No 5

(His Answers)

When Jesus was on the earth, the governing religious community – the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Scribes, rejected His teachings. There were several times when they tried to place Jesus in situations where, they thought, they could catch Him by answering difficult questions. But, each time, Jesus answered so wisely and indisputably that they either turned on their heals and left or they stood there with their mouths open, marvelling at Jesus’ answers. Here are some of those occasions: 1) A man sick of the palsy: In Matthew 9:1-8, there is a story about a man who Jesus healed of an illness. Jesus began by saying “Be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee” and then He realized that certain scribes considered this blasphemous. So, He proceeded to say, “But that you may know that the Son of Man hath power to forgive sins, arise and take up thy bed”. They marvelled and glorified God. Not all these stories have such a good ending. 2) What defiles a man: In Matthew 15: 1-20, some Pharisees complained to Jesus that His disciples did not observe the Jewish traditions of washing their hands before eating. Another startling answer came from Jesus when He told them “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man but that which cometh out…for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, false witnesses…these are the things which difileth a man”. 3) The baptism of John: In Matthew 21:23-27, the elders questioned Jesus on what authority He taught in the temple. Jesus proceeded to ask them a question about the baptism of John. Jesus knew their heart and wanted them to realize their sinful condition when He asked, “The baptism of John, whence was it, from heaven or of men?”. 4) The last one we will look at is a classic – tribute to Caesar: In Matthew 22, the Pharisees wanted to trap Jesus by asking “Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not?” and to which Jesus answered “Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s”. What an amazing answer!! The Pharisees were no match for the Son of God when it came to wisdom.