Matthew 21:23
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When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You this authority?”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS QUESTIONED AND THE REPLY--THE PARABLES OF THE TWO SONS, AND OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMAN. ( = Mark 11:27-12:12; Luke 20:1-19). (Mat. 21:23-46) By what authority doest thou these things!--referring particularly to the expulsion of the buyers and sellers from the temple, and who gave thee this authority?
Open source ↗21:23–22:46 This section focuses on the Jewish leaders’ attack on Jesus’ authority. In each case, Jesus’ wisdom revealed the leaders’ spiritual blindness. These debates also revealed Jesus’ status as Messiah and the consequences of rejecting him. Tragically, the leaders grew more resistant with each encounter and plotted to eliminate Jesus (21:23, 46; 22:15-17, 23, 34, 41). 21:23 Elders (literally elders of the people) were family heads from each tribe who were members of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem (cp. Ezra 5:5; 6:14; 10:8).
Open source ↗Cross-references
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They had Peter and John brought in and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
At that time Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would an outlaw? Every day I sat teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest Me.
But the man replied, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “This thing I have done has surely become known.”
But the man who was abusing his neighbor pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?