Matthew 21:23-27
The Authority of Jesus Questioned
23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?”
They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Some questions in life are tough and hard to answer...When we can't answer a question sometimes it can be embarrassing, and when we are pitted against one or ones, we do not especially like, how we answer their question seems important to us...So questions can divide us...And even how we answer questions can divide us, regardless of the answer being right or wrong...
I've never grown out of the youthful habit of asking of questions...I had a boss once tell me that questions, especially ones that are ask and that people find hard to answer, is a form of confrontation...He said, people like being able to answer questions that they know about and can answer...But he stated, that some, if not most, people dislike being ask hard questions -and that spills over on the one or ones who ask the original question(s)...And if people cannot answer two or more questions (in a meeting) they feel a little less intelligent, embarrassed than before the questions were ask...I ask if that was a reason to stop asking questions, and my boss said "Not at all."...
In some hard questions, how the question is answered is of importance to the one or ones answering...If we are in a debate or confrontation (like the chief priest), we may not want to align with even the One who knows the answer...We may not even want to know the Truth, because we are not friends or aligned with the beliefs of the One asking the question...In those cases, Truth becomes irrelevant...
I see this scenario, sort of being played out with the chief priest and elders of the people seeking the answer to their question of "By what authority are You doing these things?"...Jesus knows the answer to that question and to all questions, so He is not at all worried about not looking intelligent or feeling embarrassed...Jesus knows all things (John 21:17)...But Jesus tells the people questioning Him, that He would ask a question, and when they answered His question, then He would answer their question about His authority...Often a rabbi (in Jesus time), would answer a question, with a question...Jesus' question is about John's baptism -where did it come from?...Was it from heaven, or from men?...The chief priests and elders discussed it among themselves and said if they we say from heaven, then He will ask why didn't you believe him...(The chief priests and elders did not want to believe in John the Baptist's baptizing in the Jordan River was from heaven)...But if we say it came from man, then the people will be mad, because all the men think John the Baptist was a prophet, and we are afraid of the people (they probably figured that most people would stop following their ways -if and when they would disagree with John the Baptist's teachings and baptizing)...So the chief priests and elders said "We don't know."...
The chief priests and elders knew of John the Baptist and his testimony...John the Baptist, stated that Jesus was the Lamb of God, and testified that He was also the Son of God (John 1:29-34)...John the Baptist had testified that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God...So, if the chief elders answered Jesus' question correctly -and admit that John the Baptist baptism came from heaven, they would be saying the Jesus was, in fact, the Son of God...
What is so interesting about this exchange of questions is that Jesus refused to answer their question about His authority...They were not told first hand where His authority came from...Jesus knew the answer to both of these questions, but He did not give the ones asking the question or us (the readers of the Gospel According to Matthew) the direct answer to either...
There is nothing wrong with not getting every question we ask answered...That is life...There is nothing wrong with (us) not not knowing the answer to all questions and to all things...What can happen however is that when we ask God questions, we are often in prayer...And when we do not hear, see, feel, or sense an answer it can affect our faith...But by Jesus refusing to answer this question (and it can be debated that the chief priests and elders) were not believers in Jesus or John the Baptist, and were undeserving of an answer), we know that He does not answer all questions directly...But Jesus gives the chief priests, the elders and us two parables to think on...The answer is an indirect one...The Parable of the Two Sons, and the Parable of the Tenants...These parables teach us, if we reject the Son, we will miss the Kingdom of God...
All of our questions to God will not be answered...We are limited by how we think, and our finite capacity...Sometimes we get our prayers answered in a parable-like way...And some parables are hard to figure out, so they must be studied...We often get prayers answered over time...We cannot compare our knowledge and wisdom to God's knowledge and wisdom...When we are two and three years old and ask our father a difficult question about how something works and he gives us a long answer, we probably don't understand it, but we trust him and go about our day, and on to the next thing we are doing...When we ask our Father in heaven a tough question, the answer maybe so difficult that we just do not have that capacity we need until we reach His Kingdom...Or it is possible that it gets answered over time and we just missed it...Nonetheless, let us keep a quality of our youth in our questions, but more importantly in our questions about our faith as Jesus teaches (Matthew 18:3) and move toward a better life on earth, and a stronger faith in Him...