Luke 20v4

The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?

We have already seen similar references to this event in Matthew 21v25 {16 } and Mark 11v30 {28 }. Jesus brought the chief priests and elders to a point of decision, although they had studiously avoided answering it so far. Far be it that Jesus would want any to perish, but rather that they would realise the error of their ways and repent from them. The whole point of exposing sin and error, apart from warning against it, was to seek that the sinner would repent of their ways. This was also the case for the chief priests and elders, where Jesus was calling them to repentance from their mistaken ways.

In this particular verse, we find that Jesus is teaching in the temple, which is the area that the chief priests might expect to rule over. In essence their question was intended to point out that they were the boss(es) here. The question was “Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority?” (v2). Jesus by His question is pointing out their misunderstanding of their own authority – all of their authority ultimately comes from God, who is free to do as He pleases in His own temple.

Luke brings some extra detail to this scene, looking into the motives behind the answer given to the question that Jesus posed. While Matthew and Mark say that it was due to fear of the people, Luke lets us know that they specifically feared being stoned by the people (v6). Opinions were definitely very set – in such a climate it can be very hard to be seen to change your mind over a matter. The positions of ‘the people’ and ‘the chief priests, scribes and elders’ were quite heavily entrenched. This can quite often happen when one party bases their conclusions on false assumptions – in this case, the incorrect assumptions of the chief priests and elders included the following:

They didn’t expect the Messiah to come from Galilee (John 7v52).
They assumed that Jesus was born in Nazareth in Galilee (John 7v52), most likely due to His accent. This was also how Peter was identified as a disciple in Matthew 26v73 and Mark 14v70.
They expected the ‘Elijah who is to come’ (Malachi 4v5) to know that this was his role. John the Baptist denied that he was (John 1v21) although the disciples understood that Jesus said he was (Matthew 17v11-13 {13 }). In other words, John the Baptist denied that his role was the ‘Elijah who is to come’, but Jesus knew John was the fulfilment of this prophecy. (John should have known that this was his role, as the angel had told his father Zacharias, as seen in Luke 1v17.)
They expected the Messiah/Christ to end the occupation of the Romans. This might at first glance seem reasonable, as most references to ‘saviour’ in the Old Testament are talking about deliverance from exactly this kind of oppression (for examples of this, see especially Isaiah 61v2, 2^nd Samuel 22v3, 2^nd Kings 13v5, Nehemiah 9v27, Psalm 106v21, Isaiah 19v20, Isaiah 43v3, Isaiah 49v26, and also Jeremiah 14v8). In a sense, they wanted God to do their will because they did not understand fully His will, and what He had promised to do. Even today within Jewish communities there is an expectation that the (in their understanding still to come) Messiah will release the Jews from persecution. The Christian understands that this will happen at Jesus’ ‘second coming’ (Isaiah 49v21-26, Revelation 7v4-8), although for the Jews they are still waiting for the ‘first coming’. A correct understanding of this is found by the Christian today when they compare Isaiah 61v1-3 with Jesus’ quoting of it in Luke 4v18 – Jesus stopped just before the part in Isaiah that says “and the day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61v2). Jesus came the first time to bring good news and to help those of a broken heart, and the day of vengeance is still to come at His ‘second coming’.

The thinking of the chief priests and the elders required them to discard their assumptions before they would be able to accept that Jesus was the promised Messiah (Christ) – unfortunately for them there is no record of this ever happening in scripture, although Jesus did pray for them on the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23v34)

Mistaken assumptions are also found within the church today, especially regarding baptism and it’s practice. It is only when we are ready to discard our assumptions and the traditions of men that we can come to a more complete understanding of God’s will, purpose, and methods for our lives. According to the assumptions and traditions of men, repeating the words of Jesus’ command in Matthew 28v19 {17 } is the correct way to baptize. A more thorough study of the Bible regarding the actual practices of the church, especially starting from Acts 2v38 {56 } onwards, will lead to the conclusion that the Apostles actually baptized in another (and more correct) way each and every single time. Hopefully, as you go further in God’s word as explained in this book, you will start to see the pattern emerging of how the Apostles and the early church actually baptised. There are a whole host of assumptions and traditions that will need to be re-examined due to this simple fact – but these will need to be the subject of another book or so.