It makes complete sense that the chief priests and the elders would come up to Jesus and question his authority. They don’t know him from Adam (there's good theology humor in there) and now this man, who sent them into a frenzy yesterday, is back the very next morning stirring up trouble all over again. To say that this is a tense moment is a drastic understatement.... With all of this tension, there are two things that are preventing Jesus from getting arrested instantly, the crowd that is listening and his first answer to this question: John the Baptist. While the chief priests have never met Jesus before last night, they know of John the Baptist. In Matthew’s Gospel, John is not of traditional significance. Unlike Luke, Matthew does not associate John’s lineage with that of the priestly tribe. He’s kind of a nobody other than his giant following. But, no one could doubt that he was captivating. Even Sadducees and Pharisees came to him to be baptized (3:7). So, these chief priests, who would never have acknowledged John’s authority now have to choose how to respond to Jesus’ reversal question in front of the crowd, “Was John’s baptism from heaven or from human origin?” By appealing to the crowd and answering, “we do not know,” they relinquish their opportunity to claim the ultimate authority in the room and thus give Jesus the floor to hold court.