Jesus, the Debater?

The words of the Lord are pure words,

Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,

Purified seven times.

-Psalm 12:6

Jesus taught those around Him with His words.  He used parables and humour to get His points across.  But when some came to test Him, He used debating techniques.  Jesus knew hearts.  He also knew the ultimate answers so He was prepared when He was questioned.

Matthew 22:15 says that the Pharisees “went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.”  Their entire purpose was to entangle Jesus, to catch Him in His talk.  “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”  Jesus perceived their wickedness.  They were not asking because they truly had a question.  They merely wanted to catch Him.  He asked them whose image and inscription was on the denarius.  That image was the answer to their question.  “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  Instead of entangling Him, they marvelled at His Words and left Him.

The Sadducees must now have their turn at catching Him in His Words.  They ask about a woman whose husband dies without leaving children.  Subsequently she marries the husband’s brother, who also dies.  She ends up marrying all seven brothers.  “Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her?”  Now that’s a question to ponder!  Jesus responds by sharing that in the resurrection, there will be no marriage and then states, “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”  The multitudes who heard this were astonished at His teaching.  The Sadducees were silenced.

Jesus had silenced the Sadducees.  Now the Pharisees gather together again to plan their next attack.  One of them, a lawyer, tests Him with a question.  “Which is the greatest commandment in the law?”  Jesus answers them by stating the first and greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  He follows with the second, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”  These two commandments embody the entire Law and the Prophets. 

While He still has them there with Him, He asks His own question.  “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?”  No one was able to answer Him.  From that day on no one dared to question Him.

These discourses of Jesus are perfect examples of why students should learn the art of communication and debate.  Jesus did not stumble over His Words wondering what to say and how to say it.  He spoke confidently and persuasively.  He marvelled them, astonished them, and silenced them.  Becoming better at speaking will help us to make the difference that God wants us to make.  As Deborah Bush Haffey reminds us, we must be willing to “meet others in the public square with our arguments prepared persuasively in an attempt to advance the kingdom of God.  To do any less is to do less than we could to proclaim His truth in our society.”