“By what authority are you doing these things?
Or who gave you this authority to do them?”
These leaders wanted to know who authorized Jesus to do the things he had been doing, especially cleansing the temple. They sought to drag the question of Jesus legitimacy down into the realm of politics, swallowing up his popular momentum with questions about human hierarchy and chains of command. They were not open to a genuine answer to this question, as Jesus would demonstrate.
Jesus said to them, “I shall ask you one question.
Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.”
They were afraid to commit to an answer, any answer, that would have genuine spiritual ramifications. We can see this in the fact that they weren't so dedicated to the idea that John's baptism was of human origin as to be willing to take a righteous stand against him. They feared his crowd of supporters too much for that. Most likely, they did believe the baptism was of human origin, but they did not believe it deeply enough to act as that belief implied they ought to act. Perhaps some of them were among those who went out to witness the spectacle of John the Baptist, who got caught up in the excitement, and, while not knowing entirely what to make of him, didn't reject him entirely. Yet such an ambivalent position was one that did not produce "good fruits as evidence of your repentance" (see Luke 3:8). They demonstrated that they were unwilling to fully commit to either position.
The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, appeared to be among those whose chief value was the status quo. Their appeals to authority were not so much concerned the one who is the source of all true authority, but with conformity to the existing systems of human authority in which they had a privileged role.
I shall ask you one question.
Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Jesus was not merely trying to stump them with an unrelated question. He was attempting to demonstrate to them that they weren't really open to the truth of the answer to the question that they asked. No doubt this was news to them. They didn't realize the degree to which their hearts were hardened, their lack of ears to hear a genuine answer. They needed an interruption to the otherwise impenetrable cycles of thought that had no room in their concepts of authority for Jesus, because they ultimately had no room for God himself.
So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.”
Then Jesus said to them,
“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
How wonderful it is when Jesus can bring us to admit that "We do not know". If we think about our own modern world this is the last thing any of us seems to want to admit. We've done our homework, found experts worthy of trust, and created an elaborate framework of certainty about everything we consider worthy of considering. But for ourselves as well as those religious leaders that challenged Jesus this can become a closed loop with no reference to God. As long as he allows us to continue circling this track uninterrupted we tend to entrench ourselves in a world that is finally not interested to hear the answer to the question of the identity of Jesus, lest that answer force us to change directions. When we begin to descend into such a rut the best thing he can do for us is to give us obstacles that make us admit that we don't know everything, and compel us to open our lives outward toward Jesus and the answers that he alone can give us.
The religious leaders in the time of Jesus took some pleasure in their closed systems of authority. But such systems left their adherents immobilized and lifeless, unable to respond to the the presence of God in their midst. Jesus invited them to find a deeper pleasure in wisdom, wisdom that would never be content with the status quo. The gateway to such wisdom was the willingness to acknowledge that one did not have all the answers. So then, may we too being willing to forego the comfort of imagining we know all things already to the joy in that can be found in Christ, the wisdom of God (see First Corinthians 1:24).
I met with great instruction.
Since in this way I have profited,
I will give my teacher grateful praise.
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