Entrapment Attempts (Matthew 22:15-46)
The confrontation between the King and the powers-that-be continues, as the religious leaders of the day try to entrap Jesus with various questions. It is key to understand here, that they are not interested in learning or arriving at any sort of truth in their questioning of Jesus. Every question is a trap designed to trick Jesus into losing a portion of His followers, His power.
First, the disciples of the Pharisees and some Herodians (people seeking to strengthen Jewish rule) approach Jesus with a political quandary. Should the people of God pay taxes to secular or hostile governments? The trap is this: If Jesus supports taxation, He alienates His followers who are against Rome, and want a Messiah who will free them of this oppression. If, on the other hand, He speaks out against taxes, they can use that against Him allying with Roman authorities.
Jesus does not fall for the trap. His Kingdom is not of this world. Governments and the Kingdom of Heaven are separate. Reading into this answer is where we see the practical principle of maintaining that separation. Governments that try to impose faith of any sort on their population have proven throughout history to be terrible. Likewise, churches or faiths that seek to use the government or political tools to impose their faith or ethics on people end up in fatal compromises.
Next, the Sadducees try to trap Jesus in a theological dilemma. They pull the tired old argument of exposing contradictions in Scripture. Jesus instead exposes the flaws of their interpretation. They denied the resurrection. This denial was already problematic, as it overlooked clear scriptural teaching. But, when supposing a resurrection, they made the further mistake of assuming the afterlife would be the same as this one. They failed to understand that life in the resurrection would be different. Their assumed absurdity was based on multiple shortcomings of understanding.
These sorts of interpretation flaws are the real source of most supposed contradictions in Scripture. It is not the Word that is inconsistent, but our interpretations and impositions. The key to sound theology is the humility to grasp that we can’t understand everything, and that our presuppositions can hinder the parts of Scripture that we think we understand.
Finally, a lawyer resorts to simply trying to stump Jesus. An endlessly debated question among the religious leaders was which law or laws held precedence over all others. Their legalistic minds ever sought after a simplification of the system. Jesus response was brilliant synthesis of the entire legal code. Two laws sum up the whole purpose of the system. The law sought to show us how to relate to our Creator and Lord, and how to live with each other in a way that pleases Him. In the end it isn’t a list of rules, but a description of life. After Jesus, we no longer look to a code of rules, but instead lead a life of love with His help and power.
Jesus ends the entrapment with a question of His own. Using a widely accepted and unambiguous passage from the Psalms, He questions them directly about their view of the Messiah, the Son of David. Jesus has already publicly embraced the title, so He is knowingly confronting their attempts to delegitimize Him. It is an entrapment as well. There is no way for the religious leaders to answer without either acknowledging Jesus’ claims, or coming across as scripturally illiterate. Unlike Jesus, they see the trap but can’t navigate it.
First, the disciples of the Pharisees and some Herodians (people seeking to strengthen Jewish rule) approach Jesus with a political quandary. Should the people of God pay taxes to secular or hostile governments? The trap is this: If Jesus supports taxation, He alienates His followers who are against Rome, and want a Messiah who will free them of this oppression. If, on the other hand, He speaks out against taxes, they can use that against Him allying with Roman authorities.
Jesus does not fall for the trap. His Kingdom is not of this world. Governments and the Kingdom of Heaven are separate. Reading into this answer is where we see the practical principle of maintaining that separation. Governments that try to impose faith of any sort on their population have proven throughout history to be terrible. Likewise, churches or faiths that seek to use the government or political tools to impose their faith or ethics on people end up in fatal compromises.
Next, the Sadducees try to trap Jesus in a theological dilemma. They pull the tired old argument of exposing contradictions in Scripture. Jesus instead exposes the flaws of their interpretation. They denied the resurrection. This denial was already problematic, as it overlooked clear scriptural teaching. But, when supposing a resurrection, they made the further mistake of assuming the afterlife would be the same as this one. They failed to understand that life in the resurrection would be different. Their assumed absurdity was based on multiple shortcomings of understanding.
These sorts of interpretation flaws are the real source of most supposed contradictions in Scripture. It is not the Word that is inconsistent, but our interpretations and impositions. The key to sound theology is the humility to grasp that we can’t understand everything, and that our presuppositions can hinder the parts of Scripture that we think we understand.
Finally, a lawyer resorts to simply trying to stump Jesus. An endlessly debated question among the religious leaders was which law or laws held precedence over all others. Their legalistic minds ever sought after a simplification of the system. Jesus response was brilliant synthesis of the entire legal code. Two laws sum up the whole purpose of the system. The law sought to show us how to relate to our Creator and Lord, and how to live with each other in a way that pleases Him. In the end it isn’t a list of rules, but a description of life. After Jesus, we no longer look to a code of rules, but instead lead a life of love with His help and power.
Jesus ends the entrapment with a question of His own. Using a widely accepted and unambiguous passage from the Psalms, He questions them directly about their view of the Messiah, the Son of David. Jesus has already publicly embraced the title, so He is knowingly confronting their attempts to delegitimize Him. It is an entrapment as well. There is no way for the religious leaders to answer without either acknowledging Jesus’ claims, or coming across as scripturally illiterate. Unlike Jesus, they see the trap but can’t navigate it.
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