Notes on Mark 11:27-33

These notes are intended to accompany my podcast A Question of Authority.

Interpretations of this passage tend to focus on the conflict and how Jesus got out of it. He did, indeed, avoid a difficult situation in a very creative way. But there is an additional realm of discussion. Jesus suggested an entirely different way to think of authority.

Working Translation and Notes

²⁷They entered Jerusalem again and while he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, scribes and elders came to him ²⁸and said to him, “By what authority do you do these things? Or who gave you the authority to do these things?”

These leaders quite naturally expect (or would require) an ordination or sending by an existing authority; Jesus is claiming to be an authority by authorization of God. Notice that questioning the authority of the temple hierarchy, which Jesus had done by casting out the money changers, was not an uncommon thing amongst Jews in the first century. This questioning would have been something Jesus had in common with the Pharisees, for example. Where he would differ with all of them would be in the solution.

²⁹But Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing, and if you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I’m doing these things. ³⁰John’s baptism–was it from heaven, or from human sources? Answer me!”

Besides the problem they think of (next verse), there is a simple problem here. If they answered this question they would imply something about how they thought authority could be verified. Their own authority rested partially on the Roman government, which had gotten involved in appointing the high priests, so there were any number of problems for them in this situation.

³¹And they debated amongst themselves, saying, “If we say ‘From heaven’ he will say ‘then why didn’t you believe him?’ ³²But if we say, ‘from human sources'”–they feared the crowd, because all held that John was a prophet.

The crowd is neither an unmixed curse, nor an unmixed blessing. A crowd can often be led too easily. In fact, this precise question—the question of the source of authority—is very relevant to that particular issue. In his answer Jesus also suggested to the crowd something to consider. Why did they follow John the Baptist? Was it because of someone else’s authority, or because they recognized God speaking through him?

³³So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” — Mark 11:27-33

But in a sense Jesus did answer their question by implying the possibilities. John the Baptist did not have an ordination or a warrant from accepted leadership. He proclaimed God’s message and people listened. Jesus could have mentioned at this point that John had endorsed his ministry, but what would have been the point? Jesus did not derive his authority from things that John the Baptist said about him, but from his heavenly father.

Jesus had a way of not answering a question that frustrated those who were not honest seekers, and yet went well beyond an answer for those who were truly seeking.