Matthew 21:23-26

J.B. Phillips New Testament

Jesus meets a question with a counter-question

²³ Then when he had entered the Temple and was in the act of teaching, the chief priests and Jewish elders came up to him and said, “What authority have you for what you’re doing, and who gave you that authority?”

^24-26 “I am also going to ask you one question,” Jesus replied to them, “and if you answer it I will tell you what authority I have for what I do. John’s baptism, now, did it come from Heaven or was it purely human?” At this they began arguing among themselves, “If we say, ‘it came from Heaven’, he will say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe in him?’ If on the other hand we should say, ‘It was purely human’—well, frankly, we are afraid of the people—for all of them consider John was a prophet.”