Conforming (phase 2), - Jesus enters Jerusalem and the Temple- Concluding the Second Phase (step 21) - session 3b

Continuing in Mt 22:

(15-46) Again and again we see how the ulterior motives of the Pharisees and Sadducees interfere with their ability to simply accept Jesus for who he is, even when he answers them with wisdom that is so clearly beyond them. They are so afraid of the threat to their position - or, giving them a little more credit, perhaps to the temple's and their nation's continued existence - which Jesus represents to them that they are utterly absorbed in tripping him up. Their amazement at his ability to avoid their snares never leads to anything more than a cursory appreciation of his wisdom.

So while each of Jesus' answers in this section is primarily intended to reveal the depth of God's wisdom as contrasted against the folly of his questioners' motivations, they each also contain a nugget which is worth our consideration beyond the context of confrontation.

(15-22) We ourselves compromise with the world in so many ways, and then complain about the world's influence. Just Saturday I was putting down Game of Thrones ("It's so well-written and entertaining," my friend said) by hypocritically observing how I have gotten too old to accept a prime rib sandwich that has just a smidgen of feces as a condiment. Yet the truth is that my habitual weakness remains for unadulterated impurity. My friend and I are both rendering unto Caesar in different ways, but we're paying the same piper.

(23-33) Sometimes we worry too much about what we're going to miss in heaven. Will we get to spend eternity with our pets? With our loved ones? Will we have to do without alcohol for eternity ("In heaven there is no beer; that's why we drink it here;"), or partying? We fail to grasp that no good thing will be withheld from us there, or it wouldn't be heaven ("I'm going to go to hell with the sinners; that's where all the fun will be! No boring harp on a cloud for me!" ugh). What will be banished from our existence will be sin - even the ones we think of as merely "naughty fun" instead of recognizing for what they really are - and its effects. And we won't miss it in the slightest! We won't miss anything.

(34-40) Many today want to make the second greatest commandment equal to the first. Others use the first to break the second. We fail in each precisely because we fail in the other. Fortunately, God's mercy is greater than our failings.

(41-46) For those of us who believe that Jesus became the son of David because he is the Son of God, this is no riddle.