In reviewing Luke 20:1-8, Jesus chose not to give the chief priests and scribes an answer, as they really weren’t looking for a true answer. This event is also in Matthew 21 and Mark 11, and in all the accounts he did not tell them from where his authority came.
Through the scriptures, however, we do know from where his authority came – it came from his Heavenly Father as manifested through His Holy Spirit. Isaiah 61:1-3 states, that God, through His Holy Spirit, anoints His Son and those of His children who followed after Jesus, “The spirit of the Lord GOD
Jesus was anointed at Jordan (Matthew 3:16-17), and went out straightway preaching, teaching in the Temple, and offering comfort and healing. He had the authorization from his Father, and often stated that very thing. In John 12:49, he states, “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.” Even the centurion, in Luke 7:1-9, recognized Jesus’ authority, knowing that all he had to do was command that this man’s servant would be healed and it was so. His divine authority was recognized by those whose eyes were not blinded, and whose faith in God was evident. Jesus remarked on this in Luke 7:9, “When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
