The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23 1And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him
2as he was teaching, and said,
3“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority? ”
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Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
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The baptism of John,
4from where did it come?
5From heaven or from man? ”And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven, ’ he will say to us,
6‘Why then did you not believe him? ’
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But if we say, ‘From man, ’
7we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was
8a prophet. ”
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So they answered Jesus, “We do not know. ” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.