Jewish Leaders Question Jesus^(A)

20 One day Jesus was in the Temple, teaching the people and ·telling them the Good News [preaching the Gospel]. The ·leading [^Tchief] priests, ·teachers of the law [scribes], and elders came up to talk with him, ² saying, “Tell us what authority you have to do these things? [^LOr] Who gave you this authority?”

³ Jesus answered, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: ⁴ When John baptized people, was that authority from ·God [^Lheaven; ^Ca reverent Jewish way of referring to God] or just from ·other people [human beings]?”

⁵ They ·argued about this [^Ldiscussed this among themselves], saying, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from ·God [^Lheaven],’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘It was from ·other people [human beings],’ all the people will stone us to death, because they ·believe [are convinced that] John was a prophet.” ⁷ So they answered that they didn’t know where it came from.

⁸ Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things.”

Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority^(A)

²³ Jesus went to the Temple [courts], and while he was teaching there, the ·leading [^Tchief] priests and the elders of the people came to him. They said, “What authority do you have to do these things? [^LAnd] Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “I also will ask you a question. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. ²⁵ Tell me: When John baptized people, did that come from ·God [^Lheaven; ^Ca reverential Jewish way of referring to God] or just from ·other people [human beings]?”

They argued about Jesus’ question, saying, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from ·God [^Lheaven],’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘It was from ·people [human beings],’ we are afraid of what the crowd will do because they all ·believe [think; hold] that John was a prophet.”

²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things.

A Story About Two Sons

²⁸ “Tell me what you think about this: A man had two sons. He went to the ·first [elder] son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in ·my [the] vineyard.’ ²⁹ The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later the son ·changed his mind [regretted/thought better of it] and went. ³⁰ Then the father went to the other son and said, ·‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard’ [^Lthe same thing]. The son answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will,’ but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two sons ·obeyed [^Ldid the will of] his father?”

·The priests and leaders [^LThey] answered, “The first son.”

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes ·will enter [are going into] the kingdom of God ·before you do [ahead of you]. ³² [^LFor] John came to show you the ·right way to live [the way/path of righteousness]. You did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. Even after seeing this, you still refused to ·change your ways [change your mind; repent] and believe him.

Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority^(A)

²⁷ Jesus and his ·followers [disciples] went again to Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple [complex; area; courts; see 11:15], the ·leading [^Tchief] priests, the ·teachers of the law [scribes], and the elders came to him. ²⁸ They said to him, “What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “I will ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. ³⁰ Tell me: When John baptized people, was that authority from ·God [^Lheaven; ^Ca reverential Jewish way of referring to God] or just from ·other people [human beings]?”

³¹ They argued about Jesus’ question, saying, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from ·God [^Lheaven],’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘It was from ·other people [human beings],’ the crowd will be against us.” (These leaders were afraid of the people, because all the people believed that John was a prophet.)

³³ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things.”