Mark 11:27-33

Members of The Sanhedrin Challenge His Authority (11:27-33).

Mark has made abundantly clear the stir that Jesus has caused since approaching Jerusalem. He has been demanding that all notice His arrival, and He is doing so as One with the right to proclaim Himself and to exercise His authority. He is making quite clear that He has come from God as God’s chosen One, with a view to setting right what was displeasing to God. It was therefore inevitable that the religious leaders would challenge Him. Indeed they could hardly have allowed these events to pass without comment. So at this point the whole Sanhedrin come to challenge Him.

Analysis.

· And they come again to Jerusalem, and as He was walking in the Temple there come to Him the Chief Priests and the Scribes and the Elders, and they said to Him, “By what authority do you do these things, or who gave you the authority to do these things?” (Mark 11:27-28).

· And Jesus said to them, “I will ask of you one thing (Greek - ‘word’), and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John. Was it from heaven or of men? Answer me” (Mark 11:29-30).

· And they reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we shall say, from heaven, he will say, why then did you not believe him? But should we say from men -” - they feared the people, for all truly held John to be a prophet’ (Mark 11:31-32).

· And they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know” (Mark 11:33 a).

· And Jesus says to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things” (Mark 11:33 b).

Note that in ‘a’ they ask for His authority, and in the parallel because of their refusal to answer His question He refuses to give His authority as they have proved themselves unable to judge it rightly. In ‘b’ He puts His question and calls for an answer, and in the parallel they admit that they are unable to supply an answer. Centrally in ‘c’ are their grounds for being unable to do so.