Conversation designed to trap
The temple lawyers considered it of supreme importance to stop Jesus preaching. He said things they didn’t agree with and threatened to change the established order. So they designed a question to trap him. Their nation was occupied by the Romans and they were compelled to pay taxes to Caesar, they hated that.
They planned to ask Jesus if citizens of a non-Roman country should pay taxes to a Roman ruler.
If Jesus said, “No” he would be reported to the Roman authorities and be tried for sedition. If Jesus said, “Yes” he would immediately become very unpopular with the people he was preaching to, because they thought he was going to lead them in a revolt against Rome and restore them to the status of a free and independent nation.
Jesus recognized that the lawyers had not come seeking wisdom and knowledge but had come to trap him. He asked that someone hand him a coin of the common currency they all used. When he received it he held it up and asked whose head was engraved on the coin. The reply was, ‘Caesars’. “Then give to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is God’s.” was the reply, the lawyers were disappointed but impressed. (To read the record go to Matthew 22 verses 15 to 22)
Let’s change the topic from conversations designed to entrap to conversations designed to be honest enquiries, about the existence or relevance of God. Will that sort of conversation with God always get an answer? Well the truth is the answer has been written. The Holy Scriptures (the Bible) contain many answers to that kind of question and it is never promised that the individual who calls out, ‘God, prove your existence to me’ will get an answer. This calling out is a kind of insult to God who has acted and caused a record of those actions to be written, and sent his son to speak actual words.
What happens to the individual who doesn’t have any faith at all? To this individual any attempt to talk to God is just too big a challenge to his reason and sensibility. I would answer that surely it is possible begin to speak into the void and ask to be given some spiritual understanding. To call out ‘Help me.’ But of course for many people this is impossible because it threatens their self-sufficiency.
The 12 close friends of Jesus made this request, “Lord, increase our faith.” And got a surprising response, Jesus said something along the line of, even the least little bit of faith can change the world. (Luke 17.6) Sometimes the urgent question is not so much about how much faith you are willing to attempt to but whether you would like to change your world.
They planned to ask Jesus if citizens of a non-Roman country should pay taxes to a Roman ruler.
If Jesus said, “No” he would be reported to the Roman authorities and be tried for sedition. If Jesus said, “Yes” he would immediately become very unpopular with the people he was preaching to, because they thought he was going to lead them in a revolt against Rome and restore them to the status of a free and independent nation.
Jesus recognized that the lawyers had not come seeking wisdom and knowledge but had come to trap him. He asked that someone hand him a coin of the common currency they all used. When he received it he held it up and asked whose head was engraved on the coin. The reply was, ‘Caesars’. “Then give to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is God’s.” was the reply, the lawyers were disappointed but impressed. (To read the record go to Matthew 22 verses 15 to 22)
Let’s change the topic from conversations designed to entrap to conversations designed to be honest enquiries, about the existence or relevance of God. Will that sort of conversation with God always get an answer? Well the truth is the answer has been written. The Holy Scriptures (the Bible) contain many answers to that kind of question and it is never promised that the individual who calls out, ‘God, prove your existence to me’ will get an answer. This calling out is a kind of insult to God who has acted and caused a record of those actions to be written, and sent his son to speak actual words.
What happens to the individual who doesn’t have any faith at all? To this individual any attempt to talk to God is just too big a challenge to his reason and sensibility. I would answer that surely it is possible begin to speak into the void and ask to be given some spiritual understanding. To call out ‘Help me.’ But of course for many people this is impossible because it threatens their self-sufficiency.
The 12 close friends of Jesus made this request, “Lord, increase our faith.” And got a surprising response, Jesus said something along the line of, even the least little bit of faith can change the world. (Luke 17.6) Sometimes the urgent question is not so much about how much faith you are willing to attempt to but whether you would like to change your world.
posted by Jessie Coates at 1:48 PM
1 Comments:
Interesting website with a lot of resources and detailed explanations.
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