11:27–12:44 Review · Beginning with the episode in 11:27–33, and continuing through chapter 12, Mark reports a series of controversies and conflicts between Jesus and the Sanhedrin, the supreme judicatory that controlled the temple and extended its influence over Jewish life. Composed of chief priests, elders (both Pharisees and Sadducees), and scribes, and ideally totaling seventy-one members, the Sanhedrin was granted full authority over Jewish religious affairs and significant control over Jewish political life as a buffer organization between Rome and Palestine.

11:27–33 ·“The chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders” (11:27)—in other words, a delegation of the Sanhedrin—confront Jesus in the temple with the question, “By what authority are you doing these things?” (11:28). By “these things” they are evidently recalling Jesus’s presumption to forgive sins (2:10), supersession of torah and Sabbath (2:23–3:6), acceptance of sinners and tax collectors (2:16), disruption of temple operations (11:15–19), and other challenges to their authority. In Israel’s most authoritative place, and by its most authoritative body, Jesus is summoned to give account of his own authority. The question, “Who gave you authority to do this?” (11:28), recognizes that no one possesses authority on his own to do what Jesus does. Such authority, presumably, comes only from God—and herein is the trap of the Sanhedrin’s question. If Jesus claims such authority, he can be charged with blasphemy, which in Judaism was a capital offense. Jesus meets their question with a counterquestion: “John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?” (11:30). This is not a diversionary tactic but an attempt to direct the Sanhedrin to the proper answer. At John’s baptism Jesus was declared God’s Son and endowed with God’s Spirit to do “these things.” A decision about John can open a door to a decision about Jesus. The Sanhedrin weighs the political consequences before them and answers evasively, “We don’t know” (11:33). That was not entirely true. They were, rather, unwilling to commit, and to those unwilling to commit, Jesus is unwilling to reveal himself.