Matthew 21:23-27 - Jesus' Authority Challenged

²³ And when He had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching, and said, By what authority do you do these things? And who gave you this authority?

²⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them, I will also ask you one thing; which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John, where was it from? From Heaven or from men? And they reasoned within themselves, saying, If we shall say, From Heaven, he will say to us, Why then did you not believe him? ²⁶ But if we shall say From men, we fear the people; for all consider John as a prophet. ²⁷ And they answered Jesus and said, We cannot tell. And He said to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

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 to Him ²⁸ and said to Him, By what authority do you do these things? And who gave you this authority to do these things?

²⁹ And Jesus answered and said to them, I will also ask of you one thing, and answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ The baptism of John, was it from Heaven, or from men? Answer Me.

³¹ And they reasoned within themselves, saying, If we shall say, From Heaven, he will say, Why then did you not believe him? ³² But if we shall say, From men, they feared the people, for all held John to be a prophet indeed. ³³ And they answered and said to Jesus, We cannot tell. And answering Jesus said to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

¹ And on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and proclaimed the gospel, it happened that the chief priests and the scribes along with the elders came on Him. ² And they spoke to Him, saying, Tell us, by what authority do you do these things? Or who is he who gave you this authority?

³ And He answered and said to them, I will also ask you one thing, and you answer me: ⁴ The baptism of John, was it from Heaven or from men?

⁵ And they reasoned within themselves, saying, If we shall say, From Heaven, he will say, Why then did you not believe him? ⁶ But if we say, From men, then all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.

⁷ And they answered that they could not tell from where it was.

⁸ And Jesus said to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.