Lesson 3460

 (Lesson 3460)(06-24-21) 3Luke 20:1-8

    “ And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.”

    In today’s quote, as Jesus was being pressed by the high priest of the Jews to expose by what authority He preached. Jesus responded with a question. He asked, “The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?” The Chief priests, understanding that the question was a trap, reasoned that, if they were to say the “baptism of John” was of God, Jesus would ask them why they had not “believed” him.

    There is a lesson within today’s quote that is often overlooked. The lesson is that the phrase,“the baptism of John”, was defined as, not only the water immersions John performed, but also the message that John taught.

    This knowledge is useful when studying the bible wherever the Phrase “the baptism of John” is applied.~