But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.
The people were fully persuaded that John was a prophet, so the priests and rulers feared that calling his baptism merely human would turn the people against them in violent retaliation, even to stoning them. To deny his prophetic authority was politically dangerous because popular conviction stood firmly behind him.
To admit that his ministry was from heaven would have exposed their own unbelief, for they had not believed his testimony concerning Jesus. Such an admission would have compelled them to face John's witness identifying Jesus as the Messiah. Caught between exposure on one side and popular wrath on the other, they answered with a profession of ignorance that was in truth an evasive refusal to commit themselves. That evasion was driven by fear and political caution, not by any acceptance of John's teaching.
The people were fully persuaded that John was a prophet, so the priests and rulers feared that calling his baptism merely human would turn the people against them in violent retaliation, even to stoning them. To deny his prophetic authority was politically dangerous because popular conviction stood firmly behind him.
To admit that his ministry was from heaven would have exposed their own unbelief, for they had not believed his testimony concerning Jesus. Such an admission would have compelled them to face John's witness identifying Jesus as the Messiah. Caught between exposure on one side and popular wrath on the other, they answered with a profession of ignorance that was in truth an evasive refusal to commit themselves. That evasion was driven by fear and political caution, not by any acceptance of John's teaching.