We Cannot Tell - Mark 11:33

Mark wrote how Jesus and His disciples, “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 say unto him, By what authority do you these things? and who gave you this authority to do these things? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, 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. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed”, and in chapter eleven and verse thirty-three of his book, Mark shared how the religious leaders answered Jesus, “we cannot tell” where we read:

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

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

The verse reads, “And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell.” Mark began with the words, “and they answered” which means “and the religious leaders responded and began to speak” “and said” or “and uttered, declared, proclaimed and answered” “unto Jesus” which means “to the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate whose name means Jehovah is Salvation”, “We cannot tell” or “we religious leaders are unable to know, respond or answer”. Mark shared how the “high priests, scribes and elders” told Jesus they were unable to “answer” His question.

The verse continues, “And Jesus answering said unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.” Mark added the words, “and Jesus” which means “and the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate whose name means Jehovah is Salvation” “answering” or “responding and beginning to speak” “said unto them” which means “uttered, declared and proclaimed to the religious leaders”, “neither do I tell you” or “no and not in any manner or way does He answer and respond to the religious leader” “by what authority” which means “through what power, permission and rule” “I do these things” or “Jesus did and said what was done within the temple”. Mark shared how Jesus told the “religious leaders”, since they could not “answer” His question, He would not respond to theirs about where He received the “authority” to do and say what He did in the temple.

When we think through Mark's words in this verse, we see how the “religious leaders” were unable to “answer” Jesus' question, so He did not answer their question. Jesus was “God in the flesh”, and He needed no justification for anything He did, and these “religious leaders” were blind to whom they were questioning. God's desire is for every person to trust in, rely upon, cling to and believe in His Son Jesus, and those who do are blessed in their lives. Only those who are like these “religious leaders” question Jesus' authority and will discover they are in opposition to Almighty God.

Next time we begin a new chapter and see Mark shares how Jesus speaks in “parables” 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. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".