Jesus and his disciples returned once more to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him
and said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?"
Jesus said to them, "I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Was John's baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me."
They discussed this among themselves and said, "If we say, 'Of heavenly origin,' he will say, '(Then) why did you not believe him?'
But shall we say, 'Of human origin'?"--they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet.
So they said to Jesus in reply, "We do not know." Then Jesus said to them, "Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things."
Source: https://dailygospel.org/M/AM/
Analysis
This is a fairly short passage, and it does not say much really. It does show Jesus' intellectual capabilities to escape the traps of the priests and the pharisee. The passage describes a conversation between Jesus and the elders. The elders asked Jesus what kind of authority does Jesus have to do what He is doing, i.e. teaching and performing miracles. The elders expected Jesus to answer human or heavenly authority, in which case they can arrest Him or prove that He is wrong, why? If Jesus answers human origin, that means His actions have no basis and are false, if He says heavenly, He can be accused of blasphemy. Unfortunately for these priest and elders, Jesus isn't a village idiot, and He knew what was going to happen. So He did something even better, He made their words backfire.
Instead of answering the question, Jesus asked another question which He demands to be answered by these trappers, that is, was John's baptism of heavenly or of human origin? If the elders can answer that question, then Jesus would answer their question. The elders are now at a dilemma, if they answer human, the crowds will probably beat them up as they truly believe that John the baptist is a prophet. But if they answered heavenly, Jesus can trap them and ask why they didn't believe in John. What the passage meant is either John have told about Jesus, but the pharisees didn't believe him, or they don't believe anything John is saying and they thought he was a fraud and what not. In the end, Jesus calmly and simply turned the tables around on His opponents. Whatever happens, these elders are at a disadvantage and Jesus can simply walk away.
The elders, at a dilemma, answered that they do not know, and Jesus, a man of His word, refused to answer their question. This passage doesn't show much moral teaching, instead it shows the logical prowess of Jesus' capabilities when facing these kinds of situations. It also teaches us more about logical discourse, in which if the opponent presents us with a dilemma, we can always find a way to bypass that dilemma and throw it back to the opponent's face. In this case, the elders provide Jesus with an A or B option, which is both disadvantageous for Jesus, but of course, He doesn't have to answer A or B. He instead answers, "What about C? Is C A or B?" In which case the elders, whatever they answer, they'll be the ones at a disadvantage, and Jesus is at an advantage either way. This is a good method in a debate, if you are given a dilemma, give another dilemma to your opponent, and you will emerge victorious. I believe this is all I have to say, have a nice day and see you tomorrow.
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