Do you like trick questions? Riddles like these are fun to think about and figure out:
- What goes up but never comes down?
- How can someone go twenty-five does without sleep?
- What has a head and a tail, but no body?
(See the end of this post for answers.)
On Tuesday of Holy Week, Pharisees, Sadducees, and a lawyer have trick questions for Jesus. Their questions are fashioned to embarrass Jesus, to cut into his popularity by getting him to say something they can use against him.
- Should we pay taxes to Caesar?
- Who are you married to in heaven if you’ve had more than one marriage in this life?
- What is the most important commandment in God’s law?
Jesus is good at this game. He should be. He wrote the rules. His listeners were impressed. Jesus knows what he’s talking about.
- Pay your taxes and give to God, too.
- Don’t worry about it. Marriage is for this life, not the next.
- Here is a short list of commandments to worry about: Love God and love people.
Lots of people have told me they are looking forward to that day when they get to ask Jesus some questions. Questions like
- Why didn’t you prevent bad things from happening?
- Why didn’t you answer my prayer?
- Why did you create insects I don’t want in my house?
From what we know about Jesus, he’ll probably answer your question with a question like:
- “What did I tell you?” (That is, “What’s in the bible?”)
- “Don’t you trust me?”
- “Who do you think I am?”
Those are not trick questions. And I’ll bet you already know the answers.
Answers: Your age; people sleep at night; a coin.
Waite for it... 