“Some thorough testings”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Sunday, October 29, 2023
Matthew 22:34-46 (Forward, p. 92) CEV p. 1013
I don’t know about you, but ‘tests’, tests of any sort are not exactly my favourite thing, much less my forte. I remember, with nothing less than fear and loathing, the year-end departmentals that were the bane of my existence in high school. (I was so traumatized by one of them that I wet my pants rather than ask for permission to leave the exam room to use the facilities). And being on probation at my workplace was no better.
In today’s passage from Matthew we find a couple instances of ‘testings’. In the first one, the Pharisees, having heard that Jesus had ‘bested’ the Sadducees in their verbal sparring match, decided to try their own ‘kick at the can’ with a question of their own.
They demanded of Jesus an answer to a long-debated, long-examined question, namely, “What is the most important commandment in the Law?” Given that there were, of course, 10 Commandments, not just one, and 613 auxiliary laws or regulations, called ‘hedge laws’, this was no idle question. In fact, it was one that often occupied the thoughts and debates of the rabbis. They sparred among themselves as to how they could sum these up and do so in as few words as possible. And so, their question to Jesus was on very familiar ground for them. In fact, they may well have already made their mind up.
Jesus’ answer was classic. He replies to their question with two quotes from the Torah, the Law, the first five books of the Bible, Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. The first was the Shema, which was the basis of a devotional exercise commanded of all Jews as a continual and daily practice (see Deuteronomy 6:6-9) and still practiced today. They were to repeat them regularly throughout the day and also attach written copies to their doorposts and gates, and even affix them to their foreheads and arms during times of prayer. In a sense, this choice by Jesus was a no-brainer: no one could ever argue with it.
The second piece of Jesus’ answer, from Leviticus, was from the so-called Holiness Code, which defined what it meant to be a Jew, a person in a covenant relationship with Almighty God. In one sense, even though it
most directly dealt with the matter of disputes, animosities and revenge, it actually summed up the entire ‘human’ side or dimension of that covenant. And so, it was a natural—and rather indisputable—choice on Jesus’ part. And so, Jesus had thoroughly ‘bested’ the Pharisees in their choice of a test.
But then Jesus turns the tables. Now He has a question for them. He turns to Psalm 110, which everyone sees as inspired and as Messianic, and asks them a question from it. He asks them how Jesus can be ‘merely’ the Son of David (I have added the ‘merely’ because I think that it is implied) when the psalm says:
“The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I put your
enemies under your feet.”
The first Lord obviously refers to God, and the second Lord was thought to refer to the Messiah. But then, Jesus asks, “How could David call him Lord is He was (merely) a descendant?” Jesus’ questioners were stumped and went away baffled and speechless. After that, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.
Of course, we do know that Jesus was indeed descended from David, but that He was much, much more than that. He was Lord, God Almighty.
However, having said this, ‘discovered’ this, what are we to make of this passage? Perhaps two things. Firstly, I would suggest that we can certainly ‘put Jesus to the test’, though not in the sense that Satan suggested (see Matthew 4:5-7/ Luke 4:9-12) or as the Israelites did in the wilderness (see Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 95:8-9). I think that we can ask hard questions of Jesus as did Thomas after the Resurrection (see John 20:24-29)--simply as a way to confirm or strengthen our faith.
And secondly, that Jesus also puts us to the test, as a way of finding out of what substance our faith is made and then purifying and refining it and strengthening it. Simon Peter’s faith was, as we see in the account of Good Friday, severely tested, and indeed, he failed. But he learned something of his own weakness and inability from that experience and was strengthened through it and through learning of Jesus’ forgiveness and intervention in his life. He came out of that testing a much better man, one that was all the more reliant upon Jesus and less on himself and his
hitherto much-vaunted courage and strength. It is a good learning experience for all of us. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Forward notes “No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions” (verse 46).
“My great-uncle was an Episcopal priest and seminary professor for many years. Over the years, I have heard some of his former students—priests and bishops—that he was their most demanding professor.
“In seminary, I studied his area of expertise: systematic theology, which explores critical theological concepts. It was the most challenging seminary course I took, and I wished my great-uncle had still been alive so I could ask him questions.
“But I also knew from family lore that he was famous for responding to questions with more questions, encouraging his students to go deeper. In today’s reading from Matthew, Jesus asks the Pharisees tough questions, and when don’t know the answers, they respond by shutting down. I think our life of faith invites us into a conversation akin to the one I suspect my great-uncle engaged in with his students, calling them to reflect thoughtfully, ask questions, and grow ever more deeply in relationship with Jesus.”
Moving Forward: “What questions do you have for Jesus?”