The temple authorities were non too pleased about what Jesus was doing, so they sought to undermine His authority. First they wanted to know what authority He had, and who gave it to Him.
As was His practice, Jesus responded by asking them a question. He did this to get to the heart of the matter. So He asked where John's baptism came from, heaven or human origin. Now John had preached repentance, said he was preparing the way for someone greater, and had declared that Jesus was that person.
The temple leaders were in a bind. If they said John's authority came from heaven, then they themselves should have repented, and it meant that they should have believed in Jesus as the one John spoke about. If they said it was purely human, then the people would be against them.
The only way to avoid such dilemmas is to be devoted to God above all, and to be prepared to suffer if necessary. The temple leaders, however, were mere men-pleasers.
So they refused to answer, and Jesus refused to answer them.
No comments:
Post a Comment