“And when he was come into the temple, there came to him, as he was teaching, the chief priests and ancients of the people, saying: ‘By what authority doest thou these things? And who hath given thee this authority?’ Jesus answering, said to them: ‘I also will ask you one word, which if you shall tell me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?’ But they thought within themselves, saying: ‘If we shall say, from heaven, he will say to us: ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we shall say, from men, we are afraid of the multitude: for all held John as a prophet.’ And answering Jesus, they said: ‘We know not.’ He also said to them: ‘Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.’”
The priests, writhing in jealousy, then come to Jesus to question His authority. He had not come from a priestly family: “For the Lord thy God hath chosen [the Levites] of all thy tribes, to stand and to minister to the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever” (Deuteronomy 18:5); He was not a trained rabbi: “And the Jews wondered, saying: ‘How doth this man know letters, having never learned?’” (John 7:15), and was not appointed by Rome: “If we let him alone so, all will believe in him; and the Romans will come, and take away our place and nation” (John 11:48). But, since “power is given you by the Lord, and strength by the most High,” (Wisdom 6:4), they assumed that His authority was given to Him, rather than He being the Son of God acting from a sheer abundance of love. It becomes obvious, then, that they were putting Him in a box, thinking that He did great works by the authority of the devil: “This man casteth not out devils but by the Beelzebub the prince of the devils” (Matthew 12:24). Rather than giving a simple answer, Jesus puts forward a question by which the Pharisees cannot but condemn themselves, because if He had told them, they would have simply tossed it aside and brought forward more interrogations: “Having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts” (Ephesians 4:18). To the one that enquires out of curiosity or desire for one’s love and joy, give the pearl of great price, but to the one that seeks to jab, a stroke of reason can be well-placed, but St. Paul also mentions: “Avoid foolish and unlearned questions, knowing that they beget strifes. But the servant of the Lord must not wrangle: but be mild towards all men, apt to teach, patient, with modesty admonishing them that resist the truth” (2 Timothy 2:23-25), realizing that to win an argument is rarely to win a soul, for though love and truth are the two spiritual necessities of man, truth without love is cold, like trying to imprint a seal on solid wax rather than warming it first: “You have clothed yourselves, but have not been warmed” (Aggeus 1:6). Jesus then asks if John the Baptist’s baptism was a gift from heaven or something he had taken upon himself or was instructed to do by others, with the truth being that the authority of John was given by Jesus: “I indeed baptize you in water unto penance, but he that shall come after me, is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire” (Matthew 3:11). If the baptism of John was spoken to him by God: “He who sent me to baptize with water, said to me: ‘He upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him, he it is that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost’” (John 1:33), then it could be asked why the chief priests and Pharisees did not receive it, but to answer that it had nothing divine, but merely an exercise of a man done by a man would upset the people, for they had received John’s baptism, holding him to be a prophet: “And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all they of Jerusalem, and were baptized by him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins” (Mark 1:5). Now, this artful use of questioning by Jesus shows the beauty of reason, for faith and reason are not enemies, but reason is the handmaid of faith, with beautiful philosophy giving another dimension to the truths of God, for when faith guides philosophy, the great towers of metaphysics, understanding of the soul and its goods, the nature of love, and other such aids to Catholic understanding can be built: “And Ozias built towers in Jerusalem over the gate of the corner, and over the gate of the valley, and the rest, in the same side of the wall, and fortified them” (2 Paralipomenon 26:9). However, these are best sought not for the sake of learning: “And I said in my heart: if the death of the fool and mine shall be one, what doth it avail me, that I have applied myself more to the study of wisdom? And speaking with my own mind, I perceived that this also was vanity” (Ecclesiastes 2:15), but to know your Beloved, yourself, your neighbor, and the world in truth, that all may be loved with reverence and joy: “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and wilt hide my commandments with thee, that thy ear may hearken to wisdom: incline thy heart to know prudence” (Proverbs 2:1-2). The chief priests and elders then lie to Truth Itself, saying that they do not know: “For thy soul be not ashamed to say the truth” (Ecclesiasticus 4:24), and Truth, knowing that in their hearts they knew the truth but would not say, replies that He also would not share the gift of truth: “A good understanding will hide his words for a time, and the lips of many shall declare his wisdom” (Ecclesiasticus 1:30). In this is an insight that truth is a gift, and to give to the one that will slap it out of your hands or discard it is to give unwisely: “If thou do good, know to whom thou dost it, and there shall be much thanks for thy good deeds… Do good to the humble, and give not to the ungodly: hold back thy bread, and give it not to him, lest thereby he overmaster thee” (Ecclesiasticus 12:1-6), whereas to give the knowledge of God to the one that desires it is, in a sense, to deal bread to the hungry: “For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat” (Matthew 25:35), and is an act of love.