Jesus in His movement toward and in Jerusalem has increasingly assumed Messianic authority. When He received the confession of Peter at Caesarea-Philippi, with good reason He instructed to “tell no one.” They were not ready to concede that His role as priest included His personal sacrificial death as a curse for us. They anticipated a smoother road and more immediate acceptance than would be the case. In this passage, Jesus received a direct challenge to His personal posture of immediate authority.
I. A rude interruption by fuming malcontents (23)
A. These religious leaders of the Jews had observed and been insulted and shocked by the quick succession of events (21:15) in which Jesus seemingly laid claim to messianic status.
1. Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem in fulfillment of prophecy from Isaiah and Zechariah (21:4, 5). In so doing, the crowds recognized this action and shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David” (21:9).
2. Upon entering the city, He went to the temple and drove out those who exchanged money for the many visitors in Jerusalem and also drove out those who sold doves for sacrifices. Such profiteering in this place of worship, prayer, and teaching was an absolute profanation of the divine purpose for the temple and turned it into a place for cheats and mercenary scoundrels (21:13).
3. Much to the alarm and offense of the priests and scribes, Jesus had accepted as true and fitting the children’s shouts of “Hosanna, to the Son of David. He set their praise in the context of the Lord’s purposeful ordination of praise for Himself from Psalm 8. In essence, He laid claim to be the One addressed in that Psalm whose glory is above the heavens, who is Creator of these same heavens, the Creator of Man, in whose image humans are created, and whose name is excellent above all earthly things.
B. Unable to control themselves, they rudely and ostentatiously interrupt His teaching in the temple.
Just one day before, Jesus had forcefully removed all the polluting activities (21:12) and now was assuming a position of instruction in the ways and truths about God and pure worship. So, “while He was teaching” they insert a challenge to His authority.” Not only have they stopped His discourse, they insinuated that He has no authority to set Himself in this position of instruction.
C. They want to know two things:
What authority warrants His assuming the position of a teacher in the temple? Jesus’ virtual authoritarianism concerning temple conduct and teaching has alarmed them and certainly has challenged their personal sense of authority. Second, who gave Him this authority? “Is there anyone higher than we in matters of religious authority? We have conferred on you absolutely nothing and, in fact, resent and consider blasphemous these actions. So! Who gave you this authority?”
II. A strategic answer (24, 25a)
A. Jesus affirmed that He would answer their question based on their answer to a question He would ask.
The subject matter was the same and within their answer to His question, His answer to them was embedded (24). “I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.” The scribes and priests deeply resent any person who assumes a position of teaching or preaching authority outside the parameters of their influence and permission.
B. The prominent example of an assumed authority immediately from God was the example of John the Baptist.
Their perception of his warrant to preach and baptize would open a door of connection for Jesus to affirm His own authority. So, Jesus asked them for their perception of the authority by which John baptized. Was it from God Himself (heaven) or was it an unwarranted grasp of religious influence (“from men”)?
C. Jesus had created a dilemma not only concerning the popularity of John the Baptist but, by extension His own Person, work, and authority.
John the Baptist’s witness was not isolated to his own preaching and baptizing but to his witness to Jesus.
III. A clumsy and calculated avoidance (25b-27a)
A. Uh Oh! Now they are on the spot, not only with John the Baptist, but with their own power with the people and with their attempt to discredit Jesus.
They must reason together about what is at stake in their answer. Either answer is replete with implications. John had called them to repentance and warned them about refusal to do so (3:7-10). Should they relegate the authority of John to self-assumption, they would put themselves at odds with the people who viewed him as a prophet. Matthew recorded that “Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him” (3:5, 6). Should they admit that he spoke and acted with divine authority, their own resistance to him would become a matter of some consequence for their personal submission to divine things.
B. Though they greatly feared losing influence with the people, perhaps most consequential in their answer would be the implications it would have toward their questioning of the authority of Jesus.
The witness of John the Baptist to Jesus was amazingly substantial and compelling.
1. He is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals (Matthew 3:11).
2. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Final judgment is in His hands (Matthew 3:11, 12).
