Mark 11:28 Commentary and Bible Study

For three years now he had been preaching and touring, performing these amazing, wonderful miracles, healing thousands of people, helping people who could not be helped by any human agency. But they steeled their hearts against him; they would not believe that Messiah had come. Because he preached the need for repentance, forgiveness of sin, a new order, they would not credit him with anything, so much did they hate him. Now they confront him: ‘By what authority?’ How much evidence do you have to put before steel-hearted unbelief?‘By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?’ – is this authorised or is it illegal? You certainly haven't any authority from us, the chief priests and the temple authorities would have insisted. What things do they have in mind? Obviously his teaching and preaching, but particularly the casting out the money changers and traders the day before. The common people would have been delighted to see that. Everybody would have known that this was an outrage and abuse, that it was a scandal. Why had they not put an end to the scandal? It was a tremendous rebuke to them that Christ, now for the second time, should purge, clear out the Temple. Presumably, they were not only enraged because they had lost lucrative income, but they were made to look so foolish and so small. They come to him, and now he is on their territory. He is not in Galilee anymore; he is not in the towns around in the open-air, healing and preaching. He is right in what they regarded as their territory, their temple. So they officially challenged him. They are enraged. There has got to be a confrontation now; they cannot just stand at a distance and watch it happen. Their authority is being completely undermined.