Jesus’ Authority Challenged

20 And it happened that on one of the days while[fn] he was teaching the people in the templecourts[fn] and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes approached together with the elders 2 and said, saying to him, “Tell us, by what authority you are doing these things, or who is the one who gave you this authority? 3 And he answered and[fn] said to them, “I also will ask you a question, and you tell me: 4 The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? 5 And they discussed this[fn] with one another, saying, “If we say ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 And they replied that they did not know where it was from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”