Mark 11 29

Mark 11:29 kjv

And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

Mark 11:29 nkjv

But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:

Mark 11:29 niv

Jesus replied, "I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

Mark 11:29 esv

Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

Mark 11:29 nlt

"I'll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question," Jesus replied.

Mark 11 verses

Mark 11 29 Meaning

In Mark 11:29, Jesus strategically responds to the religious leaders who challenged His authority. Instead of directly answering their question about the source of His actions, He counter-questions them, linking the legitimacy of His own ministry to the divine origin of John the Baptist's mission. This move puts the onus back on His inquisitors, exposing their motives and intellectual dishonesty. It serves as a test of their spiritual discernment and willingness to acknowledge divine authority, while simultaneously refusing to fall into their trap.

Mark 11 29 Context

Mark 11:29 is situated in the pivotal Passion Week. Following His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Mk 11:1-11) and the forceful cleansing of the Temple (Mk 11:15-19), Jesus' authority is intensely challenged. The chief priests, scribes, and elders, representing the highest religious and civil authorities in Jerusalem, directly confront Him in the Temple courts. Their question in Mark 11:28 ("By what authority are You doing these things?") is a hostile interrogation, intended to trap Jesus into either claiming divine authority (which they would label blasphemy) or human authority (which they could discredit). Jesus' response in Mark 11:29 initiates a counter-interrogation, pivoting the focus from His authority to that of John the Baptist, whose divine commission the leaders dared not publicly deny due to the crowds' respect for John. This entire encounter highlights the escalating conflict between Jesus and the established religious power.

Mark 11 29 Word analysis

• Jesus (Ἰησοῦς, Iēsous): The divine Messiah. His direct engagement underlines the gravity of the encounter.
• answered (ἀποκριθεὶς, apokritheis): Aorist passive participle. Implies a decisive, immediate response, not one of hesitation. This action leads directly to Him speaking.
• and said (εἶπεν, eipen): Connects His answering with His speaking. He is giving a verbal response to their query.
• to them (αὐτοῖς, autois): Refers specifically to the chief priests, scribes, and elders (Mk 11:27). This is a direct confrontation with the religious establishment.
• I (κἀγὼ, kagō): Emphatic "I too" or "I also." Jesus uses the same form of interrogation as they did, turning the tables.
• will ask (ἐρωτήσω, erōtēsō): Future active indicative. A clear intention to propose His own question, not simply to defer.
• you (ὑμᾶς, hymas): Plural, referring directly to the collective body of leaders challenging Him.
• one (ἕνα, hena): Indicates a single, direct question from Jesus. It is singular but potent.
• question (λόγον, logon): Here, "question" or "statement" or "matter." It's not just a word, but a whole proposition to be addressed.
• and answer (ἀποκρίθητέ, apokrithēte): Aorist imperative. A command to them to respond. It demands a definite answer from them.
• me (μοι, moi): To Jesus Himself, emphasizing the personal nature of the challenge.
• and (καὶ, kai): Conjunction, connecting their answer with His subsequent action.
• I will tell (ἐρῶ, erō): Future active indicative. Jesus' promise to reveal His authority if they respond to His query honestly.
• you (ὑμῖν, hymin): The same group of leaders.
• by what (ἐν ποίᾳ, en poia): "In what sort of" or "by what kind of." Inquisitive.
• authority (ἐξουσίᾳ, exousia): The key word. This is the very word they used in their question (Mk 11:28). Jesus echoes their exact concern, but turns it into a leverage point. This denotes legitimate power, permission, right, or inherent capability, especially divinely granted.
• I do (ποιῶ, poiō): "I make" or "I do." Refers to His actions, specifically those just witnessed like cleansing the Temple.
• these things (ταῦτα, tauta): Referring to the mighty acts Jesus performs, particularly the Temple cleansing.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "I also will ask you one question": This immediately establishes Jesus' strategic intent. He isn't intimidated or defensive. He adopts the posture of an interrogator, using their own tactics against them. This shows divine wisdom and mastery in spiritual conflict, often observed in rabbinic debates where a master would counter-question students or opponents.
• "and answer me, and I will tell you": This creates a clear condition. Jesus is linking His transparency to their honesty. It's a test: if they can discern divine authority in John, then by implication, they should be able to discern it in Him. Their inability to answer John's origin directly correlates with their spiritual blindness to Jesus' authority.
• "by what authority I do these things": By echoing their exact phrase, Jesus throws their own challenge back at them. The core issue remains "authority" – but Jesus redirects the question from His authority, which they would reject, to an authority they could not openly deny due to public opinion, effectively exposing their hypocrisy and fear of the people rather than fear of God.

Mark 11 29 Bonus section

The form of Jesus' reply is characteristic of Jewish disputation, where a counter-question (often a kal v'homer or "light and heavy" argument) could serve to clarify a principle, test the sincerity of an inquirer, or expose hidden motives. This shows Jesus' intimate familiarity with rabbinic methods, but with a divine wisdom that transcends human debate. He implicitly teaches that understanding the origin of one's own authority or truth claims is essential before one can rightly judge another's. The entire dialogue in Mk 11:27-33 functions as a public trial of the religious leadership, showing their spiritual blindness and hypocrisy to the crowd.

Mark 11 29 Commentary

Mark 11:29 portrays Jesus not as someone evasive, but as a Master Teacher and astute debater who turns the tables on His accusers. The chief priests, scribes, and elders sought to ensnare Him, hoping for a confession of blasphemy or an admission of lacking formal rabbinic ordination to perform such acts of authority in the Temple. They were attempting to corner Him into a statement that would lead to His arrest.

Jesus, however, discerns their true motives – not a genuine search for truth, but a desire to trap Him. His counter-question about John the Baptist's baptism (unveiled in the next verses) is not an evasion, but a shrewd tactical move. By demanding they first declare John's authority, Jesus places them in an inescapable dilemma. If they acknowledged John's divine mandate, they would be obligated to acknowledge John's endorsement of Jesus, thus validating Jesus' authority. If they denied John's divine mandate, they risked incurring the wrath of the crowds who held John as a prophet.

This exchange powerfully illustrates Jesus' divine wisdom and His willingness to expose the spiritual bankruptcy of the religious establishment. It reveals that their authority was worldly and based on human tradition, fear, and power-retention, rather than a genuine seeking of God's will. Their inability to answer Jesus' question demonstrated their lack of integrity and discernment concerning divine matters. Jesus was not refusing to disclose His authority; He was refusing to cast pearls before swine (Matt 7:6), for their hearts were already hardened against the truth.

• Practical application: Just as Jesus strategically answered based on the motives of the questioner, we are called to discern the true intentions behind challenges to faith, responding with wisdom rather than just rote answers. Sometimes the best "answer" is a counter-question that reveals a person's underlying prejudice or ignorance.