Luke 20:2

2 him and demanded, "Show us your credentials. Who authorized you to speak and act like this?"

Luke 20:2 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 20:2

And spoke unto him, saying, tell us by what authority
doest thou these things?
&c.] The Arabic and Ethiopic versions read, "this thing"; as if the sanhedrim only referred to his preaching the Gospel, which is mentioned in the preceding verse, and was what he was about when they came to him: but the Persic version reads, "all these things"; not only preaching, but working miracles; and particularly driving the buyers and sellers out of the temple, which especially affected them, they losing their rents thereby:

or who is he that gave thee this authority?
God or man? (See Gill on Matthew 21:23).

Luke 20:2 In-Context

1 One day he was teaching the people in the Temple, proclaiming the Message. The high priests, religion scholars, and leaders confronted

2 him and demanded, "Show us your credentials. Who authorized you to speak and act like this?"

3 Jesus answered, "First, let me ask you a question:

4 About the baptism of John - who authorized it, heaven or humans?"

5 They were on the spot, and knew it. They pulled back into a huddle and whispered, "If we say 'heaven,' he'll ask us why we didn't believe him;