Jesus is in the final stretch of his ministry in Matthew’s Gospel and is teaching in the Temple. Matthew gives us the details of his going back and forth to the City, where the Temple is and also to the surrounding towns like Bethany. Previous to this passage, Jesus curses the fig tree that bore no fruit, causing it to wither, upon seeing this Jesus tells his Apostles that if they have faith not only could they do this but they could also move mountains.
23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
Jesus enters the Temple, or more accurately, Jesus enters the Temple Complex. We might get the image of a single building that Jesus enters but the inner part of the actual Temple was off-limits to anyone but the priests ministering to it, the Temple complex however built by Herod the Great was a very large building complex of many courts, covering 36 acres. The Jewish Historian Josephus writes:
“The Temple was encompassed with a large court, to which all sorts of people had access. Into this court anyone might come and walk. Women also might come into it as well as men; but the inner court was only for the men, and not for the women; and the Temple itself was for the priests alone.”
— Antiquities of the Jews 15.11.5
Jesus teaches all types of people so we know that he is teaching in the larger court open to all. It is in this place that the chief priests and elders take issue with him and ask him from what authority does he teach. It is important to understand that unlike what many people would like to believe, although anyone could read the scriptures, not anyone could teach with authority what they meant. This was a reserved status for those who occupied a naturally inherited and bestowed teaching office, like the Pharisees and Scribes who sat in what Jesus calls the “Seat of Moses”.
Although not explicitly mentioned in these terms, the substance of the position existed since Moses himself, the same way the priesthood existed since Aaron. The authority was naturally bestowed by the presiding authority on the next, for example from Moses to Joshua and from Joshua to the Judges, we think of Judges as having special seats today, I wonder why.
I say naturally with such emphasis because there were also supernatural appointments to teach authoritatively of which there is some overlaps with the natural, this is where the Prophets come from. All of this is important to understand why they are asking Jesus the question of what authority he has and who gave him it. If he is not bestowed the authority naturally he can only be an impostor or a supernaturally appointed teaching authority.
24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you a question; and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Jesus as he does on many other occasions, answers the question with another question. This is done to provoke the questioners to come to the correct conclusion themselves, leading someone to the right answer is better than telling them. He even says he will answer their question directly if they answer his.
From one angle you could see this as Jesus leading the priests to incriminate themselves but from another Jesus is actually going to give them an easy “out” if they are honest and swallow their pride, unfortunately they do not.
25 The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
Jesus refers to the baptisms of repentance that John gave out in the wilderness at the Jordan. He asks them where it came from. Was it something divinely instituted or was John just making up some new man made tradition. The priests being deeply preoccupied with worldly things do not even attempt to answer honestly and instead argue with each other over what will get the best response from Jesus. If they say it is from Heaven, they incriminate themselves as they rejected John.
26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the multitude; for all hold that John was a prophet.”
They pivot to the other answer, whilst arguing with each other, that if they say John was doing this of his own whim and had nothing to do with God, therefore a man-made tradition, they will anger the crowds. John was a massive influence in his day, so much so that Herod Antipas himself feared him. The priests share this fear, and again, instead of being honest and saying at least what they think is the right answer, they err because of what the crowds who are supporters of John might do to them.
27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
The priests settle for the very political answer of “we do not know.” They fear both Jesus and the crowds so they settle for stupid. Jesus takes this as all he needs and thus refuses to tell them by what authority he teaches. All this subtly implies that the authority comes from the same place. Both John’s baptism and Jesus’ teachings.
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