verbal traps

 Today I read an amusing multi-part story about Jesus and the religious leaders of his day. The core of the story is found in a few brief phrases from Matthew 22:15 and 46: “Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. . . . No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.”

In the 31 verses in between the Pharisees and Saducees did their best to trip Jesus up. They tried words and logic, false and true, all intended as snares, and Jesus turned every one against them.

I’m sure there are some deep theological lessons embedded in Matthew 22, but what I saw this morning were a few human truths. First, Jesus didn’t react like we might want him to. He, to use a hackneyed phrase, met the religious leaders where they were. He debated them calmly and level headedly. Unlike our social media heroes and favorite media talking heads, he didn’t “destroy” anyone, or “shut them down.” He didn’t say, “Boom!” or pantomime a mic drop. He didn’t humiliate or degrade. And there’s no record that he looked around to enjoy the snickers and affirming grins of his tribe. He simply took on their questions and arguments and countered them with truth, and left it at that.

Even so, they feared him. That can only be, I think, because they couldn’t see him as anything but an adversary. How sad! Instead of being won by the truth, instead of being attracted to the truth-teller, they came to see both as threatening.

There seem to me to be some key points here relating to my own relationship with the truth. It’s certainly worth taking more time to think about.