Jesus On Oral Exam

US Presidents must have 1 gift in common – oratory skills. By wise words, they win a nation’s support. By careless words, they betray themselves. Their speeches are heard by millions. Every single word that leaves their mouth have great implications on their administration, and on their people.

Jesus faced an oral exam by those who plotted to “entangle Him in His talk.” (Matthew 22:15-46) The Pharisees and Sadducees got together to test Jesus with tough questions. If Jesus were to falter in their oral questioning, His words will not only cause His ministry to stumble greatly. His faulty words will also be recorded in the bible for many generations to see, thus disqualifying His inerrancy.

Jesus was tested thrice.

In the 1st test, He was asked, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” Replying with a “yes” will make Jesus lose favor with the Jewish masses, who despised paying taxes under Roman oppression. Saying “no” will make Him guilty of inciting insurrection against the Roman government. Jesus gave a one-liner: “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Amazing.

In the 2nd test, the Sadducees asked Jesus a riddle to make His teaching about resurrection and the afterlife look preposterous. Jesus not only answered their riddle, but He proved the reality of resurrection with these words: “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” Such few words, aptly spoken, with astonishing implications.

In the 3rd test, Jesus was asked by a lawyer, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus quoted 2 verses from the Torah, and his questioners were silenced.

Finally, this is the best part. Jesus gave a question of His own. He gave a question regarding His own identity. Such a fitting question to the audience around Him, who was trying to prove that He was not the Christ. Jesus asked, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” The Pharisees fell right into the trap. They said “The Son of David”. Jesus quoted a verse from the Psalms, and gave a one-liner: “If David then calls Him ‘Lord’, how is He his Son?” In those few words, Jesus not only proved that He was the fulfillment of a messianic prophecy. Jesus also proved His claim to deity, by pointing out the absurdity of an ancestor to call his descendant “Lord”.

After that, the bible records that “no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.”

Amazing. Imagine if Jesus walked and talked among us during our time.