Someone has figured that if we put all of the materials in the Gospels that tell us about the life of Jesus together that it would equal about 80 pages. Yet, most of that would represent duplication, for we know that some of the Gospel writers copied from others. If, therefore you eliminate the duplication, you would have only 20 pages that tell us about Jesus life and teachings. Of those 20 pages, 13 of them deal specifically with the last week of his life. And if you separate it still further, you will discover that one-third of those 13 pages took place on Tuesday of Holy Week. Thus, in terms of sheer volume, we know far more on this day in his life than any other day. The events of that day represent a significant percentage of what we know about the man Jesus.

We know that Jesus spent Monday evening in Bethany, probably in the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, since that is where he spent Sunday evening. He arose early on Tuesday morning and he and his disciples returned to Jerusalem. If you will then let your mind drift back through the pages of history, let us assume for a moment that you are living in First Century Palestine. It is the Season of the Passover and you and your family are among the thousands of religious pilgrims who have migrated to the ancient walled city of Jerusalem to participate in the religious celebration. You were there on Monday when Jesus took whip in hand and radically ran the moneychangers from the temple. It had been an eventful day.

But now it is Monday and it has come time to retire with your family. As you walk down the Villa de la Rosa you pass by the palace of the high priest, the residence of Caiaphas. You notice that a light is burning in the upper floor of this exquisite mansion. You comment to your family that Caiaphas must be working long hours to see that all of the religious festivities go on as scheduled. Yet, if you only knew what was really going on in that palace that evening. If you only knew what was taking place in that smoke filled room.

Gathered around the table that evening in the palace was one of the strangest combinations of political and religious factions that anyone could possibly imagine. Yet, politics makes strange bedfellows. It is interesting to me to see how fundamentalist Protestant denominations find a partner in the Roman Catholic Church on the issue of abortion. It is interesting to me to see how fundamentalist Protestants and Jews are brought together because they have similar views on the protection of Israel. Groups that would normally not have communication are sometimes strangely brought together for a temporary goal. That is what happened that night in Jerusalem. Here is the background.

The three groups conspired together that evening: the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees. Their common goal was to discredit Jesus of Nazareth in front of his constituency, the common people.

Who were these groups? The Herodians were persons opposed to the present Roman procurator Pontius Pilate. They wanted a restoration of the power of throne of Herod under one of Herod’s sons. The Sadducees were the conservatives. They were aristocratic and a priestly class. Theologically they did not believe in an afterlife. The Pharisees, who numerically were the largest represented group, were the liberals. Theologically they believe in an afterlife. These three groups were indicative of what was happening in the land. The Jews were a divided people. For reasons both political and theological, they split into many factions. Some believed in appeasement to the Romans, some in mutual coexistence, some in silence, some, like the Zealots, in outright-armed rebellion. There was one thing that they all held in common. They hated and despised the present Roman procurator Pontius Pilate and if they had their druthers they all would want out from under the rule of Rome.

So the Jewish leadership viewed Jesus in terms of his stance on the Roman issue. Now with that in view listen to a few of Jesus’ sayings: Go the second mile. A reference to the Roman law that said anyone could be pressed to assist a Roman soldier for one mile. Turn the other cheek. That was a directive to avoid retaliatory behavior. Pray for your enemies. What did he mean by that? Render unto Caesar. Well that doesn’t very Jewish. If you think politically you can imagine the charge that would come from these teachings: Jesus was soft on the Roman issue.

Mixed up in all of this was the protection of the old traditions. It is hard for us to understand why people would hate Jesus. We see him as a man who loved and healed and who was, in essence, a pacifist. But Jesus also challenged the old ways. His prediction of the destruction of the Temple and the driving out of the moneychangers cast him as anti establishment.

So this conference was called not in an attempt to plot to assassinate Jesu but rather to discredit him. They did not want a martyr on their hands. They would much prefer to make him a fool. Let’s give him enough rope and he may just hang himself. Thus, each group would in turn ask him a question, not because they thought that they could learn from him; they did not think that Jesus could teach them anything. But they wished to trick him. They were hoping for that one slip of the tongue. Each group would ask him a question that would be dear to their cause:

I

The first question asked on Tuesday was from the Herodian. Since these were people who were politically and governmentally oriented, their question dealt with the relationship of church and state. The scripture reads: “Pretending to be sincere he asked the Taxes To Caesar question. Clearly this was a trick question. If Jesus said, “No,” the Romans on the grounds of treason would quickly arrest him. If he said yes, he would enrage the masses, who hated the Romans and particularly their tax. Jesus took a coin and asked whose picture was stamped on it. Then he said: Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.

