Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?

 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  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,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

- Luke 20:1-8 

On Saturday we read that as He drew near to Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes.  For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."  Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"  And He was teaching daily in the temple.  But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:  The baptism of John -- was it from heaven or from men?"  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,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."   The leadership in the temple ask Christ about His authority to do these things; these things, says my study bible, refers to Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem as Messiah (19:35-38), the cleansing of the temple (19:45), and His preaching in the temple here in verse 1 of today's reading.  The elders are confronting Jesus since it was the duty of the priestly descendants of Levi to manage the temple.  Christ is descended from Judah (3:33), but He is the High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:4).  "The order of Melchizedek" is a priestly line far greater than that of Levi, for His authority is from the Father.

How does Jesus refute the challenge from those who question Him about His authority?  It's quite interesting to "watch" Him, as we do in the Gospels, as He refutes arguments and answers back with what were undoubtedly witty retorts and strong criticisms.  We should keep in mind that none of this is happening behind closed doors, so to speak.  What we're frequently reminded of in the Gospels is that the people listen to Him with a sort of a thrill and rapt attention.  And so we see in today's reading, that Jesus' answer to the leadership happens in front of the people to Jesus' advantage -- it's something He uses in His arguments.  The leadership fears the opinions of the people over whom they rule in all religious and, of course, that includes social matters.  John the Baptist was a towering figure in his time.  He was widely regarded as a holy man, fully dedicated to the God of Israel and to the spiritual heritage of Israel, speaking out against violations of the Law by its corrupt rulers (namely Herod Antipas), finally being beheaded in prison at the request of Herod's wife.  So John, considered by Christians to be greatest in the long line of prophets of the Old Testament tradition, is a sort of popular spiritual hero of his own time.  Jesus' question about authority that comes back to challenge the leadership of the temple is given with this image in the people's eyes in mind.  Where did the authority of John come from?  Who gave it to him?  As we can see, they are afraid of the people and therefore cannot answer Christ.  Their cowardice is rather plain; although they are not necessarily one of "the people," their opinion on John the Baptist isn't very clear either from this passage.  Perhaps, indeed, they failed to recognize any authority in John as well.  Jesus has already lamented over Jerusalem as "the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her" (see Luke 13:34-35).  He calls the leadership the "sons of those who murdered the prophets" and says to them, "fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt" (see Matthew 23:29-32).  This is the time of confrontation, in the week before His human death.  It's the time for open and plain speaking in front of the people, and He's not afraid to use the words that are true and plain-spoken, nor the understanding for the benefit of the people of what is really at play here.  Whose authority does He have?  Whose authority do they represent?  Which authority do they recognize?  By what authority do prophets prophesy, and on whose authority was John the Baptist a prophet?  All of these questions are relevant and important to our faith, to how our religious institutions function, to what they recognize today at work in our own lives.  Let us consider His character and His truth and the gist of His mission.  What is He asking of us, as He invites the crowds to participate by listening to this dialogue and witnessing His own mission of faith?   What authority is speaking?