Mark 11:33 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

NIV: So they answered Jesus, "We don’t know." Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."

NASB: Answering Jesus, they *said, 'We do not know.' And Jesus *said to them, 'Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.'

CSB: So they answered Jesus, "We don’t know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

NLT: So they finally replied, 'We don’t know.' And Jesus responded, 'Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.'

KJV: And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

NKJV: So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The chief priests, scribes, and elders in Jerusalem have asked Jesus where His authority to clear the temple of non-worshipers comes from. Jesus challenges them to answer their own question by asking them if John the Baptist's message is from God, or if John made it up. John validated Jesus' identity as the Messiah, so if the religious leaders affirm John, they affirm Jesus, as well. If they deny John, they run the risk of losing the respect of a multitude of people who believe John's message of repentance. To make matters more acute, many people who followed John are in Jerusalem for the Passover.

The religious leaders claim they do not know if John's message was true or not. This is a lie: the men speaking do not believe in what John the Baptist said. So far as their view goes, they "know"—really, they "think"—John was false. This hypocrisy and cowardice marks them as unworthy of serious discussion. If they will not take a stand on what they otherwise claim to be true, Jesus will not engage with them. Some may truly be puzzled. Others know exactly what is going on: "Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God" (John 12:42–43).

In short, this response shines a harsh light on the deep hypocrisy of these religious leaders. Their highest priority is maintaining power and influence; they won't stand up for what they believe is true if it means losing political clout. Before we respond in arrogance and judgment, we should note this temptation is just as much a snare for modern believers as it was for the Pharisees.

In the next story, a parable of tenants who reject the servants and the son of the landowner, Jesus indirectly answers their question (Mark 12:1–12). His authority is from the landowner: God. The religious leaders reject Him because they want to keep the resources that the landowner temporarily put in their stewardship. Over the years of Jewish history, they have rejected all the landowner's messengers, the pre-Messianic prophets, including John the Baptist. Soon, the landowner will return and "destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others" (Mark 12:9): God will allow Jerusalem to be destroyed, remove the influence of Judaism, and give His blessings and authority to the church.

The religious leaders understand the parable full well and respond in the only way they know how: figure out how to arrest Jesus without the crowd knowing.

Mark 11:27–33 is the first of four stories of religious leaders challenging Jesus. The others are found through verse 27 of chapter 12. First is a confrontation with the chief priests, scribes, and elders. Next, Jesus' parable about farmland tenants solidifies the authorities' desire to kill Him (Mark 12:1–12). The Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus with a question about taxes (Mark 12:13–17). And, finally, the Sadducees challenge Jesus with a question about the resurrection (Mark 12:18–27). Eventually, Jesus can have a friendly conversation about the greatest commandment with a scribe (Mark 12:28–34). This first story is also in Matthew 21:23–27 and Luke 20:1–8.

Jesus and the disciples arrive in Jerusalem a week before the crucifixion, and Jesus begins the last days of His public ministry. They spend their nights on the Mount of Olives and their days in Jerusalem (Luke 21:37). Jesus accepts the accolades designed for a king (Mark 11:1–11), attacks materialistic tradition that keeps people from worshiping God (Mark 11:15–19), gives an object lesson about the fate of fruitless Jerusalem (Mark 11:12–14, 20–25), and reveals the Jewish religious leaders' hypocrisy (Mark 11:27–33). Despite the support of the crowd, Jesus is pushing the leaders toward the crucifixion.

The Gospel of Mark emphasizes both Jesus' servanthood and His role as the promised Messiah: the Son of God. This is done through a concise, action-packed style. Mark provides relatively few details, instead focusing on actions and simple statements. This relates to the Gospel's authorship, which is believed to be based on the memories of the apostle Peter. These include many of Jesus' miracles, in contrast to other Gospels which include many more of Jesus' teachings and parables. Mark also makes frequent mention of Jesus' ministry being misunderstood by others.