Is a Good Offence (Part 2: the Riposte)

As I began to relate in the previous post, Jesus, in Matthew 22, took the heavy hits His opponents tried to level at Him, and turned them back upon their sources.

In Boxing terms, that would be the counter-punch.

Contrast that to the typical strategy of today's Church: the rope-a-dope. Arms up, and blocking until the opponent tires.

You don't have to be a boxing aficionado to understand that even the "rope-a-dope", as a strategy, presupposes that you plan to fight back. A boxer going into a ring, with every intention of blocking, and no intention of punching will lose. Not probably, not may, not might. He will lose.

Jesus had never watched Sugar-Ray in a title bout, but He understood the principle. Don't get hit, let the opponent create an opening, and capitalize on your opportunity.

We have seen such "counter-punches" in the previous post. (Caesar's coin; 7 brothers married; Greatest Law.) Each time, He took his accusers' momentum away, and stopped their attack short. He took the strength from their arguments, and turned their questions back upon them.

This is where the Church traditionally stops short. When we weather an assault on a position we are defending, we have a curious way of measuring victory. If we silence one accusation/objection, or outlast their criticisms, or have our standard response bear up under their scrutiny, we call that a win.

This is NOT where Jesus stopped, nor is it where we should stop. Notice His quote
"...I will build My Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it."
Take a moment to consider subject and predicate. It is not Hell acting upon the Church, with the Church fending off blows in His imagery. It is, in fact, Hell trying (unsuccessfully) to hold back the advance of the Church.

THIS is the attitude He expects of His people. If we are to follow Christ's example, we must be truly familiar with it. (more on this later)

Momentum is not just a physical force. It is evident in athletics. It is also present in contests of will, as the one we have been examining. When someone sees their opponent losing momentum, then is the moment to switch from defense to offence.

Switching to fencing imagery, Jesus has been parrying thus far. He has faced His opponents' best attacks, and managed to defeat each of them. This is where they are vulnerable to the riposte.

Jesus has faced their trick questions, and handled them easily. Then, at the end of Matthew 22, He poses a question THEY are unable to answer. They are supposed to be the most learned of men, particularly as it relates to the knowledge of scripture. He exposes their ignorance with a passage that teaches about Himself, the looked-for Messiah. This is an excellent bridge to what follows.

Matthew 23

In the first 4 verses, Jesus instructs that the position the Scribes and Pharisees be honored, because of their function in society. He did not say the people themselves should be honored, due to their deficiencies. (He does not acknowledge the Sadducees at this time. Since both parties were vying for religious control in Israel, this may demonstrate His preference for the Pharisees as the lesser of 2 evils.)

The next few verses He denounces their appetite for public praise. Verses 8-12 have the Godly corrections of their bad examples.

The Woes address the gulf between who the Pharisees claim to be spiritually, and what they really are in practice. Notice, again, the Sadducees were not even worth denouncing. He denounced the Pharisees themselves, but had affirmed their office. It would appear that He is, however strongly, still trying to reprove the Pharisees to amend their ways. It seems He sees aspects worth saving. The woes are:

[Series of Jabs...]

1) (verse 13) You do not enter heaven, and prevent others from entering.
2) (v. 14) You take payment from the poor for showy (empty) prayers. [not in all manuscripts]
3) (v.15) In converting people, you are making them even worse than yourselves.
4) (v.16-22) You exalt the trappings of religion above the God who ordained it.
5) (v.23-24) You obey the externals of religious duty -- example, tithing -- yet neglect the internal and higher good. [Note, He did not say we should neglect the externals.]
6) (v.25,26) You put on a show of moral uprightness, but lack substance.
7) (v.27,28) You look marvelous to others, but are decaying inside. [Note, in Jewish custom, contact with the dead made a person ritually impure, and not fit to worship. Implicit in this denunciation was that they were continually unfit to worship God (however pure they claimed they were). He may have meant that they could negatively impact the piety of others, too.]

[...and now the uppercut.]

8) (v.29,36) They use 20/20 hindsight and convince themselves that they would not have killed the prophets of old, (like their forefathers did) oblivious to the irony that they were, even then, plotting to murder the Son of God.

We must be sensitive to opportunities (as Jesus was) to stand for the Kingdom, even in adverse situations. We must be ready to take a hit, but we must ALSO be ready to dish one out. Ask God to keep us alert to opportunities which may not seem like opportunities, and to use momentum to the benefit of His kingdom.

*Important to note: Notice that Jesus doesn't revel in making them look foolish, but with Compassion, humility and heavy heart (v. 37-39) recognizes what this rejection means for this generation's future.