(This lengthy message is split into several sections. Each section was read by a different person.)
If Jesus were here today what would he say about the news that the Supreme Court intends to overturn the Roe vs. Wade case? Many “conservative” Christians would say he would be on their side. They could site numerous scriptural passages to back their case. Similarly, many “liberal” Christians would say he would be on their side. They too could site numerous scriptural passages to back their case. Which side would he be on? Who’s right and who’s wrong about him?
Our political landscape in America today is divided into the Republican and the Democratic parties. While you cannot make a direct comparison, Judaism of Jesus’ day was also broken into several parties. They seldom got along. Which one did Jesus align with? How did Jesus handle those he disagreed with?
Those are entrapping questions. The truth is that Jesus aligned with none of them. He took issue with them all. In our reading from Luke we encounter a few of those parties. It turns out that despite their differences they did have one thing in common. They all want to get rid of Jesus! Each attempted to trap Jesus with their own agenda and beliefs.
We’ll look at them in a moment, but first remember that all of the events of our gospel reading took place within the temple complex in Jerusalem just a few days before the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus.
The first group we meet in our gospel reading is the chief priests - and their scribes. These were the highest officials in Judaism. Their role was to ensure that the temple operated properly. During the Passover holiday thousands of Jewish pilgrims from throughout the region would descend upon Jerusalem to offer the required sacrifices. This task was complicated because it wasn’t practical to travel with an animal for sacrifice. A suitable animal would be bought once reaching Jerusalem. Similarly, Roman money had graven images of foreign gods. It was not suitable for paying the temple tax. So a large network of money changers and merchants were needed to facilitate a major holiday season.
Ancient cities were also very cramped. Where could all these exchanges take place and thousands of animals housed?
In ancient Jerusalem nearly a quarter of the city was given over to the temple complex. The vast courtyards around the temple building gave space for merchants and money changers.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem that Passover season one of the first things he did was to upend the tables of the money changers and drive out the merchants from these courtyards. This was perceived by the leaders as an irreligious outrage. It also threatened the peace in a city already strained to its limits with travelers. In the first verses of our gospel reading they ask of him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?”
Jesus knew the kind of authority they would respect. It was human authority. He would have had to have been from a prominent family, or have high educational credentials, or have wealth and political power. Only these things carried weight in their eyes. Jesus had none of them.
Jesus answers their question with a question of his own, “Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” John the Baptist was also a man without proper family or credentials, yet he was highly regarded by the crowds. The leaders realized they had no appropriate response.
Luke tells us that the chief priests watched Jesus and sent spies in an attempt to trap Jesus in a different way. Luke does not tell us who these spies are, but Mark’s gospel tells us they were Pharisees and Herodians.
The Pharisees were perhaps the largest of the Jewish sects. Jesus himself was probably considered to be one of them. Pharisees were the only group within ancient Judaism to have synagogues. These places of worship and teaching were scattered throughout the land with many communities having one. The Pharisees believed that close observance of the religious law was necessary to be in right relationship with God. As we have seen in the earlier chapters of Luke, Jesus conflicted with them often. Too often they let the letter of the law override the spirit of the law.
The Herodians were another Jewish sect. As their name suggests, these Jews backed the leadership of the Herod family. The Herods were by no means legitimate leaders. But by carefully leveraging their influence in the region the Romans decided to install them as puppet kings. The Herod family and their supporters knew how to leverage political and economic power; much the way our political leaders do today.
Pharisees and Herodians together make strange bedfellows, but they join forces to set a trap for Jesus. They ask an entrapping question in a flattering form, “Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and you show deference to no one, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”
There is no good answer to this. If Jesus says that Jews should pay their taxes he will cause great anger. The Jews resented their Roman overlords and resented paying the taxes which funded the very armies which kept them oppressed.
If Jesus says ‘yes’ the word would be spread that he is a sell out to the Romans. Yet if Jesus says ‘no’ the word would be spread that Jesus is an insurrectionist and seeking to start a rebellion.
