Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 11:33
And they answered and said unto Jesus. We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
33. Neither do I tell you ] The counter-question of Jesus was the consequence of the question of these men. “Him that inquires,” saith one of old, “we are bound to instruct; but him that tempts, we may defeat with a stroke of reasoning.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 33. See Clarke on Mr 11:27.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And they answered and said unto Jesus,…. Being reduced by this dilemma to the greatest streight and difficulty;
we cannot tell: they could, if they would, but they did not care to tell; they knew if they did, they should expose themselves one way or other:
and Jesus answering, saith unto them, neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things; [See comments on Mt 21:27].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
We know not ( ). It was for the purpose of getting out of the trap into which they had fallen by challenging the authority of Jesus. Their self-imposed ignorance, refusal to take a stand about the Baptist who was the Forerunner of Christ, absolved Jesus from a categorical reply. But he has no notion of letting them off at this point.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And they answered and said unto Jesus,” (kai apo krithentes to lesou legousin) “And replying to Jesus they said,” when they had arrived at a committee conclusion as scribes, priests, and elders of Israel, Mar 11:27-28; Luk 20:7, gave their joint conclusion.
2) “We cannot tell.” (ouk oidamen) “We do not perceive,” or really we do not know. They could not tell the truth, without indicting themselves as criminals or lawbreakers of the very religious law they were employed to administer, See? Mat 21:27.
3) “And Jesus answering saith unto them,” (kai ho lesous legei autois) “And Jesus responded to them all,” in answering their iniquity of Him, Mar 11:23.
4) “Neither do I tell you,” (oude ego lego humin) “Neither at all do I tell you all,” Luk 10:21-22, because if you would not receive the testimony of John, or my former testimony, you wouldn’t believe what I said anyway, Joh 8:24.
5) “By what authority I do these things.” (en poia eksousia tauta poio) “By or in what administrative authority I do these things that I do,” Mat 21:17; Luk 20:8.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(33) We cannot tell.Better, as also in Mat. 21:27, We do not know. The repetition of the verb tell in the English, gives an unreal emphasis which is not in the Greek. The real stress lies on the pronoun I.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”
It was they who had been caught on the hop, and their reply demonstrated that they were admitting that they did not feel able to make a spiritual judgment in such matters. Of what use for Jesus to answer their question, then, if they were unable to make a judgment about the matter of authority? How angry they must have been. They had been made to look utterly foolish. They had come with a great show of authority in front of the crowd, who had always looked to them for religious guidance in the past, and now had had to admit that they could not tell whether someone was from God, even when it was such an obvious case to the crowd as John the Baptiser. And they knew that by implication Jesus’ authority had been vindicated in front of the crowd. All knew that He and John had ministered alongside each other.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘And Jesus says to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.” ’
Jesus’ final refusal to answer because of their failure would win the crowd over to His side even more, for they were disillusioned with the answer they had heard. And His reply held within it a certain level of contempt. These ‘authorities’ had shown themselves not worthy to be given an answer on such matters, for they were not willing to face up to what all knew to be true. By His reply Jesus was setting Himself up as a higher authority, answerable only to God, because they had demonstrated that they were incapable of judging. The whole incident was reminding the people of what John had said about Him. It was a veiled reminder that He was the Coming One, a reminder that He then goes on to amplify in the parable of the wicked tenants and vinedressers.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
REFLECTIONS.
READER! I would call upon you, as I would call upon myself; and may GOD the HOLY GHOST mercifully call upon both, to behold the LORD JESUS, in the opening of this chapter, as manifesting his double nature in his one glorious person, the GOD-Man Mediator; both in his unequalled humility when entering Jerusalem, in having salvation, and yet lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. And who less than GOD, could have exercised the knowledge of Omniscience so as to direct his disciples where to find the colt; and the power of inclining the minds of those the disciples were to meet, to fulfil CHRIST’s wishes in the loan of the colt? Who less than GOD could have taught the children in the temple of CHRIST’s person and character? And what power less than divine, could have constrained those babes to shout Hosannah to the glory of JESUS; when the elders, and many of them very probably the parents of those little ones, were doing all their malice could contrive, to stop their hymns of praise?
Reader! behold the barren fig tree! Observe its fruitless verdure! Figure to yourself the state of a church, a people, a family; yea, an individual, thus! And calculate if you can the awful state of appearing flourishing to the eye of man, while under the blighting curse of GOD. Oh! the tremendous sentence, could it be heard, concerning the unauthorized, uncalled, unsent minister, or graceless people No man eat fruit of thee for ever
LORD JESUS! increase our faith! let mountains of sin and unbelief be removed through faith in thy person, blood, and righteousness! And oh! let the malice of thy foes, and the opposition made by men to thee and thy Gospel, endear both to our heart. And grant such rich supplies of grace in the knowledge of thy person and work, that our faith may never be founded in the wisdom of man, but in the power of GOD.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Ver. 33. See Trapp on “ Mat 21:27 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
We cannot tell = We do not (Greek. ou. App-105.) know (Greek. oida. App-132.)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
We: Isa 1:3, Isa 6:9, Isa 6:10, Isa 29:9-14, Isa 42:19, Isa 42:20, Isa 56:10, Jer 8:7-9, Hos 4:6, Mal 2:7, Mal 2:8, Mat 15:14, Mat 23:16-26, Joh 3:10, Rom 1:18-22, Rom 1:28, 2Co 3:15, 2Co 4:3, 2Co 4:4, 2Th 2:10-12
Neither: Job 5:13, Pro 26:4, Pro 26:5, Mat 16:4, Mat 21:27, Luk 10:21, Luk 10:22, Luk 20:7, Luk 20:8, Luk 22:66-69, Joh 9:27
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
IN THE DARK AT NOONTIDE
And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Mar 11:33
Oh, terrible voice of most just judgment! You have shut your eyes, I cannot show you My glory. You have stopped your ears, I cannot tell you of My grace. You have hardened your heart, I cannot make you feel My love.
Let us not hastily pass by these terrible, these awful words.
I. Why they could not tell.They could not believe. It was noon, and yet they were in the dark. Why? It may be matter of life and death to ourselves to understand the reason why. It was not that these men had hardened their hearts by a long course of what men commonly call sin. Butlet us tremble as we think of itit was simply this: that they had been hearing holy words all their lives, and had not cared to consider what they meant; they had been saying prayers, and had not tried to pray; they had been speaking of God, and they had not spoken to Him, they had not looked Him in the face and lived; they had held true opinions about God, and they had not feared the Lord and trembled at His Name; they had heard the call to Repent, and they had heard it so often that they forgot to listen. And, therefore, the commandment which was ordained to life they found to be unto death.
II. They might have been the first to bow down before the King of kings; they might have become the earliest messengers of His glory and heralds of His grace; but their great opportunity served only to make them more conspicuous in their misery; for wheresoever this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached throughout the whole world, there must also this miserable tale be told, that men may learn by their example to take heed how they hear, that the things which should have been for their life may not be to them an occasion of falling. If the Gospel of Christ is not a lantern unto your feet and a light unto your path, if it is not the guide of your life and the source of all your joy, it is blinding your eyes and hardening your heart.