Note 1 at Lk. 20:2: Jesus had already made it clear where He got His authority from during a discourse three years earlier in Jerusalem. He said plainly that His Father had given Him authority (Jn. 5:27) and also that the testimony of John the Baptist (Jn. 5:33-35) and the miracles that He did (Jn. 5:36) all verified where His authority came from.

These Jews were not sincerely seeking to know who sent Jesus. They were wanting to discredit Him in front of the multitude and thereby limit His effectiveness. If they would have been sincere, Jesus would, no doubt, have answered their question directly. However, because Jesus knew all men (Jn. 2:24-25), He didn't engage in arguing or debates. His attitude was "he that hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Mt. 11:15).

Jesus was under the authority of His Father; however, these Jews had repeatedly rejected Jesus' claims to being sent by His heavenly Father. They were looking for some man's seal of approval -- not God's (Jn. 5:44). Therefore, it would not have accomplished anything for Jesus to once again enumerate all of the ways His Father had borne witness to Him. Therefore, Jesus wisely avoided answering their question by asking them a question.

If they would tell Him who gave John the Baptist his authority, then He would tell them again, who gave Him His authority. They had rejected John the Baptist too, but all of the people had accepted John as a prophet sent by God. They reasoned that if they spoke against John, they would be totally rejected by the people they were trying to influence. If they approved of John, then they knew Jesus would point to the witness that John had given of Jesus and say, "Why didn't you believe him?"

Therefore, they lied and "played dumb" by saying, "we cannot tell." Jesus knew it wasn't that they could not tell but that they would not tell, so He said, "Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things." They had sought to discredit Him but instead, their hypocrisy was exposed.