Lesson 4151

 (Lesson 4151)(06-04-23) Matthew 21:23-27

    “ 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? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.”

    In today’s quote, Jesus, again, exposes the hypocrisy of the Jewish hierarchy. The quote also contains another lesson that is very important for us to understand. 

    Jesus, in essence, asked the chief priests and elders if John’s “baptism” was from God, or was it a creation of man. The chief priests and elders reasoned among themselves that if they answered that the “baptism of John” was from God, Jesus would ask them why they had not “believed” him.

    The point of the second lesson in the quote, is that the “baptism of John” WAS NOT simply a water ceremony, it was in fact, also the message that John brought to the Jews. One CANNOT believe, or disbelieve, a physical action such as water immersion. 

    Therefore, when doing an in depth study of the New Testament, when the phrase “the baptism of John” is appplied, we must discern whether the phrase is referring to the physical actions that John oversaw, or if it is in reference to the message that John preached.~