What is the meaning of Luke 20:6? but if we say The chief priests, scribes, and elders are privately debating how to answer Jesus’ question about John’s baptism (Luke 20:4–5). They have already rejected John’s call to repentance (Luke 7:30), yet they know the crowd honors him. Their whispered dilemma exposes hearts more concerned with political safety than with truth, just as in John 12:43 they “loved praise from men more than praise from God.” Bullet points: • They recognize Jesus has placed them on the defensive (Matthew 21:25). • Their reasoning is calculated, not contrite (Mark 11:31). ‘from men,’ Admitting John’s ministry was merely human would let them avoid confessing Jesus’ authority, but it would also brand them unbelieving. They are weighing words, not wisdom—choosing expediency over repentance, like Saul in 1 Samuel 15:24. Cross references woven in: • Acts 5:38–39 shows men’s works fail, God’s works endure. • Galatians 1:10 reminds us we cannot serve Christ while courting human approval. all the people will stone us Crowds in Jerusalem could legally stone false teachers (Deuteronomy 13:1–5), and the leaders fear that level of outrage. Luke 20:19 reports they already “feared the people.” Similar tension appears when Stephen is stoned (Acts 7:57–58) and when guards arrest apostles gently “for fear of being stoned by the people” (Acts 5:26). Their dread of violence eclipses any dread of God. for they are convinced The populace is not wavering; they “held that John really was a prophet” (Mark 11:32). Luke 3:15 notes how expectant the nation was, and Luke 7:29 records that even tax collectors justified God by submitting to John’s baptism. The leaders know public conviction runs deep and unified, fulfilling Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of man brings a snare.” that John was a prophet Scripture clearly affirms John’s prophetic office. Jesus calls him “more than a prophet” (Luke 7:26) and the promised forerunner of Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. John heralded the Lamb (John 1:29) and demanded fruit in keeping with repentance (Luke 3:8). Rejecting John therefore equals rejecting God’s word (Luke 7:30), and by extension, rejecting the One whom John proclaimed (John 1:34). summary Luke 20:6 reveals leaders trapped by their own unbelief. Admitting John’s divine commission would compel them to acknowledge Jesus; denying it risks violent backlash from a populace certain of John’s prophetic status. Their calculation highlights a heart problem: fear of people overriding submission to God’s revealed truth. The verse therefore warns us to let conviction, not convenience, govern our response to the word God faithfully delivers through His servants. |
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