Christ become a Questioner.
Those who came to Christ on this occasion were distinctly officials, representatives of the Sanhedrin, the council which claimed and exercised authority in all matters related to religion. "Before its tribunal false prophets were arraigned. It dealt with questions of doctrine, and, when occasion arose, could exercise the functions of a council." "In the New Testament we see Christ before the Sanhedrin as a blasphemer (Matthew 26:65); the Apostles Peter and John, as false prophets and seducers of the people; the Deacon Stephen, as having blasphemed against God; and the Apostle Paul, as subverting the Law." This was, no doubt, a very imposing deputation. Schemes to entangle Christ in his talk had miserably failed; now the officials resolved to act straightforwardly and imposingly. They would demand to know the authority on which Jesus acted. The three elements of the Sanhedrin—chief priests, elders, and scribes—were all represented, and we seem to see the confident haughtiness of their approach.
I. CHRIST ASSERTING A SUPERIOR AUTHORITY. "He knew what was in man." He was not in the least alarmed. He know their guilefulness so well that he was not in the least deferential. The prophet was never submissive to the temple officials. His authority was his commission direct from God. They had been pleased to decide that no one could be permitted to teach who had not passed through a rabbinical school. Jesus knew that every man has a right to teach who is himself taught of God. He, moreover, was more than a prophet; he was, in the highest and holiest sense, the Son and Sent of God. They had no right to question him. He would recognize no such right, and give to their questionings no answer, he would exert his authority and question them; and never was official deputation more humiliated than when these men found themselves questioned, and hopelessly entangled by the question put to them. All putting Christ to the test implies a wrong state of mind. He speaks in the name of God, and as God, and our duty is unquestioning obedience.
II. CHRIST DISCOMFITING HIS FOES BY HIS SUPERIOR AUTHORITY. They felt his authority, and did not for a moment attempt to dispute it. They did not think of saying, "We came to question you, and cannot allow you to question us." They were mastered by his calmness, by his manifest superiority, by the skill of his question, which put them into the most awkward and humiliating position. They retired defeated and angry.—R.T.