NOTES for Mat 21:23-27

The question the chief priests and elders ask Jesus after He cleanses the temple of commerce is given in a somewhat polished form. In essence, they are not asking about the source of Christ's power, because that would require them to imply the existence of that power, and neither the religious nor the public leaders want to do that. The Greek text here does not use the word kratos, power or might, which is usually used in the meaning of authority. Instead, the chief priests and scribes ask about exousia, permission or right. The same distinction is noticeable in other languages, for example in Latin. Thus the chief priests are speaking rather rudely: "By what right are You giving orders here? And who gave You this right?" Such a formulation of the question makes it much more familiar to us, because we constantly encounter it in our everyday life.

And therefore an important nuance is seen in Christ's answering question. When He asks them about the origin of John's baptism, He is asking about the rights of Heaven. "Does God have rights in your world, and what are they? Does God have the right to do anything at His own discretion?"

In our time we all know very well about human rights. In their ancient time the chief priests thought more about the rights of society and the state. But no one thinks about the rights and freedom of God. The ministry of John the Baptist thus becomes an example of the Creator doing something on His own initiative, at His own discretion, and outside the framework of human customs. And therefore the evasive answer of the chief priests, which they wanted to make nonnegative so that people would not think they were denouncing someone authoritative among the people, turns out not to be positive: "We do not know," they say, "whether God has rights or not." Do we know?