Monday, 12th December 2022 — Third Week of Advent — Show us, Lord, your love, and grant us your salvation — Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 21: 23-27

When Jesus had come into the temple area,
the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him
as he was teaching and said,

“By what authority are you doing these things?
And who gave you this authority?”

Jesus said to them in reply,

“I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me,
then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things.
Where was John's baptism from?
Was it of heavenly or of human origin?”

They discussed this among themselves and said,

“If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us,
‘Then why did you not believe him?’
But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd,
for they all regard John as a prophet.”

So they said to Jesus in reply,

“We do not know.”

He himself said to them,

“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”