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More is known about the events of this day than any other day in the life of Christ. Fifteen events are believed to have occurred on this Tuesday. The first was a confrontation with some Priests, Scribes and Elders. These people were probably members of the Sanhedrin. The great religious governing body of the Jews.
Notice they came to Him as He entered and was walking in the Temple. This was no small honor considering the importance of this group of men. He had been teaching and healing in the courtyard undoubtedly in the "cloisters" which were arranged for this purpose.
Notice the question put to Jesus. "By what authority do you do these things?" They could not deny the many miracles that He had done. They had witnessed many of them. To the Jew, there was only two sources of this kind of power, God and Satan and they knew that Satan had only that power that God granted him. Their question sought to entrap Him. There had been no formal ordination of Jesus at Jerusalem. The Priests were not informed of His credentials. So they sought to cast doubt upon His mission.
Notice how He answered them. He answered them by asking them a question. "What do you believe about the baptism (mission) of John, was it from heaven or was it of men?" Had they questioned John's mission as they had His? John was the forerunner of Christ. John prepared the way for Christ and His gospel. Their mission was similar. What did they believe about John? Most believed that John was a man sent of God, but how could they acknowledge this without also acknowledging the same about Christ? On the other hand, if they attempted to put down John's ministry and say it was of men, they would put themselves at the mercy of the people, who, almost without exception, believed he was sent of God.
This question put them between the proverbial "rock and a hard place". They were forced to lie when they answered, "We do not know." Thus Jesus put them to silence and justified His own refusal to answer their question. "Neither, then, will I answer you." Notice their proclaiming not to know about John was to Jesus a refusal to answer His question and He tells them, "It is not because you do not know, it is because you will not say, therefore, neither will I."
Could any man have done the things He did unless He was from God? Then Jesus told three parables that were symbolic of Israel's unfaithfulness.
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