My Walk Through the Book of Mark by Annette Godtland

Jesus' Authority Questioned (Mark 11:27-33)

27Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. 28And they said to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?"

29But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: 30The baptism of John--was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me."

31And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' 32But if we say, 'From men'"--they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. 33So they answered and said to Jesus, "We do not know."

And Jesus answered and said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

This is Jesus' third entry into the temple in three days. The first was the triumphant entry in celebration as the people praised him as the Messiah. The next day Jesus returned to drive out the corruptness of activities performed in the temple. It said the scribes and chief priests feared him because all the people were astonished at his teachings. The scribes and chief priests were looking for a way to destroy Him.

Now Jesus is returning to the temple a third time, and the chief priests, the scribes and the elders are questioning his authority to do these things. I'm not sure if they are questioning His authority to clear out the activities of the temple, or His authority to teach what He is teaching. I'm not sure if the motivation of these questions is in outrage to the cleansing of the temple, or part of a plot to trip Jesus up, to destroy his authority among the people.

We know Jesus has every right to do what He is doing. It seems like He ought to just go ahead and tell them, to set them straight. Surprisingly, He doesn't immediately tell them from where He gets His authority, nor does He simply immediately refuse to tell them. Instead He asks them a question. It is not as though He hides His identity. There was a whole crowd praising him a couple days ago that are understanding He is the One they were waiting for. He has openly explained to His followers what God has in store for him. Why won't He explain anything to these "religious leaders"?

In Mark 4:24, Jesus says "to you who hear, more will be given." They have been told much and have seen much, but have they really heard? By their response to the question of John's baptism, they indicated they do not really understand, they are not ready to understand Jesus' authority. To them, more would not be given, at least, not right now.

Jesus wants each of us to understand for ourselves. He does not want us to believe something just because it is what someone else says. We are each to develop our own faith.

The other thing I see in this episode where Jesus will not explain things for them is a loving kindness. Jesus knows He must be condemned to death by the chief priests and scribes. I think it is from a loving and forgiving heart that Jesus is seeing to it that when they must carry out their deed that they do not know what they are really doing. I don't think Jesus is refusing to answer their question out of any arrogance, dislike, or other ulterior motive. I think He is doing it out of love.

There are many times in our lives that we may question why Jesus does what He does, why God allows things to happen in our lives for which we see no good purpose. But we must remember that what He does, He does out of loving kindness, even when we cannot understand it. There is no one outside of that loving reach, not even those who will condemn Him.