“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

“Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Then he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

Now after Jesus entered the temple courts, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.

But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into.