Luke 20:1-4

Rachel Workman: One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. ² They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”

³ “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. ⁴ “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”

The question was meant to force Jesus to admit that his authority came from God. And then they would have more ground to have him killed.

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John Burnett:  On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, ² and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” ³ Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you a ^[a]question, and you tell Me: ⁴ Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”  It is hard for me to tell if the chief priests knew whom they were talking.  You would think that Jesus performing the miracles He did in front of them would give them pause to question who gave Him the authority to do these miracles.  He told them that He was God.  Not very smart to question the judge, who already knows the motives behind the questions.

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Pat Bell:  This is a fearful thought for people you know that don't recognize God.

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Tomorrow’s reading for Luke 20:5-8

⁵ They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. ⁶ But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet.” ⁷ So they finally replied that they didn’t know.

⁸ And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”