Monday Lunch Bible Study –13 October 2014
Come to Redifer between 12 noon and 1:15 pm Mondays for a relaxed conversation about the Gospel reading for this coming Sunday. We’ll read it together, then talk through our reactions and questions – no advance prep or experience is required! Bring your lunch (or buy it there) and look for Alicia at a round table near the windows by the copier. Check facebook for an exact location! Can’t make it? Share your thoughts below or on facebook!
Matthew 22
15Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap [Jesus] in what he said. 16So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” 18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” 21They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
Reflections
Why is it so hard for Jesus’ opponents to trap him?
What do you notice about the introduction to the question?
What is our role as followers of Jesus in the context of the world and the government?
What things are God’s?
How does this passage speak to us today?