Mt 21:23-27
23When [Jesus] had come into the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” 24Jesus said to them in reply, “I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things. 25Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin?” They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd, for they all regard John as a prophet.” 27So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” He himself said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Reflection
One question: After he enters Jerusalem in triumph, Jesus purges the temple of merchants and money changers and teaches at the temple precincts. The religious leaders demand to know on what authority Jesus acts and teaches.
The request at first seems legitimate. Jesus is often provoked to give proof of his authority (Mt 12:38; Jn 2:18). For Matthew especially, Jesus is the teacher par excellence (23:8), and so the question is crucial to his messianic role.
But Jesus sees through the motives of the chief priests and elders of the people and recognizes their insincerity. Instead of arguing or offering his credentials, he counters with a question that forces his inquisitors to take a stand and state their position about John the Baptizer. If they admit that John’s mission is divine, they incriminate themselves for not believing him. If they repudiate his work, they risk earning the displeasure of the people who regard John as a prophet. By answering, “We do not know,” they reject both John’s message and Jesus’ authority.