Slide 2:
27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came up to him,
28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?”
29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you a question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? Answer me.”
31 And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
32 But shall we say, ‘From men’?” —they were afraid of the people, for all held that John was a real prophet.
33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” The Holy Bible : Revised Standard Version Second Catholic edition (2006), with the ecclesiastical approval of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Thomas Nelson Publishing for Ignatius Press.
The Authority of Jesus :
The Authority of Jesus The religious leaders asked Jesus who gave him the authority to drive out the merchants and money changers.
If Jesus said his authority was from God, they would accuse him of blasphemy.
If he said his authority was his own, they would dismiss him as a fanatic.
To expose their real motives, Jesus countered their question with a question about John the Baptist. The leaders’ silence proved that they were not interested in the truth.
They simply wanted to get rid of Jesus because he was undermining their authority.
The religious leaders can be likened to the fig tree.
They were powerless to produce the good fruit of their ministry because they are more concerned with their own political power and position within the community.