Hedging With The Son Of God

hedge - to mitigate a possible loss by counterbalancing; to avoid commitment by evasive statements (two of many definitions in Webster's College
Dictionary)

"Then they came to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. And they said to Him, 'By what authority are You doing these things (Mark 11:15-17)? And who gave You this authority to do these things?' But Jesus answered and said to them, 'I also will ask you one question; then 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 AMONG THEMSELVES, saying, 'If we say, "From heaven", He will say, Why then did you not believe him? But if we say, "From men" ' --they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. So they answered and said to Jesus, 'WE DO NOT KNOW.' And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.' "(Mark 11:27-33)

There could have been a much better result to come from their confrontation. Jesus, by the Spirit of Christ, knew their hearts--that they had not been willing to receive the baptism of John: the baptism of repentance toward God, making themselves ready to receive Israel's Messiah. Reasoning amongst themselves and fearing the people resulted in less, rather than more, of Him. Jesus goes on to explain, by the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers (Mark 12:1-11) what judgement they were approaching. These men were making friends for themselves, by unrighteousness, with those whose eternal home is not heaven, nor can ever be.