Matthew 21:25
The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?
During the final visit to the temple unbelieving leaders challenged Jesus over the authority by which He acted, and He made His own answer depend on their answer about John in order to defeat their hope of twisting His words against Him. The question about whether John's baptism was from heaven or from men placed the priests in a dilemma no sophistry could escape.
To admit it was from heaven would condemn them for not believing John, for John saw divine glory resting on Jesus at His baptism like a dove of burnished gold and heard the divine voice declare Him the beloved Son in whom He was well pleased. John testified that Jesus is the Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, so believing John required accepting Jesus as Messiah. The leaders knew this, and their private reasoning put their unbelief and evasion on display.
To say it was merely human would turn the people against them instead of against Christ, because the people held John to be a prophet. They feared the anger of the crowd and the loss of the people's respect if they denied John's divine mission. Their true belief was that it was of men, but stating it would bring the wrath of the people upon themselves.
They reasoned privately and then hypocritically professed ignorance with the answer that they could not tell, which concealed unwillingness to face the truth about John and Christ. Their refusal revealed fear, unwillingness to commit themselves, evasion, and avoidance of honest judgment because of the consequences. Although they had led the people to think they believed John, they rejected his witness and wanted grounds to condemn Jesus rather than truth.
Jesus therefore refused to tell by what authority He did these things, leaving the Pharisees silenced, baffled and disappointed with lowering brows, not daring to press further questions. The multitude watched with intense interest and was amused to see proud, self-righteous men defeated.
John's baptism and message truly came from God, for his pure, self-denying life made divine power evident, brought conviction, exposed defects in religious life and condemned wrongdoing. Refusing John's warning shows refusal of Christ's words as well, for those who would not heed John would not heed Christ. Yet the chief priests, scribes, elders and Pharisees feigned ignorance rather than yield to conviction and admit they were wrong, while many tax collectors, sinners and immoral women received John's testimony, repented and embraced salvation.