The baptism of John -- where was it from? From heaven or from men?

 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders 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 of 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

Yesterday, we read about Jesus first act the morning after His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all 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 said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a hose 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 mouths 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 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."  The leadership in the temple confronts Jesus about His cleansing of the temple.  What authority has He to do such things?  He's not a Levitical priest, He doesn't have the kind of authority of lineage they're looking for.  But He's not going to reveal Himself as Son to those who will not believe.  Instead, He asks them a question about John the Baptist.  My study bible says that both the elders' question and Christ's question require the same answer.  They would lead a person to confess that Jesus has come from heaven.  But by not answering them directly, Jesus teaches us not to answer people who come asking about holy things with malicious intent.

"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 of 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."  My study bible says that using their own principles, the elders convict themselves in their answer to Christ's parable. 

 Today's reading concerns questions of authority.  Where does authority come from?  What is the highest authority?  What if people don't agree on sources of authority, or fail to recognize authority?  All the questions point to Jesus as the Christ.  But they also give us an image of Christ in our world.  How about those who can't recognize Him or what He is?  What about those who don't want to have faith, and who block within themselves -- a form of what is called hard-heartedness in the Scriptures -- knowledge or understanding of authority that is truly present?  Everything in the events in Jerusalem will come down to Pilate's question to Jesus:  "What is truth?"  He will answer nothing to Pilate.  But of course the Truth is standing right in front of Pilate.  Here it is the same thing.  They ask Him, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?"  But of course, the answer is that He is the authority -- but this answer will not come from Him.  Instead He answers with a question to them about John the Baptist.  Their own fear of the crowds determines the ways in which they respond.  And that tells us another thing about authority.  It's very clever that Jesus asks them if John's authority for baptism came from men or from God, "from heaven or from men," as Jesus puts it.  The question puts out another, silent, question hidden within it.  It asks about their own authority and what they believe in.  Is their authority from men or from God?  Whom do they serve?  If their fear is more of men -- the people -- than God, what does that say about their own viewpoint on authority, or what they take for their authority?  The parable teaches about the ultimate authority, and what it looks like to follow the ultimate authority.  It's putting your action where your faith is.  It also separates saying and doing; it invites us to ask and wonder about hypocrisy (as Jesus so often does).  The repentant tax collectors and harlots, outward sinners, who eventually respond to the authority within John's baptism are those who honor the authority of heaven.  But what of them, the "authorities" in the temple?  Whom do they honor?  What do they honor?  Hard-heartedness is that which keeps us from fully loving God and thereby all that leads us to understanding and life.  What we see from this interaction is Jesus' admitted awareness, from the beginning, that their faith is lacking.  That acknowledgement, in His refusal to answer directly but rather with His own question to them, is an acknowledgement of their hard-heartedness.  He begins with the knowledge that their capacity for faith, for reception to Who He is, is lacking.  Their intention is to scoff, not to ask with open minds and hearts.  Jesus gives us a teaching here about people who confront us with their minds made up.  Better to accept the hard-heartedness and put our trust and faith in God than to attempt to reason or persuade.  This seems like a hard teaching, a hard saying, but we may find ourselves saved a lot of trouble by placing our trust where it belongs -- and not where it doesn't belong.  He is acting and teaching us to be "wise as serpents and simple as doves."  Let us learn from Him!