Matthew 21:23-27 - Jesus' Authority Challenged

²³ And [after] he arrived at the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him [while he] was teaching, saying, "By what authority are you doing these [things]? And who gave you this authority?"

²⁴ And Jesus answered [and] said to them, "I also will ask you one question. If you tell [the answer] to me, I also will tell you by what authority I am doing these [things]. ²⁵ From where was the baptism of John--from heaven or from men?" And they began to discuss [this] among themselves, saying, "If we say 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' ²⁶ But if we say, 'From men,' we are afraid of the crowd, because they all look upon John as a prophet." ²⁷ And they answered [and] said to Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these [things].

²⁷ And they came again to Jerusalem. And [as] he was walking in the temple [courts], the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came up to him ²⁸ and said to him, "By what authority are you doing these [things], or who gave you this authority that you do these [things]?"

²⁹ So Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question. Answer me and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these [things]. ³⁰ The baptism of John--was [it] from heaven or from men? Answer me!"

³¹ And they began to discuss [this] with one another, saying, "What should we say? If we say 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' ³² But if we say, 'From men'"--they were afraid of the crowd, because they all looked upon John {as truly a prophet}. ³³ And they replied to Jesus saying, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these [things]."

¹ And it happened that on one of the days [while] he was teaching the people in the temple [courts] and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes approached together with the elders ² and said, saying to him, "Tell us, by what authority you are doing these [things], or who is the one who gave you this authority?

³ And he answered [and] said to them, "I also will ask you a question, and you tell me: ⁴ The baptism of John--was [it] from heaven or from men?

⁵ And they discussed [this] with one another, saying, "If we say 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why did you not believe him?' ⁶ But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us to death, because they are convinced [that] John was a prophet."

⁷ And they replied [that they] did not know where [it was] from.

⁸ And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these [things]."