By what authority are You doing these things?

Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. And they said to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?" But 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: The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me." And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men' " -- they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. So 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."

- Mark 11:27-33

In yesterday's reading, several things occurred. Jesus and the disciples are in Jerusalem, where, Jesus has told them, He will be betrayed, handed over to the Gentiles, humiliated, tortured, killed, and on the third day rise again. They haven't understood these things. As He approached Jerusalem, He was welcomed in the events we celebrate on Palm Sunday. Then, we read yesterday, the next day they came out from Bethany approaching the City again. Jesus saw a fig tree in full foliage. He went to eat, but there were no figs, as it wasn't yet the season for them. He said, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it. They went to the temple in Jerusalem, where Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'" The chief priests and scribes began to plot against Him because of the astonishing impact He is having on the people, especially in the cleansing of the temple. As He and the disciples pass by the fig tree the next morning, Peter observed the fig tree withered and dried up from its roots. Jesus taught them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses."

Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. And they said to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?" In the cleansing of the temple, on the previous day, Jesus acted as King (according to my study bible), with full authority. So, in this light, it is reasonable that the chief priests, scribes and elders - the leadership in the temple - come and ask Him this. Of course, we know their motivation; they already plot to destroy Him. It's not really an honestly posed question. But, the question of authority is essential to our understanding of the Gospel, and of Christ Himself.

But 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: The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me." Jesus again is acting like a King here, with full authority. This is especially true in the form of the command He issues, "Answer Me." The question is a clever one, and one that shows His authority (and His sense of His own authority) is not shaken whatsoever by the testing of the temple authorities. He turns the tables on them, and asks His own question in response.

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men' " -- they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. There is a powerful story here, hidden in these short lines. That story is in the contrast between the image of the leadership here, afraid of the crowds and the people, and the personae of both John the Baptist and Jesus. Both were fearless in their preaching. Their loyalty first of all was to God, not to the crowd and its changing opinions. The loyalty to the people comes from the willingness to give them the truth, what is best for them, out of the love of God and neighbor. It goes to the heart of what truth means to us, and where that truth comes from in the heart, as we understand "heart" in a scriptural sense. John's fearless preaching, his ascetic life devoted to God, and martyr's death, earned him a reputation as "prophet indeed." In the tradition of the Church, he is the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.

So 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." Again, we contrast the spirit in which the answer is given by the temple authorities -- to escape responsibility for their answer, and the power in Jesus' response (which nominally looks to be the same!). He won't give them an answer; instead He's pointed up the differences between Himself and their attitudes. My study bible puts it this way: "Those who claim to have the answers are left admitting their ignorance."

One can simply imagine this scene as the pilgrims come to the temple for Passover. According to all that we have learned through reading Mark's Gospel, the crowds know Him. Jesus is a massively well-known figure, and many have flocked to His preaching throughout Galilee. He's enough of a threat now that the temple authorities are after Him, and certainly the events of the previous day (the cleansing of the temple) have caused a kind of scandal. Elsewhere, we read that the people listen with delight as Jesus trumps up the questions of the authorities, showing them up. To the crowds watching, we can imagine the attitude as they observe His attitude toward the authorities who wish Him to simply go away somehow, to shut up His preaching and criticism of them. He deftly defeats their actions so easily. But we can ask the question too. By what authority is He doing these things? Where does His authority come from? In Him is the power and authority of truth, and the truth we know as love -- that which is best for us. He is someone, like John the Baptist, who will not stint at the truth just because it's something we'd rather not hear right now. He gives us what is best, what serves our true interests. He doesn't simply seek to please the crowd. We can take His message to heart for ourselves, and find it within our hearts. Jesus will always tell us what we need to hear.