of me, saying that he was but a servant, the friend of the Bridegroom; but that I was the Messiah, the Son of God: and this too when you sent messengers to him for his special purpose, that you might know from him whether he was the Messiah."
Summary - This time for Jesus in Jerusalem culminates with a question by the chief priests and scribes and elders on Jesus' authority, but Jesus uses it as an opportunity to discover people's true motives. And unfortunately it is clear that they were wanting to trap Jesus not get to the truth.
Promise: Christ is the highest authority. We are to submit to His words, that is Scripture, as our highest authority.
Prayer: Lord, you are my authority. I think of how I answered someone the other day who asked a question about why you do something and I must lean on your written Word for the answer. This is my source of asking.
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