seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Mark 11:27 They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. 28 “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”
29 Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!”
31 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)
33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Here's the thing. Everyday people, the "everyone" in verse 32, think the priests, teachers of the law, elders, and even Sunday School teachers, have special knowledge that only those chosen few can possess. Like surely the preacher down at the Baptist Church surely knows the Bible better than "everyone" else. After all, he was "called" to do the preaching and ministering. Just like we trust the police to know the law: teachers to know math, science, or literature; we trust the preachers to know the Bible. We trust them to receive the interpretation and pass it along to us. After all, he was "called" to do the preaching and ministering.
The priests, the teachers of the law and the elders wanted to trick Jesus into saying something they could use against Him. Since they were already thinking trickster, they considered that Jesus might just be capable of playing trickster against them. So, they added twister to the game, and they twisted up their answer to keep them from landing on either side, Heaven or Hell.
Jesus didn't play their game with them.
