One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him.
"Tell us by what authority you are doing these things," they said. "Who gave you this authority?"
He replied, "I will also ask you a question. Tell me, John's baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?"
They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Why didn't you believe him?'
But if we say, 'Of human origin,' all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet."
So they answered, "We don't know where it was from."
Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."
Luke 20v1-8 [TNIV]
Here's the scenario - Jesus is in the Temple Courts, a popular gathering area for people from around the nation, even the world. The Temple is the central religious and banking facility for the whole nation. This, obviously, makes it not only popular but very valuable and important. Jesus, by teaching in the Temple Courts, is in the presence of the priests who run both the religious rituals of the Temple, but also the economic tasks of the Temple. The priests - especially the Chief Priests - are going to pay very careful attention to the teachings of Jesus. No surprise that they are offended by Him.
But not only does Jesus offend the chief priests, he also annoys the Teachers of the Law. Technically they are the ones to be teaching Torah to people, but not many people flock to hear them expound. The message of Jesus as he expounds on Torah is called "good news"; doubt if the traditional Torah-teachers ever got that kind of favorable description. So maybe some jealousy is infusing their opposition of Jesus, but there is also resistance to the new understanding of Torah that Jesus is introducing. Jesus is wrecking the credibility of the teachers of the law, he's tainting their character, he's undermining their career. No wonder they resist Him.
Lastly, the Elders are irritated with Jesus. The Elders of a city, a village, a tribe, a family held authority and responsibility. It was the Elders who were final arbiters dealing with life situations that arose in the local regions. The Elders were the wise ones who helped people move forward in life. And here's Jesus coming along with better wisdom, more compassion, fantastic miracles, and he keeps calling people to follow him - leave their home, their families, their traditional jobs behind to become disciples of the Nazareth-man. Surprise surprise that the Elders - upholders of tradition - were positioned against Jesus.
So when the Chief Priests AND the Teachers of the Law AND the Elders confront Jesus on where he gets his authority from, this is an impressive array of opposition, meant to dismay Jesus and hopefully result in a cessation of "good news" proclamation. But Jesus is way to brilliant, savvy and wise for this weak attempt at confrontation. Jesus returns their grasping question with a very direct and probing question. Jesus isn't trying to trick them, at the deepest level Jesus is trying to rescue them from their folly, their rebellion, their pride.
The response of the Three reveals that they give a calculated answer, it's misleading. They know that Jesus is from God - there is no other way to account for what he has accomplished. But that answer will mess everything up for them. If they give the answer they want to give - that Jesus is not a prophet of God, just a mere man, the people will stone the Three.
Clever Jesus, he asks a question about John the Baptist whom everyone recognized as a prophet - the one Malachai prophesied would come as the Second Elijah (which, if you know anything about the original Elijah, this would be a very cool thing to have happen!). In asking the question about John, Jesus is able to accomplish two things: get them to reveal what they believe about John and what they believe about Jesus.
Jesus wisely distangles himself from the deceitful attempts by the Three to discredit and undermine his proclamations of the good news. His question in response to their question gets to the real heart of the issue, and protects him from their evil intentions. For all the attempts we make to Follow Jesus, we don't consider often enough how He asked questions. Life is about people, it's about relationships, it's about influence, it's about reconciliation, it's about love, it's about power, it's about sacrifice, it's about joy.
Navigating your way through relationships is tricky and often a murky experience - hence the power of questions. Questions allow you to learn, they allow you to clarify, they allow you to reveal, they allow you to teach. When confronted with people who are mean, abusive, unthoughtful, or rude, being able to ask pointed questions is often the only response left outside of violence - verbally, physically, or emotionally.
Jesus also makes it clear that everything he does and says - including his questions - are rooted in his life under God. Jesus is under the authority of God - it's by this authority that he proclaims good news, that he heals and restores, that he teaches with wisdom and truth. The Chief Priests, the Teachers of the Law, the Elders were not willing to be under the authority of God in the same way as Jesus.
How about you - will be like the Three? Resisting truth and grace? Resisting transformation and healing? Resisting the Way of God which brings about reconciliation of All Things? Or will you continually choose to be under the authority of God - so that you can daily live out the Way of Jesus.
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