[1] And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, [2] And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? [3] And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: [4] The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? [5] And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? [6] But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. [7] And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.[8] And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

The subject of this confrontation between Jesus and the chief priests, scribes and elders was “authority.” By whose authority was the teaching and preaching of Jesus being done. Either the teaching was by God’s authority or it was the teaching of men and their authority. In the confrontation between Jesus and the chief priests, they were obviously implying that Jesus did not have “their authority” to teach and therefore he had no right to teach.
The chief priests and leaders were not teaching the truth from the scriptures but were teaching the “commandments of men” and their traditions. Their “authority” was the teachings of other men, while the teaching of Jesus was the teaching of God and the authority of His Word.
Jesus pointed the leaders to the prophet John the Baptist and asked them if his teaching was from God or from men. They refused to admit that John’s teaching was by the authority of God even though they knew that the people were convinced that his teaching was by the authority of God.
Through this story of Jesus and the chief priests and leaders, the Bible is warning us that we also will have to choose who “our authority” will be. Will it be the authority of God and His Word the Bible, or will it be the authority of church leaders and the words of men.