On the Tuesday of Holy Week Jesus and his disciples once again walked from Bethany into Jerusalem. Peter notices that the fig tree Jesus had rebuked the day before was now withered. Jesus uses it as an example of having faith in God. “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you believe what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11.22-24). He shows not only his own authority to work wonders but also that his followers can trust that authority when they pray in faith too. This small passage is important because it leads us into an exchange between Jesus and the Religious authorities and also allows us to understand how Jesus could then teach with such authority too, as he teaches some of the greatest parables of his ministry.
On entering the temple straight afterwards the Scribes and Elders strive to catch Jesus out. On the face of it their question is understandable – they want to know where Jesus’ authority comes from, almost as if they want to know who Jesus is. However, they are trying to catch Jesus out – they want him to claim his authority is from God, so they can call him blasphemous, a charge that brings the death penalty in Jewish law, or that he is the Messiah and thus they can accuse him of either promoting himself or trying to bring down the Roman rule. The first would lead to ridicule, the second probably death. Jesus is aware of their scheming, however. So he throws a question to them, “Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” (Mark 11. 30). They cannot answer, for if they say from heaven they know he will ask why they didn’t believe John and if they say from human origin the crowd will turn on them because the people thought John was a prophet (cf Mark 11. 31-32). As they, therefore refuse to answer Jesus, he then refuses to answer them either. Jesus’ refusal to answer leaves the question hanging though. Many now we’re asking who he was. His triumphant entry into Jerusalem showed many hoped he was the Messiah, but riding on a colt, a young ass, showed him as a man of peace, not a warrior king. Now he has cleansed the temple, had spoken and acted with authority but many wondered how or why. As we progress deeper into Holy Week we realise that Jesus brought as many doubts and questions as he did answers for many who came into contact with him. We are getting closer to the climax of our story and, as weak authority figures do, even today, the Religious authorities were using those questions to divide opinions on who Jesus truly was.
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