What happens when Jesus is challenged by temple authorities, law professors, and the cream of the religious crop?
Is This How God Feels?
You know, I think I may have an idea of how we make God feel. Especially when we're stubborn, prideful, and in rebellion.
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It’s A Trap; Learning Under Jesus
Later that day, a group of Pharisee students and Jews that work for King Herod came up to Jesus. "Teacher," they said, "we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?" I looked at the crowd, then at Jesus. It was a trap. Jerusalemites told Pilate that they would rather die than allow the imperial standards bearing Caesar's image into the city. This coin and the attendant tax had incited a revolt a quarter-century earlier.
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Offensive Jesus?
There is an account of Jesus eating with sinners at Matthew's house in Mark 2:13-17. The religious elites weren't invited, and that offended them. Jesus told them it wasn't the healthy that needed a doctor, but the sick. That he came for the sinners, not the righteous. Jesus had just offended the sinners there too. I never thought of that till it was pointed out in a Sunday night Bible study. Think about it. You're a world-famous Christian leader, and Jesus ignores you to eat with homeless drug addicts, LGBTQ+, illegal immigrants, and criminals. How would you feel? Or Jesus does eat with you. He knows all your faults and failings, then calls you sick. He tells you that you need a doctor. We don't like being confronted with our wrong side. How do you feel here?
