Devotional – Luke 20:1-8

20 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, “Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?”

But He answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me: The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?”

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why [a]then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet.” So they answered that they did not know where it was from.

And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Luke 20:1-8

Jesus’ Authority Questioned.  Here as Jesus is teaching in the temple, the chief priests, scribes, and elders are again trying to outsmart God.  I definitely get a “Jesus tempted in the desert” vibe here in the way He maneuvers around their inquiry.  Instead of trapping Him, He challenged them to admit the truth – which they could not. 

He did this by asking them where the authority of baptism is from, God or man?  If they respond with God, then they’d have to admit John actually was a prophet.  If they respond with man, they’d be stoned to death.  Instead they decided to play stupid.  They knew under Who’s authority Jesus and baptism were, but their worldly wealth and power was still more appealing than everlasting life and salvation.  As they couldn’t answer Jesus’ question, He did not answer theirs either.

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