The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?”
Parallel translations
- WEB the baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men?”
- KJV The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?
- BSB John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or from men?”
- NASB Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”
- NLT “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus asks whether John's baptism was from heaven or from men. He ties the question of his own authority to their response to John.
Overview
John the Baptist had pointed to Jesus, so to judge John rightly is to judge Jesus rightly. The question forces the leaders to confront the divine origin of John's ministry, and by implication Jesus's. Their answer would reveal whether they were willing to submit to God's appointed messengers.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Luke 15:18I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.
- Matt 11:7–19As these went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
- Luke 7:28–35“For I tell you, among those who are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptizer, yet he who is least in God’s Kingdom is greater than he.”
- Matt 21:25–32The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?” They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
- Matt 17:11–12Jesus answered them, “Elijah indeed comes first, and will restore all things,
- Dan 4:25–26that you shall be driven from men, and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field, and you shall be made to eat grass as oxen, and shall be wet with the dew of the sky, and seven times shall pass over you; until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he will.
- John 1:19–28This is John’s testimony, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
- John 1:6There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John.
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 20:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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