Mark 11:21-33

Peter remembered the tree and said to Jesus, “Teacher, look! The fig tree you cursed is dry and dead!” Jesus answered, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, fall into the sea.’ And if you have no doubts in your mind and believe that what you say will happen, God will do it for you. So I tell you to believe that you have received the things you ask for in prayer, and God will give them to you. When you are praying, if you are angry with someone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven will also forgive your sins. [But if you don’t forgive other people, then your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.]” Jesus and his followers went again to Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came to him. They said to him, “What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered, “I will ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. Tell me: When John baptized people, was that authority from God or just from other people?” They argued about Jesus’ question, saying, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘It was from other people,’ the crowd will be against us.” (These leaders were afraid of the people, because all the people believed that John was a prophet.) So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things.”