Jesus Not Disclosing His Authority - Matthew 21:27

Matthew the apostle wrote how the chief priests and elders in Jerusalem asked Jesus, “By what authority do you do these things? and who gave you this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did you not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet” and in chapter twenty-one and verse twenty-seven of his book, Matthew shares the chief priests and elders, “answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell” where we read:

And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell.

And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

The verse reads, “And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell.” Matthew began with the words, “and they” or “the chief priests and elders in Jerusalem” “answered Jesus” which means “responded and gave an answer to Jesus”, “and said” or “uttered, declared and proclaimed”, “We cannot tell” which means “the chief priests and elders are not able to discern, discover, know or answer Jesus' question”. Matthew shared how the “chief priests and elders” decided they could not answer Jesus' question concerning where John the Baptist received His “authority”.

The verse goes on to say, “And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.” Matthew continued with the words, “and he said” which means “and Jesus uttered, declared and proclaimed” “unto them” which refers to “the chief priest and elders”, “Neither” or “not and in no way” “tell I you” or “will Jesus Himself answer” “by what authority” which means “through what permission of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases, ability or strength” “I do these things” or “Jesus Himself perform the things that He did”. Matthew wrote how Jesus responded to the “chief priests and elders” who did not answer His question by telling them He would not answer their question.

When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus posed a question to the “chief priests and elders” they could not answer, and this provided a perfect opportunity for Him to refuse to answer their question. Jesus is smarter than any person who has ever lived, and as God, we might wonder why anyone would attempt to fool Him. God wants a true, righteous and loving relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and as Jesus demonstrated His abilities as Messiah over and over again, all who read these things should submit their lives to Jesus as “Savior and Lord”.

Next time Matthew writes Jesus begins to talk about, “a certain man” who “had two sons”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.