Jesus's Authority Questioned

Matthew 21:23-27

And when he came into the temple, the chief priests and the leaders of the people approached him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing this—and who authorized it?”

Jesus answered them and said, “Let me ask you something. If you answer, I’ll tell you by what authority I act. The baptism of John—was it from heaven or just by men?”

Conferring with each other, they said, “If we say it was from heaven, he will say ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we shall say it wasn’t, the people will attack us. Everyone believes John was a prophet.” So, they replied, “We can’t say.”

So, he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Mark 11:27-33

And they come again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, scribes, and the elders, came and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you the authority to do them?”

And Jesus answered and said to them, “I will ask you a question. Answer me and I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? Answer me.”

Conferring with each other, they said, “If we shall say it was from heaven, he will say ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we shall say it wasn’t, the people will attack us. Everyone believes John was a prophet.” So, they replied, “We can’t say.”

And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Luke 20:1-8

And it happened that on one of the days that he taught the people in the temple, preaching the gospel, that the chief priests and scribes came to him. They spoke to him and said, “Answer us. By what authority do you do these things? Tell us who gave you that authority.”

And he answered them and said, “I’ll ask you just one thing—and you answer me. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?”

And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say it was from heaven, he will say ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we shall say it wasn’t, the people will attack us. Everyone believes John was a prophet.” So, they answered that they could not tell where it came from.

So, Jesus said to them, “Then neither will I you by what authority I do what I’m doing.”