Eternally Blind
Are they asking to understand or do they have something else on their mind?
Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, "By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?" Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me." They argued with one another, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But shall we say, 'Of human origin'?"-- they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things." Then he began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'?" When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away. - Mark 11:27-12:12
The chief priests, the scribes and the elders sought to challenge Jesus, to force him to say something they could use against him.
If they could get him to say that his authority comes from God, then they could accuse him of blasphemy.
But Jesus doesn't fall for the trap. Instead, he poses a question of authority back to them.
If they answer a question from Jesus, he will answer their question. That seems fair, doesn't it?
Jesus knew, however, that they could not say John the Baptist's authority came from heaven. If they did, Jesus would chastise them for not believing in him.
They were silenced, so Jesus told them a parable about himself, and that was how he answered their question.
The parable tells the story of Jesus and the prophets, how all were rejected and put to death by the tenant farmers who represent the chief priests, scribes and elders.
In the end, they would do as Jesus said and put him to death, but that would not be the end of the story. He would rise.
Even so, though, they would fail to believe, and that is what Jesus understood about them. Blind to the truth, they could never be made to see.
Some truths are impossible to admit.
More to come...