The Authority of Jesus Challenged
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,
Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. MAL 3:1
Rashi
Behold, I send my messenger to put the wicked away.
And he will prepare the way of the wicked.
The Lord whom you seek—The God of justice.
And the messenger of the covenant who avenges the revenge of the covenant.
and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. JOH 10:23
John Gill
And Jesus was walking in the temple—To keep himself warm, and to secure him the better from the inclemency of the weather:
In the colonnade of Solomon—Which was covered over, and the outside of it was enclosed with a wall, which made it very convenient for such a purpose: this was on the outside of the temple eastward, and was a very magnificent structure: the account Josephus gives of it is this;
“There was a colonnade without the temple, overlooking a deep valley, supported by walls of four hundred cubits, made of four square stone, very white; the length of each stone was twenty cubits, and the breadth six; the work of King Solomon who first founded the whole temple.”
Now, though this was not the colonnade that was built by Solomon, yet as it was built on the same spot, and in imitation of it, it bore his name; mention is made of it in Act 3:11; 5:12.
28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?”
John Gill
And they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things?”—Enter into the temple, as if he was Lord of it; and correct in such a magisterial way every thing he thought an abuse in it; do the miracles he did, as healing the lame, and blind; and take upon him to instruct the people, a work he was now engaged in:
Or who gave you this authority to do them? (See Gill on Mat 21:23).
He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” EXO 2:14
John Gill
He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?” God had designed him for one, and so he appeared to be afterwards; but this man’s meaning is, that he was not appointed by Pharaoh’s order then, and so had nothing to do to interfere in their differences and quarrels; though Moses did not take upon him to act in an authoritative way, but to exhort and persuade them to peace and love, as they were brothers:
Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? If this was Dathan, or however the same Hebrew that he had defended and rescued from the Egyptian, it was very ungenerous in him to upbraid him with it; or if that Hebrew had made him his confident, and acquainted him with that affair, as it was unfaithful to betray it, since it was in favour of one of his own people, it was ungrateful to reproach him with it:
Then Moses was afraid—Lest the thing should be discovered and be told to Pharaoh, and he should suffer for it: this fear that possessed Moses was before he fled from Egypt, and went to Midian, not when he forsook it, and never returned more, at the departure of the children of Israel, to which the apostle refers (Heb 11:27), and is no contradiction to this:
And thought, “Surely the thing is known”—He said this within himself, he concluded from this speech, that either somebody had seen him commit the fact he was not aware of, or the Hebrew, whose part he took, had through weakness told it to another, from whom this man had it, or to himself; for by this it seems that he was not the same Hebrew, on whose account Moses had slain the Egyptian, for then the thing would have been still a secret between them as before; only the other Hebrew this was now contending with must hereby come to the knowledge of it, and so Moses might fear, that getting into more hands it would come out, as it did (see Gill on Act 7:27-29).
Rashi
Who made you, and you are yet only a boy (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 10).
Do you mean to kill me—From this we may learn that he had killed him by by the mere utterance of the “ineffable name” (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 10; Shemot Rabbah 1:30).
Moses was afraid—Explain it in its literal sense: he was afraid of Pharaoh. Midrashically, it is interpreted to mean that he felt distressed because he saw that there were wicked men among the Israelites—informers. He said: Since this is so, perhaps they are not worthy to be delivered from bondage (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 10).
Surely the thing is known—Explain it in its literal sense: the fact that I have killed the Egyptian is known. Its midrashic interpretation, however, is: now there is known to me that matter about which I have been puzzled—how has Israel sinned more than all the seventy nations, that they should be oppressed by this crushing labor? But now I see that they deserve this (Shemot Rabbah 1:30).
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?” MAT 21:23
29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
John Gill
Jesus said to them—Being not in the least intimidated by such a body of men:
I will ask you one question—Or “one word,” or “one thing”:
Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things (See Gill on Mat 21:24).
Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.” MAT 21:24
John Gill
Jesus answered them—Not by replying directly to their question, but by putting another question to them, whereby he escaped the snare he saw they laid for him:
I also will ask you one question—Word,
And if you tell me—Honestly, and plainly answer to it,
I also will tell you by what authority I do these things—Which was putting the thing upon such a foot, and in such a form, as they could not well object to; for Christ promises, that if they would return a plain answer to the question he had to put to them, and which was no unreasonable, nor impertinent one, he would thoroughly satisfy them in this point; and expressly declare his commission and authority, what it was, and from whence he had it. The question is as follows:
30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.”
John Gill
Was . . . from heaven or from man? Was it from divine or from human institution?
The baptism of John—The doctrine of which he was the first preacher, and the ordinance of which he was the first administrator:
Answer me—Directly and plainly, without any shuffling, or evasion: it is a fair question, and may be answered; and the answer to it our Lord suggests would naturally lead to a proper one to their question (See Gill on Mat 21:25).
31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
John Gill
And they discussed it with one another, saying—Privately; perhaps, they withdrew at a little distance for a short time, and consulted among themselves what answer to return; and the amount of their reasonings were this;
If we say, “From heaven,” he will say, “Why then did you not believe him?” That is, should they say that John had a divine commission for what he said and did, they were aware that Christ would reply, why did you not give credit to him? and had you done so, seeing he testified of me, you would have had no occasion to have put the above question (See Gill on Mat 21:25).
32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet.
John Gill
But shall we say, “From man?”—That John’s baptism was an human invention, and he had no authority from God to preach and administer it,
They were afraid of the people—Lest being enraged thereby they should, at once, rise up, and destroy them:
For they all held that John really was a prophet—A real prophet, one truly sent from God, and had his commission and credentials from him: this was the general sentiment of the people (See Gill on Mat 21:26).
5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him,
John Gill
Then Jerusalem . . . were going out to him—The uncommon appearance of this person, the oddness of his dress, the austerity of his life, together with the awfulness and importance of his doctrine, and the novelty of the ordinance of baptism he administered, and the Jews having had no prophet for some hundreds of years, and imagining he might be the Messiah, quickly drew large numbers of people to him. Some copies read “all Jerusalem”: that is, the inhabitants of that city, a very large number of them;
And “all Judea”—A great number of people from all parts of that country. “All” is here put for “many.”
And all the region about the Jordan—Multitudes from thence, which seems to be the same country with that which is called “beyond the Jordan” (Mat 4:25) and is distinguished from Judea as here. The Septuagint in 2Ch 4:17 use the same phrase the evangelist does here, and likewise in Gen 13:10-11.
6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. MAT 3:5-6
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.”
4 Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself.
Rashi
Answer not a fool with words of quarrel and contention lest you be like him.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes. PRO 26:4-5
Rashi
Answer not in a matter in which you will be like him if you answer him.
Answer a fool in a matter in which he will be wise in his own eyes if you do not answer him.
Answer a fool who comes to win you over to idolatry; let him know his folly.
Lest he be wise in his own eyes—The meaning of these two verses is explained in the verses themselves.
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.” MAT 21:27
John Gill
So they answered Jesus, “We do not know”—They saw the dilemma they were brought into; they chose rather therefore to speak against their own consciences, and tell a wilful lie, and incur the reproach of ignorance: who, at other times, took upon them to judge of a prophet, whether he was a true or a false one, and by what authority he acted, whether of God, or man: but now being reduced to this wretched condition, contrary to their office and character, declare they did not know, and could not tell from whence John had his commission, and who gave him his authority:
And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things”—Since, according to the proposal of Christ, and the agreement he entered into with them, they did not give him a direct answer to his question, he looked upon himself under no obligation to inform them, what was his authority, and from whence he had it; though by the question he put to them he tacitly suggests, that he had his authority not from man, but from God; and by this his answer signifies, that since John preached and baptized without their authority and approbation, so might he; nor was he dependent on them, or accountable to them.