Mark 11:27-33

Evangelical Heritage Version

Jesus’ Authority Is Questioned

²⁷ They went into Jerusalem again. As he was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the experts in the law, and the elders came to him. ²⁸ They asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ³⁰ The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer me.”

³¹ They discussed this with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘From men’. . . .” (They feared the crowd, because everybody held that John really was a prophet.) ³³ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”