Facing the Unanswerable Question: Matthew 21:23-27

As we continue looking at events within Jesus’ life and ministry, and specifically events Jesus faced during the week leading up to His crucifixion, we discover a challenge Jesus receives that has an unexpected outcome. While Jesus usually had a very intelligent response to challenges that He received, in the event we are focusing on for this episode, Jesus chooses a different style of response – one that the religious leaders had not anticipated.

Let’s read the passage and then uncover some things we can learn from what happened.

Our passage is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 21, and we will read it using the Contemporary English Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 23, Matthew tells us that:

²³ Jesus had gone into the temple and was teaching when the chief priests and the leaders of the people came up to him. They asked, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “I have just one question to ask you. If you answer it, I will tell you where I got the right to do these things. ²⁵ Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?”

They thought it over and said to each other, “We can’t say that God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn’t believe John. ²⁶ On the other hand, these people think that John was a prophet, and we are afraid of what they might do to us. That’s why we can’t say that it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize.” ²⁷ So they told Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said, “Then I won’t tell you who gave me the right to do what I do.”

I really like reading about this event. When the chief priests and leaders challenge Jesus with an unanswerable question, Jesus responds with an equally unanswerable question.

What is brilliant about the way Jesus responded is that He leaves the outcome in the hands of the chief priests. Jesus knew these religious leaders didn’t believe John the Baptist was a prophet who spoke for God, while Jesus also knew that the crowd did believe John the Baptist was God-sent.

While pondering possible responses Jesus could have given to this question, I wonder if Jesus could have simply answered that He received authority from the same place John the Baptist received it. An answer like this would amplify the belief of the crowd in Him, since this passage describes this crowd as believing that God was behind John the Baptist’s ministry. However, I suspect Jesus did not choose this response because it would also negatively affect Jesus’ status among the leaders who did not believe John the Baptist was special or significant.

A different answer Jesus gave could have been simply the truth that God gave Him this right. However, the outcomes for this type of response would descend into either arguing or debating reasons, or it would result in Jesus being stoned by those claiming He spoke blasphemy. While Jesus did come to die, He came to die on a cross, not by being stoned inside the temple.

In many ways, Jesus’ response is perfect for this occasion. Instead of answering in a simple way, Jesus responded with an equally unanswerable question directed towards the religious leaders. The counter question, which has two easy sounding answers, is a question that these leaders cannot answer without also losing status and favor with those present. Either they give Jesus the upper hand because they did not believe John, or they lose status with the crowd who believed John was a prophet.

In this way, Jesus’ counter question is perfect, because the leaders ultimately give a non-answer of “We don’t know” which allows Jesus to leave the question they asked Him as unanswered.

Jesus left this challenge unanswered because answering it would close off discussion. If Jesus directly said that His authority came from God, then it would instantly polarize people – but it would also do something else: something Jesus was not willing to do in His whole ministry.

Throughout the gospel record, one theme that surfaces repeatedly is that Jesus always did things that minimized Himself while pointing glory to God. God, through the Holy Spirit, gave Jesus the ability to perform miracles. While this would logically draw attention to Jesus, we discover that Jesus almost always appeared to prefer doing miracles where God would get the glory.

If Jesus stated directly that He received His authority from God, that would deviate from what He had done throughout His ministry prior to this because instead of building God up, He would be using everything God had given Him to build Himself up. It isn’t surprising to say that this is exactly what the chief priests had done. The chief priests and leaders had built themselves up on the position God had entrusted to them. These leaders were using God as a platform for their own motives – and Jesus did everything He could to distance Himself from using God as a platform.

Jesus came to build God up, and that isn’t done by using God as a platform.

However, with that said, what should we learn from this event?

In my mind, while Jesus left the question unanswered in a public way, the question the religious leaders asked Jesus is a question everyone must ultimately take a side on. Each of us must answer the question: Who gave Jesus the authority, power, wisdom, and ability to do what He did?

If Jesus’ authority, power, wisdom, and ability came from Himself, then it is easy to discredit what He said and did as self-motivated. However, if God gave Jesus the authority, power, wisdom, and ability, then we need to see Jesus differently. If God was and is behind Jesus, then it would be wise for us to align with Jesus too, unless we want to align our lives against God, which doesn’t really seem all that wise.

Throughout His entire ministry, Jesus avoided drawing the attention onto Himself at the expense of God receiving glory. If Jesus erred on any side, it was that He gave too much credit to God, while not accepting any praise onto Himself. Jesus took the opposite position the chief priests and leaders took: He came to build God up, not use God to build Himself up like the other leaders at the time were doing.

It is interesting in my mind that if God chose to support anyone, it would be the person who is actively seeking to build Him up. Jesus modeled a life where God was placed 100% first, ahead of anything, everything, anyone, and everyone else. As followers and disciples of Jesus, we are called by Jesus to do the same.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. If we are going to be like Jesus, then God should come first in our lives – period. Both the glory and the credit should always be directed up to Him.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself, because prayer and Bible study are the best ways to grow a personal relationship with God. While pastors, speakers, authors, or even podcasters can give you ideas to think about, never let your relationship with God rest on someone else’s relationship. God wants a personal relationship with you, and He doesn’t want anyone else getting in the middle.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!