They returned once more to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him 28 and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.” 31 They discussed this among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘[Then] why did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet. 33 So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” Then Jesus said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
In New Testament times, the Sanhedrin was the supreme Jewish legislative and judicial council in Jerusalem. It was comprised of three classes: the elders of the chief families and clans, the former high priests and elders of the four high priestly families, and the scribes, the professional lawyers, who were from the sects of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. There were 70 members and the presiding officer, the current high priest[1]. The Sanhedrin, however, was under the authority of the Romans. They could sentence someone to death, but they could not execute them (Jn. 18:31).
Jesus returned to Jerusalem and went to the temple area. A delegation from the Sanhedrin tried to trap him by asking him who gave him the authority to do the things he was doing. This concern could have arisen since Christ has driven the buyers and sellers out of the temple (Mk. 11:15-18). The group was trying to get him to make a public claim that his authority came from God so they could accuse him of blasphemy (v. 28) which was punishable by stoning to death (Lev. 24:13-16). Jesus avoided their trap by asking them, “Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin (v. 30)?” Was John the Baptist a true prophet or a false prophet? Jesus’ question implied that John the Baptist’s authority came from God and if so, why did the Jewish leaders not welcome him? John himself testified that Jesus was greater than he (Jn. 1:27) so Jesus’ authority would also have had a divine origin. If they denied the divine origin of John the Baptist’s authority they would have opposition from the crowd who held John to be a prophet sent from God. Jesus’ opponents were trapped and silenced by the same trap they tried to set for Jesus.
Almighty God, like the Psalmist we ask that you break the evil one’s traps so we can work together to build up the Body of Christ. May we be rooted in love so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
[1] McKenzie, John. Dictionary
of the Bible. Reprint Edition, Collier Books, 1965.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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