Repairing to the temple where He was teaching, they proceeded to question Him: "By what authority doest Thou these things? and who gave Thee this authority?" They expected Him to claim that His authority was from God. Such an assertion they intended to deny. But Jesus met them with a question apparently pertaining to another subject, and He made His reply to them conditional on their answering this question. "The baptism of John," He said, "whence was it? from heaven, or of men?"

De vendte tilbage til templet, hvor han lærte, og spurgte ham: "Med hvad ret gør du dette, og hvem har givet dig denne ret?" De ventede, at han skulle hævde, at han havde myndigheden fra Gud. Noget sådant havde de i sinde at benægte. Men Jesus imødegik dem med et spørgsmål, der tilsyneladende havde med en anden sag at gøre, og han gjorde sit svar på deres spørgsmål afhængigt af deres besvarelse af hans. Han sagde: "Johannes dåb, hvor stammede den fra? Fra Himmelen eller fra mennesker?"