Bead Ten The Gift of Himself
B10 - E1 Tricks and Tales and Turning the Tables
Jesus frequently countered loaded questions with a question of his own. One of the teachers of the Jewish law tried to test him by asking, “Master, what should I do to earn everlasting life in the world to come.” In reply, Jesus asked him what the law of Moses taught. The simple answer the lawyer already knew was that he should love God above all things and love and care for his neighbour in the same way that he looked after and cared about himself. He then tried to justify his question by asking, “Well, who is my neighbour?”
In answer, as he often did, Jesus told a story. “A man was travelling along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho,” he began, “when, on a particularly lonely stretch, he was set upon by some thieves who beat him up and robbed him, leaving him seriously injured, nearly dead in fact, by the side of the road. Not long afterwards, a priest, then, a little while later, a deacon, happened to be travelling along the same road. As they passed by, both of them saw the man but crossed over to the other side of the road and left him lying there.
“The next person to come along was a Samaritan. Unlike the other men, his heart was moved with compassion when he spotted the man. Running across to him, he bathed his wounds in wine to cleanse them, and then in soothing oil. He bandaged them up before lifting him gently onto his own horse to find the nearest inn where he could continue to take care of him. He had to leave the following morning but gave the innkeeper money to look after the man, promising to pay any extra costs on his return.
“Which of these three men was a true neighbour to the injured man,” Jesus said to his questioner who had no alternative other than to mutter grudgingly, “The man who took care of him.” “Then, you must do the same,” Jesus replied. The religious leaders were infuriated by the ability of Jesus to turn the tables on them when they tried to trick him with false questions.
On another occasion, they attempted to put him in a dilemma by asking if it was right to pay taxes to the Romans, a very sore point indeed with the people. In reply, Jesus calmly asked them for a coin, and, slowly turning it over in his hand, questioned them in return. “Whose head is it on this coin?” “Caesar’s,” they said. “Well then”, replied Jesus, “Render to Caesar, what is Caesar’s and to God, what is God’s!”
A more serious incident occurred while Jesus was visiting Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Early in the morning, as he was preaching in the temple, a group of their religious leaders dragged a woman before him, declaring that she had been caught in the act of adultery They made her stand in front of the people as they challenged Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “according to the law of Moses, this woman should be stoned to death for her actions! What do you say we should do?”
His answer, one way or another, was meant, of course, to discredit Jesus in the eyes of the people. To their surprise, he ignored their question and bent down and started writing with his finger in the sand which scattered the floors and surfaces of their hot and dusty land. They continued to question him, demanding an answer. Finally, he stood up slowly, looked around at them and said, “ Let anyone among you who has done no wrong of any kind be the first to cast a stone.”
Then he calmly continued writing in the sand. They began to glance down to see what he was actually writing. Each one of them began to make out certain words - names, events which pricked their individual consciences. Slowly, one by one, they all turned and began to slink away, starting with the elders then followed by the people, many, if not most of whom had been ready to jump on the bandwagon of righteous indignation. The crowd gradually disappeared, leaving Jesus alone with the woman.
Jesus looked around, then said to her, “Where are they now? Is there no one here ready to condemn you?” “No one, sir,” she answered. “Then neither do I condemn you. Go in peace but let this help you to break free from everything that is wrong in your life.” As she walked away, her head held high, she knew that she would make those changes. She would be the person she was born to be and would never forget and always feel the deepest love and gratitude to the man who had set her free and whose words would live with her forever.
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