Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Matthew 21:23 - 21:23
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The Authority of Christ.
The question of the elders:
v. 23. And when He was come into the Temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto Him as He was teaching, and said, By what authority doest Thou these things? and who gave Thee this authority?
The members of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the Great Council of the Jewish Church, were ever jealous of their rights and suspicious of any one that dared to think and act for himself. The point of their question was: If you claim the authority to purge the Temple, if you openly teach and heal in the Temple, give us an account of your prophetic character, prove that you have a prophet's mission from God. It was a foolish resentment, one which incidentally laid bare the blindness of the rulers. For Jesus had given countless examples of His prophetic power, both by miracles and by such authoritative preaching as no other teacher in Israel possessed. Their demand is twofold: Give us evidence that you actually possess this authority; then satisfy us also as to the source of the authority you are using. They wanted Him to render an account for whatever acts He had done in His official ministry.