Charles Ellicott Commentary Mark 11:27-33

"And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders; and they said unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? or who gave thee this authority to do these things? And Jesus said unto them, I will ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or from men? answer me. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; He will say, Why then did ye not believe him? But should we say, From men--they feared the people: for all verily held John to be a prophet. And they answered Jesus and say, We know not. And Jesus saith unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things." — Mark 11:27-33 (ASV)

And they come again to Jerusalem.—See Notes on Matthew 21:23-27. Peculiar to St. Mark is the fact that our Lord was “walking” as well as teaching in the Temple.

That he was a prophet indeed.—The intensifying adverb is one of St. Mark’s graphic touches of emphasis.

We cannot tell.—Better, as also in Matthew 21:27, We do not know. The repetition of the verb “tell” in the English gives an unreal emphasis which is not in the Greek. The real stress lies on the pronoun “I.”