Jesus creates an embarrassing trap in return, “Show me a denarius. Whose head and whose title does it bear?” he says. Keep in mind that the scene takes place in the holiest place in Judaism. Of all places the temple was a place for purity. No graven images should be present under any circumstances. The money changers existed for the very purpose of keeping idolatrous Roman coins out of the holy place! Yet someone among the Pharisees and Herodians did have a Roman coin on them. They provide Jesus with the denarius he asked for. This alone undermines the case they were trying to make. Jesus finishes off his escape from their trap by saying, “…give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Next up is the Sadducees. This obscure group of Jews appears to have been highly conservative. They saw only the Torah, the books from Moses, as authoritative scripture. As Luke reminds us, they rejected the idea of the resurrection and any idea of existence beyond a human lifespan. Sadducees also rejected the Pharisees innovation of the synagogues. They believed the only place for worship was the temple. There were probably few Sadducees. Perhaps they numbered less than a thousand. Nevertheless they were probably people of high social rank and great financial means.
They create a trap of their own for Jesus. They invent the ridiculous scenario of a woman who had seven husbands. It is based on the words of Deuteronomy 25 where if a man dies childless his wife is required to marry his next younger brother. This was so that his lineage would continue on. The question is, in the resurrection whose wife would she be?
Jesus’ response shows the limitations of their thinking, for in the resurrected life there is no need for procreation. Using only the writings the Sadducees considered to be scripture, Jesus finds an implicit reference to eternal life in Exodus 3:6. He says, “Moses himself shows, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.”
That argument would not hold weight in a modern court of law, but it does the trick nonetheless.
Jesus continues on with his own question, “How can they say that the Messiah is David’s Son? For David himself says in the book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ David thus calls hum Lord; so how can he be his son?”
While Jesus’ chain of logic may be difficult to follow, we get the gist. Imposing human logic upon the ways of God simply does not work.
Perhaps we feel Jesus should be kinder to all his opponents. Should he not speak more gently to them? Should he not be more understanding of their ignorance of his intentions?
No.
Jesus is bringing into existence the Kingdom of God. God’s kingdom threatens all the status and power systems that were the lifeblood of all of his opponents.
He points this out when he says, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplace… They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearances say long prayers.”
The ways of life of the high priests, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians all relied on strategies of power. Jesus would have none of that. The gospel reading ends with the scene of the widow’s offering in the temple. All of the dynamics of religion had reduced her to poverty and kept her there. Yet her devotion to what that power systems told her was right compelled her to give her last coins.
Jesus is Lord. As such he will not allow himself to be conformed to the designs and plans of others. In our world divided into Republicans & Democrats, Pro-life & Pro-choice, Jesus would refuse to engage in the categories. Simply put, Jesus would not allow God’s kingdom to be conformed to the designs of any human group or party. Jesus will define himself and his followers according to God’s terms and God’s alone.
In today’s world many groups grasp religious teachings to bolster their own preconceived notions of what is right or wrong. That is a fundamentally flawed first step. Everything goes wrong from there. Jesus did not take sides, other than to side against any and every religious or political group who sought their own ends.
What Jesus did teach was for each person to see the life and value of the other – regardless of their beliefs or backgrounds. Remember, Jesus’ disciples were a mixed bunch too. Most were probably Pharisees. But Simon the Zealot was obviously a Zealot. The Zealots were militant group seeking to violently overthrow the Romans. Yet another disciples, Matthew, was a tax collector. Matthew had sold out his integrity to the Romans. Surely Matthew and Simon did not get along! Yet Jesus chose both and put them in his inner circle of followers.
Jesus wanted each person to see the full value and humanity of the other person – whether they be friend or foe. And whether they be worthy of love or not, Jesus taught to be a loving servant to them. A loving servant may use kindness. Or a loving servant may use tough love. But regardless, it is a way of embracing the value of the other.
Consider this final piece. At the Last Supper all twelve disciples received the bread and wine. And Jesus stooped down and washed the feet of all twelve. Jesus did this in full knowledge that they would all flee from him. Peter would deny him. And Judas would betray him!
Before you cast a stone at someone who’s political ideas do not match your own, you’d better be ready to take a bowl of water, kneel at the feet of your opponent, and wash them. Then and only then will you be of a political ideology Jesus would approve of. That is what he expects of his followers.
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