Well, it is the age old question of God and government. Where do you draw the line? What I hear Jesus saying is that the government does have a legitimate claim upon your life, but (and this is the part that we so often ignore) God also has a claim upon your life. I realize that that is a fine line, sometimes, and it is often something that we have to struggle with.

This may sound trite, but let me give you an example. I was driving down the street recently and I saw a sign outside a particular church, which read: “Pray For Our Troops.” Friends, that is looking at prayer through the eyes of an American citizen. Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies as well. As Christians we have a duty to do both and that is hard for some to deal with. The message that should be placed on all church signs is “Pray for peace.” To me that is more appropriate. The cross must come before the American flag. The cross must come before the American soldier. We are citizens of heaven first, and of the United States second. Should I pray for the American soldier? You bet you should. I am not a pacifist. At times war is necessary. But if I am going to err, then I want to err in favor of God. It is a delicate balancing act; I admit. And Jesus understood that it was delicate. You can hear that in his careful answer. At times we have a duty to Rome and other times a duty to God. Money that is to go to taxes cannot go to support the church. You try to make that argument with the IRS and you won’t be around long or have money enough to help the church.

At any rate, Jesus sufficiently straddled the issue that the Herodian was not able to entrap him.

II

Next in the crowd stepped forth the Sadducee. These were the ones, you will recall, who did not believe in the resurrection, their question, therefore, dealt with the other world, the afterlife. They asked Jesus a hypothetical question about a woman who was widowed seven times in succession. In heaven, whose husband will she be? To them this was a question that pointed out the total absurdity of the thought of an afterlife.

Jesus answered by saying: In the resurrection people will neither marry nor will they be given in marriage. In other words, Jesus is saying that heaven is on another dimension. It will not be there like it is here. There is no marriage. Jesus shows that they have asked a question, which has a faulty premise. Unlike the other answer, this one is very direct. But then Jesus goes on to address himself to the real issue that is being raised. He said: God is the God of the living and not of the dead. Now, what did he mean by that? He is saying to the Sadducees: You are concerning yourself with the afterlife and the problem is that you have not learned to live life hear and now. Heaven is not our responsibility. That is God’s responsibility. What is our responsibility is how we live life here and now. The Sadducees were at a loss for words, and quietly they returned to their seats.

III

The third question came from a Pharisee. They were the largest represented group. They were the guardians of the Torah, thus their question dealt with the law and man’s relationship to the law. Master, they asked, which is the greatest commandment? The pitfall here was obvious. To emphasize any one particular law could be construed by critics that you were de-emphasizing other aspects of the law. But again Jesus outflanks them. Quoting from the Shama he says: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul and mind and strength. And the second is like the first: Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Love God. Love man. Do that, implied Jesus, and you can toss your 635 scribal laws and your religious lawyers will be out of a job, too.

IV

Having routed the opposition, Jesus now, in essence, says, “It is my turn! Now I want to ask you a question. What do you think of the Christ?” That question that Jesus posed remains to this day the most relevant, the most urgent, and most theological, the most important issue confronting us. Wherever we turn in life we are faced with he implications of this question. What do you think of the Christ? You see, all of their questions dealt with man’s relationship with man. His question dealt with man’s relationship to God. They were putting the cart before the horse.

Today the crowds are still asking the wrong questions and trying to find out the right answers. We talk about pollution and race relations and war, and world hunger and all the while we skirt around the 10 million dollar question: What do you think of the Christ?

The story is told of a preacher attempting to put the finishing touches on his Sunday sermon but who was constantly being interrupted by his 6-year-old daughter. To occupy her, he found a picture of a globe and he cut it up into little pieces, knowing that that would keep her busy for a long time. To his surprise, within minutes she had completed it. Asked how she did it so fast she replied: Simple, there was the picture of a man on the back, so I simply put his face together and the world fell right in line. That is what Jesus was saying to them and us on Tuesday of the last week of his life. What do you think of the Christ? Put that picture together and the rest of your world will fall right in line. Amen.