The Authority of Jesus Questioned

20 One day as he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders^{(A) 2} and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?”^{(B) 3} He answered them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: ⁴ Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” ⁵ They discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.”^{(C) 7} So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”