27 And they come again to Jerusa- lem : and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the Chief Priests, and the Scribes, and the eld- ers,
28 And say unto him, By what au- thority doest thou these things ? and who gave thee this authority to do these things ?
29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things ?
30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men ? answer me.
31 And they reasoned with them- selves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven ; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him ?
32 But if we shall say of men ; they feared the people : for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.
33 And they answered and said un- to Jesus, "We'cannot tell. And Jesus answering, saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Let us observe in these verses how much spiritual blind- ness may be in the hearts of those who hold high ecclesiastical office. We see " the chief priests and scribes and elders" coming to our Lord Jesus, and raising difficulties and objections in the way of His work.
These men, we know, were the accredited teachers and
* The expression "when ye stand praying," in this passage, ought not to be overlooked. It is one of those forms of speech in the Bible, which ought to teach all Christians not to be dogmatical in laying down minute rules about the externals of religion, and especially about the precise manner, gesture, or posture in which a believer ought to pray. If a man is fully persuaded that he can hold closer communion with God, and pour out his heart more freely and with- out distraction, in the attitude of standing than in that of kneeling, I dare not tell him that he is wrong. The great point to insist on us is the absolute necessity of praying with the heart. The last words of Sir Walter Raleigh to his executioner on the scaffold are a beautiful illustration of the right view of the question : " Friend, it matters lit- tle how a man's head lies, if his heart be right in the sight of God."