53 When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, 54 waiting to catch him in something he might say.
Plotting, laying in wait, hunting, hostile press conference, media ‘investigation’ or smear campaign. We so often think that the political rhetoric of the elections in the United States are so much worse than the rhetoric of elections long ago. But the opposite is true. Some of the early elections in our country were downright personal and ugly. Bold-faced lies dominated the rhetorical landscape. Personal verbal attacks were commonplace. Unsubstantiated rumor and fabricated stories became the currency of political dialogue. The religious leaders are threatened by Jesus’ popularity and personal power. As more and more people listen to and follow Jesus, the more their powerbase erodes. Jesus message also speaks directly to their own hypocrisy. Jesus is not just pointing his finger at other people, He is pointing directly at them. And they are getting very uncomfortable on that end of the accusatory finger. They are the ones who are used to pointing fingers in judgment. Now Jesus is pointing the finger of God at them, and they don’t like the attention. So, instead of submitting to the Lord in repentance, they fight back. They know they cannot succeed at attacking His character, so they try to trip Him up in His words. They actively hunt Him using trick questions carefully disguised as genuine inquiries. Jesus of course knows their hearts and their motives and answers the questions in a way that gets to those deeper issues. He doesn’t just give quick answers. He always uses the occasion of a question to dig deeper. They might be plotting and hunting, but Jesus is calling and testing every motive and intent of the heart. When someone comes to you with a question it is probably a good idea to consider their motive in asking you. Are they really wanting an answer to this question or is this a test question to see if they can trust you with a deeper, more personal question?
The Arnold Journey 