“So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. (Luke 20:20)
And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer, they became silent.” (Luke 20:26)
This story really has two parts: 1) The scribes and the chief priests were angry with Jesus and wanted to punish him. Because they were afraid of how the people might react, they employed others to trip up Jesus.
2) The bad actors were unable to trip up Jesus. Instead, they marveled at his answers.
This is a story I have heard many times. Two famous cases in my lifetime are Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel. Both men were skeptics who wanted to put to rest the story of Jesus. So, they dug into the text to prove Jesus wrong. However, in both cases, the more they researched, the more they marveled. Finally, rather than silence Jesus, they both surrendered to Jesus as Lord.
I do not doubt that similar stories could be told by scores of people. Some battles are clearly not worth undertaking. In some 2000 years, Jesus has not been successfully silenced. Though some likely anticipate that he may be silenced any day now, I will side with Jesus.
Father, please help me to stand firm in my faith. Help me never try to undermine Jesus. Amen.
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