The confrontation continues in the Gospel Reading for today. As the liturgical year draws close to its end, the lectionary focuses on Jesus teaching in Jerusalem after his triumphal entry into the city and before the beginning of his passion. As we have seen in prior reflections, the situation is highly charged, because the Israelites are having to celebrate the Passover, the feast of their liberation from Egypt, while living under Roman occupation.
The religious leaders, most of whom oppose Jesus, are taking turns to try to defeat him either by riling the crowds up against him or by getting him arrested by the Roman soldiers. In last Sunday's Gospel reading, we saw the Pharisees seeking to trap Jesus by asking him about the legitimacy of paying taxes to the Roman Emperor. In the passage immediately following, which is not included in this lectionary sequence, the Sadducees, another group of religious leaders, try to undermine Jesus with a trick question about marriage, but they are rebuffed.
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Photo Credit: The Sea of Galilee (c) 2016 by Zoltan Abraham.