3. He baptized Jesus and heard a voice from heaven say, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (3:17)
4. He announced Jesus as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
5. He speaks from what He has seen in heaven, speaks the words of God, and everlasting life comes through belief in Him (John 3:31-36).
C. If John’s authority is from heaven, then Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Lord from heaven, the final sacrifice for sin, the ultimate judge, and the One on whom eternal life depends.
The questioners dared not answer Jesus with either option for they condemned themselves either way.
IV. An appropriate refusal (27 b)
Having offered the scribes and priests an opportunity to reflect critically on the question they asked Him with the answer to their question implied in their answer to Him, Jesus responded, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things” (27). Their refusal to hear and respond to John the Baptist was a condemnation of Jesus also. Their refusal to answer the question revealed their mounting hostility to Jesus and their blindness to the way of righteousness and life. Jesus, therefore, gave a short parable, asked them to make an observation about it, and then applied it to their refusal to hear John.
V. A revealing parable (28-30)
A. Jesus told of a father and two sons.
The father owned a vineyard and asked each son to do his filial duty and work in the vineyard. The first flatly refused to go while the second son immediately expressed compliance with the father’s request (28-30).
B. The first son whose initial response had been coarse and disobedient changed his mind, felt remorse for his conduct, and went to the vineyard to work.
The second son, whose response had seemed compliant and respectful, nevertheless, did not go and do the requested work.
C. When Jesus asked which son actually obeyed the father.
The answer was so obvious that the scribes and priests immediately could see that the obedient son was the first, who had refused, but then went.
VI. A plain, straightforward application (31, 32)
A. The vineyard symbolizes the Kingdom of God and its commands, promises, virtues, and graces.
The two sons had set before them the rule of God, His commands, and His redemptive operations. One saw that he had insulted his father and refused compliance with the legitimate expectations of kingdom privileges. He repented and went forth to do his father’s will. The other seemed compliant on the outside by feigning obedience but inside he was rebellious, self-willed, proud and disobedient.
B. Jesus, with unwavering directness, pointed to the moral outcasts of Jewish life as typified by the haughty disobedience of son number one, specifically those who responded to the message of repentance of John the Baptist.
They will enter heaven for they accepted his emphasis on repentance and its implications. The outwardly-pious rule-makers are not candidates for the kingdom for they congratulate themselves on the punctiliar observance of their own rules. Self-righteousness is not righteousness at all but a virtually impenetrable wall against seeing one’s need of an alien righteousness.
C. Jesus returned to John the Baptist and his message.
He preached “the way of righteousness” (32) and they did not believe him. Malachi 4:4-6 reminded the people of the perfect law of righteousness, the law of Moses, and pointed to John the Baptist as an Elijah who would precede “the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” His message would be designed to bring the kind of repentance and unity of godward experience that would avoid the just curse hovering above this fallen world.
D. Thus they did not receive but clearly were offended by John’s pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
In rejecting John’s message, they rejected Jesus. They had, therefore, no way to know by what authority Jesus did the things that he did. The Kingdom and its blessings were yet far from the religious persuasion of these scribes and priests.
POEM
Jesus prompted praise from crowds
A final heir of David’s line;
To the highest accolades
He gave consent, did not decline.
As to the temple He drew nigh,
The people praised Him Lord Most High.
A house of prayer, not merchandise,
Imploring God for mercy’s reign.
And so to Jesus flocked the sheep,
The blind, the deaf, the mute, the lame.
Jesus healed them by His power
As He neared His saving hour.
Jesus had thrown o’er the tables
And the minds of scribe and priests.
“On what basis do you act?
Who sanctioned your bizarre conceit?”
“Answer this. I’ll tell you all.
From whom did John receive his call?”
With caution they considered this
And knew that they had blundered.
With God’s imprimatur John preached;
With holy zeal he thundered.
“If ‘men,’ we fail; if ‘God’ we lose
Our mouths are sealed, we dare not choose.”
“As hypocrites, you feign a zeal
For God’s perfect righteousness,
But pious words and human rules
Give insult to His holiness.
The outcasts who repent of sin
Find kingdom clothes and enter in.”
