Insincere Questions

In response to the cleansing of the temple and Jesus' teaching, the religious leaders asked by what authority he does these things. It is not a sincere question. They knew that his authority was from God. They saw him restore sight to the blind, enable to lame to walk, and raise the dead. One can only do such miracles by the authority of God, but they refuse to acknowledge that authority. Since they will not acknowledge the authority of John the Baptist, obviously they will not accept his authority, so he wisely refuses to answer their question. We must not be like to be like the religious leaders who are asking questions only because they are trying to destroy Jesus. They care nothing for the truth. And let us learn from Jesus who was careful in how he responded to fools. Another lesson we can glean from this passage is that wicked men will not get very far, eventually, in God's perfect time, they will face his judgment.