Gospel
Mt 21:23-27
When Jesus had come into the temple area,
the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him
as he was teaching and said,
“By what authority are you doing these things?
And who gave you this authority?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me,
then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things.
Where was John’s baptism from?
Was it of heavenly or of human origin?”
They discussed this among themselves and said,
“If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us,
‘Then why did you not believe him?’
But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd,
for they all regard John as a prophet.”
So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.”
He himself said to them,
“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Reflection
The line in this Gospel, “If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd,” stood out to me. I think the chief priests and elders were trapped, not necessarily by Jesus’ question, but by their unwillingness to face the implications of the truth. They prioritized their own comfort and safety over integrity.
This reminds me of how, even today, we can be tempted to ignore or suppress the truth to avoid upsetting others or disrupting the status quo. We may say, “I don’t know,” not because we lack understanding, but because we fear the consequences of standing up for what is right. The fear of rejection, conflict, or losing status can cause us to shy away from the truth, even when we know it in our hearts. I think this passage challenges us to reflect on our own lives and how often we prioritize human opinions over the word of God.
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