NOTES for Mar 11:27-33
Two questions were asked: one the Savior asked the elders, and the other the elders asked the Savior, and neither received an answer. But how different the meaning of these two non-answers is! Above all, the motivation differs: fear for one's position in the first case, and messianic dignity in the second. But the main thing is that the silence of the teachers of the Law and the chief priests shows that they do not wish to accept either the Good News itself or God's help in understanding it, which the Forerunner manifests; their non-answer says nothing except that they do not believe.
Jesus' non-answer, by contrast, says a great deal. First, He affirms John's mission as Forerunner, proving that those who do not accept John do not accept Jesus either; and second, it is a prophecy about His own earthly end - an indication that it will be like John's. In other words, this reveals the most important thing about Christ's earthly ministry.