V.23 - “And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as
he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?”
This was an attempt by the chief priests to challenge Jesus that he was performing miracles by the power of Satan. At the very least, they would be looking for an opportunity to misinterpret him and make an accusation against him.

V.24 - “And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise
will tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Jesus embodied his own teaching by being “as shrewd as a serpent and harmless as a dove”. Instead of playing their games, he challenged them with a question of his own.

V.25 - “The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves,
saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?”
Jesus brings them back to the last man they rejected before himself, John the Baptist. If they did not believe John’s words, they would never believe the words of Jesus. Even if Jesus had told them he performed miracles by the authority of the one true God, they have rejected it. Clearly the chief priests and elders were not about to publicly answer that John the Baptist was a prophet. This would be affirming the realization of Malachi 4:5, that John was in fact the prophet and forerunner of the Messiah.
Once again, they rejected their prophet and when the false prophet of the Anitchrist comes, many will be deceived. It is also a great example that if someone rejects the Old Testament or other key parts of scripture, they will not be able to accept salvation only through Christ.

V.26 - “But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.”
One of the saddest parts concerning the rejection of Christ, was that the common people of Israel were on the right track. Many of them affirmed John’s position as a prophet. However, the elitists of society refused to submit to any authority higher than their own. They wanted complete control over the people and denied any faults that they may have. Again and again, history has demonstrated that an elite group of people are unable to properly lead and govern society.

V.27 - “And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what
authority I do these things.”
The chief priests could not acknowledge John the Baptist as a prophet because he clearly affirmed that Jesus was the Messiah. They had already made up their mind about John, just as they had already made up their mind about Jesus. Therefore, there was no point in Jesus telling them. It is amazing that most breakthroughs in technology, medicine, and even theology have started with asking the simple question, “Am I wrong?”. Many choose to hang on to their own wisdom, or the ideas they heard from someone else. Instead, it would do them good to go to the source of wisdom, scripture itself.

VV.28-32 - “The Parable of the Two Sons”
The first son represents the repentant Jews. While they may have initially chosen disobedience, they ultimately yielded to God’s commandment. The second son only paid lip service to his father. Likewise, many of the Jews only wanted the blessings from God without actually being obedient to God. As a result, the Jewish leaders would not enter into the kingdom when the Messiah establishes it.
This parable does paint a picture of what has happened within the United States and other countries. The older generation was raised by Christian parents and taught the values of morality and virtue. This generation spoke of the values of serving the Lord and living a virtuous life. However, many of them never actually carried it out. As a result, marriages and families fell apart. Now, the younger generation says that they want nothing to do with God. However, some are realizing that they can’t repeat the mistakes of their prior generation. Therefore, they are looking for truth and turning back to God.

VV.33-46 - “The Parable of the Landowner”
In this parable, the landowner represents God and the husbandmen represent the nation of Israel. God’s will for Israel had always been for them to worship him as the one true God and he would bless them. The “time of the fruit” represents the times when God was calling Israel to be the nation he willed for them. In doing so, he would bless them and establish the kingdom forever. This is referencing events such as 1 Kings 19:9-10, in which Israel rejected their prophets and killed them. The son is clearly representing Christ. Just as the son was betrayed and killed by the husbandmen, Christ was betrayed and killed by the Jewish leaders.
Verse 42 is quoting from Psalm 118:22, this chapter is Messianic and speaks of God’s deliverance of Israel. Head is Hebrew is translated as “roesh” and means chief or top. Some theologians suggest that Jesus is the top cornerstone, possibly painting the picture of a pyramid.
Verse 43 is often misinterpreted and misunderstood. The term nation is the Greek word “ethnos”. This word has both a singular and a plural form. The form used in many other verses is plural. However, in this verse, the word is in its singular form. Unfortunately, most of the popular pastors and preachers ignore this and just say that Jesus is talking about the Body of Christ. Peter references these words of Jesus in 1 Peter 2:6-10. The word generation used by Peter is “genos” in Greek. The suffix ous or os in Greek speaks to a specific quality of something. Both Jesus and Peter are referring to Hosea 1:9-10. When the Jewish leaders rejected Christ, the nation of Israel did not receive the kingdom because they were not the people of God. However, for the remnant who repented, they did become the nation of God. The church is not a single nation or ethnicity. Peter made it clear he was speaking of the Jews in 1 Peter 1:1.