Matthew Chapter 21, Verse 27
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27: και αποκριθεντες τω ιησου ειπον ουκ οιδαμεν εφη αυτοις και αυτος ουδε εγω λεγω υμιν εν ποια εξουσια ταυτα ποιω
27: And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said
unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these
things.
27: And answering Jesus, they said: We know not. He also said to
them: Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
We cannot tell. This was a direct falsehood. They could have told; and it should have been, we will not tell. There was no reason but that why they did not tell. The reason probably why they would not acknowledge that John was a prophet was that, if they did, they saw he could easily show them by what authority he did those things; i.e., as Messiah. John predicted him, pointed him out, baptized him, came as his forerunner, to fulfil the prophecies. If they acknowledged one, they must the other. In this way Jesus was about to lead these crafty men to answer their own question, to their own confusion, about his authority. They saw this; and having given them a sufficient answer, there was no need of stating anything further.
