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Refreshment in Refuge

    by Gina Burgess

How to pulverize stumbling stones
Date Posted: September 27, 2015

How often have you faced some wicked trap from a fellow worker or sly person seeking to ensnare you in your own words? I imagine it didn’t take but a few seconds for you to think of a time when that happened.

Years ago, I faced a horrid time when one person hated everything I was doing to bring economic growth to a poverty stricken area. She contrived some allegations against me manufacturing evidence that caused my bosses to call a meeting to consider my termination. I objected that I had no clue as to what these “problems” were and that every accused person had the opportunity to hear and refute any evidence against him or her before condemnation. My bosses agreed and had this woman type up her list of grievances. I received a whopping two-page list of 38 grievances. Every single one was twisted, slanted, or fabricated. I had proof to refute each one. But at the meeting, my bosses already had their minds made up, and I was terminated. I could tell several of them (there were seven in all) didn’t agree with the decision, but some give/take had gone on in the back room, and it was a unanimous vote against me.

As it turned out, my termination was the best thing that happened for me because the entire office was audited by the state auditor for misappropriation of grant funds. My accuser lost her job, and several of my bosses were replaced in the next election. But my good name was preserved by God Almighty from any public or private accusations of wrong doing.

How often have you faced similar situations? We can get plenty of examples from current events by analyzing the political arena. Not one political candidate has skated clear of some kind of tricky question tossed out by a reporter or fellow candidate.

You have to admire the Pharisees for one particular thing. They were definitely like bulldogs with a bone. They were constantly seeking to lay deadly snares to trap Jesus, to discredit Him, and as recorded here by Matthew, to entangle Him in His talk. They never gave up on this quest.

The Pharisees first sent wolves in sheep’s clothing by sending to Jesus their disciples and the Herodians (a group of Jews who advocated smiling submission to Roman rule and the appointed king, Herod). They made it look like this was an innocent plea to settle the argument between the Pharisees and the Herodians about submitting to the taxes imposed by the Romans. The question was phrased as a learning thing rather than a trap. Of course Jesus saw right through it.

Their preface was absolutely true.

Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.

The fact is, truth is truth no matter if the person uttering it believes it or not, which is very similar to that young girl who followed Paul around crying out, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation,” (Acts 16:17-19). What she said was absolutely true. We don’t know if she believed its truth or not, but she was definitely demonically possessed. This was one of Satan’s tactics, which greatly annoyed Paul, so he commanded the demon to leave her. The truth was spoken but in such a way that detracted from what Paul was doing. These kinds of snares that twist truth can trip up believers, which is why we must stay close to God for protection and guidance.

These men only pretended respect for Jesus, but their intention was trickery.

This was a huge theological question because the Hebrews had long had the idea that Abraham’s seed were to be subject to no man. God had given them a law to never set a foreigner over Israel. They got the idea that they should submit to no king or nation. Case in point is when Jeremiah kept trying to get them to submit to Babylon. He kept saying, “Submit and live!” (Jeremiah 27:12-13) Their pride and haughtiness kept their necks stiff against Babylon, and that led to their exile. Look at John 8:33

We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been in bondage to anyone…

Why were they dragged from Judah to Babylon? Alas, they were quite blind. This was the very same stumbling block. Only this time it was the Roman Empire that was God’s disciplining rod.

Jesus called them hypocrites. No matter what kind of mask or costume the hypocrite dons, no matter how his words are couched, Jesus sees through to the hearts of all men and knows the truth. We cannot fool Christ, so why do we try?

In the Old Testament, hypocrisy meant profaneness, or to be defiled, or to pollute, and a hypocrite was a godless person. In the New Testament, Jesus used it in a broader way meaning to act a part, to pretend or be pretenders, to be false and deceptive, literally to pretend an outward goodness, but inwardly possess a wicked nature as in whitewashed graves.

These pretenders asked an either/or question. Sometimes we Christians get caught up in the moment and bow to those either/or questions or situations. Jesus shows that in answering a question we do not have to stick to those multiple choice answers we’re given. If we earnestly seek the wisdom of Christ, we will know how to pulverize those stumbling stones cast into our path.

He uses this same tactic when answering the Sadducees question about marriage in the afterlife. Firstly, they didn’t believe in the resurrection. So why were they even asking this question? The Sadducees believed there was no spirit except for God. They did not hold with any divine revelation of the prophets either. So when Christ came preaching and teaching about the resurrection and life and Spirit and soul, they disavowed Him and His teaching.

Jesus called them on their lack of knowledge of the Scriptures and lack of knowledge of God’s power. Without this knowledge, they couldn’t possibly know Truth when they looked Him in the face. Jesus did not consider the multiple choice answers, but gave them the truth that in Heaven there is no marriage. He went on to tell them that God is not the God of the dead but of the living. He negated the core of their beliefs with three points: 1) They were ignorant; 2) In Heaven there is no marriage; 3) God is God of the living. If they embraced what God said, then they would study all the Scriptures not just the law, and then they would have known the answer to their tricky question.

Matthew gives one more example of Jesus’ baffling His enemies.

These scholars of the law knew that the Messiah would come from David’s lineage. So their answer to Jesus’ question, “What do you think of Christ?” (Matthew 22:43-45) was easy: The Son of David.

Jesus wanted them to deeply think about the divine nature of Christ. These religious leaders had a definite problem with anyone having a divine nature or divine message such as the prophets had. They loved David, but refused the truth He spoke when he called the Messiah Lord (Psalm 110). The truth is that Christ is God incarnate. Either they were actually ignorant, or their wickedness blinded them for they could not answer the question.

So, how do you answer Jesus’ question? What do you think of Christ?

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Biography Information:

Gina Burgess has taught Sunday School and Discipleship Training for almost three decades. (Don't tell her that makes her old.) She earned her Master's in Communication in 2013.

She is the author of several books including: When Christians Hurt Christians, The Crowns of the Believers and others available in online bookstores. She authors several columns, using her God-given talent to shine a light in a dark world. You can browse her blog at Refreshment In Refuge.

If you'd like to take a look at some Christian fiction and Christian non-fiction book reviews check out Gina's book reviews at Upon

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