[. . .] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth [. . .]
(Philippians 2:10)
Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.
“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”
They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.
When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
“No, Lord,” she said.
And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” (John 8:1–11 NLT)
Throughout the ministry of Jesus, the teachers of the law pushed back against Jesus and attempted to trap him. Yet each time, Jesus was able to walk away unscathed. He did not do this through pounding the table to affirm his rightness or by arguing his position with such clarity that he won the debate. Instead, Jesus’s typical response was a third way.
When he is asked if the people should pay taxes to their oppressors in Rome – where a “yes” would likely anger his Jewish followers and a “no” would put him in the crosshairs of the Roman Empire – Jesus points to the coins themselves for the answer (Mark 12:13–17).
When he’s asked for a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority, rather than refusing them or giving into their demands, he tells them they can’t even read the signs already present in the world around them (Matthew 16:1–4).
One of the most powerful examples of Jesus sidestepping the traps of the religious elite is when they bring to him a woman caught in adultery. If Jesus had agreed with them and proclaimed that her sinful act should result in her stoning, he would fall prey to the wrath of Rome for circumventing their justice system, but he equally couldn’t take a stance that disagreed with or ignored the Law of Moses.
The crux of these interactions is the religious elites questioning the authority of Jesus. They want to know where his teachings come from, why he is able to make the claims he does, and where the power to back up those claims originates.
Throughout all these tests and traps, not only does Jesus always find a way to reject the false dichotomy given to him, but there is also another constant: the end result. The Pharisees and Sadducees always walk away still firm in their position, refusing to acknowledge Jesus’s full authority.
This is not a position unique to them. Most of us probably know someone similar who refuses to acknowledge Christ’s supremacy and authority. Some of us are probably in that same boat on occasion. Ultimately, though, every knee will bow, across all creation, acknowledging Jesus as Lord and recognizing his authority.
In the meantime, it is not up to us to convince those who refuse to recognize the truth; if Jesus himself couldn’t win over more than one or two of the religious leaders, we would be foolish to rely on our own persuasive words. All we can do is love people in everything we say and do and trust the Holy Spirit to help them shift their understanding.
Michael Benson is the communications director for the North American Baptist Conference.