By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?

 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- where was it from?  From heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

"But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  Then he came to the second and said likewise.  And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.  Which if the two did the will of his father?"  They said to Him, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him."

- Matthew 21:23-32

In yesterday's reading, in which events take place after Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, we read that Jesus went into the temple of God and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.  And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.' "  Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.  But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?"  And Jesus said to them, "Yes.  Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?"  Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.  Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.  And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Immediately the fig tree withered away.  And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?"  So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

  Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority?"   Questions of authority come immediately after cleansing the temple.  My study bible says that "since the chief priests and the elders cannot object to Jesus' miracles, they bring charges against Him for His chastisement of the tradesmen in the temple.  Since He is not a Levitical priest and does not have the schooling normally required of a rabbi, Jesus is asked about His authority to cleanse the temple."

But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- where was it from?  From heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."  My study bible suggests that because the leadership is motivated by unbelief and hostility, Jesus does not answer, but confounds His adversaries with a question of His own.  I think it's important that we understand that He "turns the tables" (as in the cleansing of the money changers) on them with their own "medicine." 

 "But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  Then he came to the second and said likewise.  And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.  Which if the two did the will of his father?"  They said to Him, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him."  Here is another teaching on hypocrisy, and it exposes us to the concept of those who "draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me" (Jesus' quotation from Isaiah, in chapter 15).  It places a direct emphasis on the matters of the heart.  My study bible tells us that Jesus mentions the tax collectors and harlots, presumed to be great sinners, to jolt the leaders into obedience.

Jesus goes to the heart of the leadership that charges Him with violating authority.  The real answer to the question of Jesus' authority is in His identity as Messiah, and as Son.  But there's no use in giving them that answer; they don't believe, they will not believe.  (We do know there are members of the leadership who are believers, but they are in the minority.)  At this juncture, Jesus opts to answer in ways they will understand, even if He does not satisfy them with His answer.  He turns to the question of John the Baptist, a figure revered publicly for his holiness and righteousness.  How did they respond to him?  Did John have authority to baptize, and to preach repentance and preparation for the coming of the Messiah?  The hypocrisy of the leadership makes them afraid to respond, just as they did not do as John taught -- but they are afraid of the crowds who consider John to have been a holy man.  Jesus' parable goes straight to the heart of this problem that is before Him, the people who "honor God with their lips," but their heart is far away.  There are many who repented at John's call to prepare for the One who was to come.  We can assume that those who lined the streets of Jerusalem to welcome Jesus are those who lived in that expectation, and we know that so many of His followers were once disciples of John the Baptist.  But the leadership remains aloof and untouched, concerned only about question of authority, but not of truth and the authenticity of holiness.  Indeed, the great charge against Jesus will be precisely that He claims to be the Son of God.  Jesus links truth with the heart, faith with the question of what a person truly loves.  He gives them a parable in which the faithful are those who are nominally sinners, because their hearts have turned to God.  And in this way, the "tables are turned" on them again, as it is they who say "yes" to God with their lips but turn from Him and the authority that is present in Him, just as they feign honor to John the Baptist, but did not do as he taught, either.  In an upside-down world, we can count on two things:  that faith is the product of a true heart, and that hypocrisy will produce many disguises (and that we mustn't be fooled by them).  Where does righteousness take you?  What does a true heart tell you?  Truth cuts through the heart of appearances, of false fronts (like the question of authority rather than the substance of Jesus' ministry), of all defense, and right to the basic question:  what do we love the most?  It is love of position, and envy of Christ the Beloved Son that is at work here.  Let us remember His truth when we are confronted by false fronts and false accusation, suspicion, and envy and hypocrisy.  Let us remember He has been there first, and gives them no ground, remaining in the truth of the love of God.  Let us also remember the fruits of the ministry of John, those who believed him -- and focus on the fruits of our own faith.