Mark 11:27-33: a reflection

27They came again to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him, 28and they began saying to him, “By what authority do you do these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?” 29Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30The baptism of John—was it from heaven, or from men? Answer me.” 31They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven;’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32If we should say, ‘From men’”—they feared the people, for all held John to really be a prophet. 33They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The chief priests confront Jesus in the temple, demanding to know by what authority he acts. But it is not an honest question; they want ammunition, not an answer. So Jesus meets it with a question of his own: John's baptism, was it from heaven or from men? And watch how they handle it. They do not ask what is true; they calculate what is safe. If we say from heaven, he'll ask why we didn't believe John; if we say from men, we fear the crowd. So they answer, we do not know.

Notice what their reasoning exposes. Faced with a question about truth, they weigh only consequences, only what will cost them least. The real answer, what they actually believed about John, never enters the calculation; only what is expedient. Their we do not know is not honesty; it is a refusal to commit to a truth that would be inconvenient. And so Jesus declines to give them more: neither will I tell you.

There is a caution here about how we handle truth. It is possible to ask questions we do not really want answered, to weigh truth by what it will cost us rather than by whether it is true, to say I don't know when we mean I don't want to commit. To a heart that will only accept the convenient answer, more revelation is not given. So ask honestly, and be willing to follow the truth even where it is costly. God gives more light to those willing to walk in it.

Lord, keep me from weighing truth by what it will cost me rather than by whether it is true, or asking questions I do not really want answered. Give me an honest heart, willing to follow your truth even where it is inconvenient, so that you give me more light.