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working
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(1) Mark 11:27-33 = Matt 21:23-27 = Luke 20:1-8
(1) Mark 11:27-33 = Matt 21:23-27 = Luke 20:1-8
/11:27/ Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him /11:28/ and said, "By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?" /11:29/ Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. /11:30/ Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me." /11:31/ They argued with one another, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' /11:32/ But shall we say, 'Of human origin'?" --they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. /11:33/ So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."
/21:23/ When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" /21:24/ Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. /21:25/ Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?" And they argued with one another, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' /21:26/ But if we say, 'Of human origin,' we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet." /21:27/ So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
/20:1/ One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and telling the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders /20:2/ and said to him, "Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?" /20:3/ He answered them, "I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: /20:4/ Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?" /20:5/ They discussed it with one another, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why did you not believe him?' 20:6 But if we say, 'Of human origin,' all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet." /20:7/ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. /20:8/ Then Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."
John Dominic Crossan
Item: 261
Stratum: II (60-80 CE)
Attestation: Single
Historicity: -
Common Sayings Tradition: No
This poem originated as a contribution to the HODOS online community by Gene Stecher. It is published with Gene's consent but he explicitly retains full rights as the creative author. You welcome to use it for personal study and worship, but it should not be published in any other form without the author's prior consent. Index to Gene Stecher's poems
Experts on church ritual,
Experts on church tradition,
Wise judges of the church,
Inquiring about motives for
disrupting the official business
of vicarious personal sacrifice.
He turns the tables.
Was John's baptism motivated
by G_d or by human inclination?
A choice: look foolish or
fly in the face of popular opinion,
so they said, "We don't know."
Jesus kicks the dirt
of non-disclosure
back into their face.
Had they been listening
on another occasion,
they would have had the answer,
for from the time of John the Baptist
until the present, heaven's imperial rule
has been annihilating the walled fortress
of the prophets and the law,
and the agents of violent freedom
are gaining it by force. (cf. Mt 11:12-13).