And when He was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto Him as He was teaching, and said, By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave Thee this authority? Matthew 21:23
The chief priests and elders thought it was a valid question. After all, this Nazarene Who has come into the temple is not exactly following the normal rules of conduct for the place. First of all, He has sent the animal merchants and moneychangers packing. Then He healed all of the sick and lame people who were there. Next, He received the praise of the children who welcomed Him as the Messiah. And now, He is gathering large crowds to listen to His teaching. Nobody has ever shown such great disrespect for the people whose responsibility it is to maintain order in the temple. They are alarmed that the Nazarene has stepped up and taken over, just as though He owned the place. And He has all of the people listening to Him and seeming to support Him. They have to put a stop to this. So they challenge Him as to where He got the authority to act like this. They failed to realize that the Lord Jesus had all the authority, and they had none.
We shake our heads at the audacity of the chief priests and elders as they challenge the Son of God. We know Who He was, and is. These men are challenging the Almighty as they try to protect what they wrongly claim to be their turf. The Lord Jesus did not give in to their petty demands. But we find it wonderfully touching today to realize that it was His authority as the Son of God to submit to the will of God and eventually to the will of the Jewish leaders as He would go to the cross.
When they would convict the Lord Jesus and send Him to execution, the Jews found themselves subject to a greater authority, that of Rome. Consider what Pilate told the Lord Jesus when Jesus would not respond to his questions: I have power (or authority) to crucify thee, and have power to release Thee (John 19:10). Jesus reminded Pilate that he would have no power unless it were given to him from above. All of the authority of Rome was subject to the authority of Heaven, whether they believed it or not. That is why we welcome the words of the Lord Jesus when He declared that He had power (or authority) to lay down His life and power to take it up again. This commandment He had received from His Father (John 10:18). This means that the Lord Jesus had all authority for the work that He accomplished on Calvary, and for the guarantee of that work in His glorious resurrection.
No authority in this world is of any account compared to that of the Lord Jesus. How amazing that He would use that infinite authority to submit to crucifixion and die for our sins! -Jim MacIntosh