Intro

A few years ago, I watched a very good debater, Mehdi Hasan, a British-American broadcaster/author. Then I read his book, Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking. If you are going for marriage counselling, you will probably not be asked to read this book!

One of the things Hasan recommends is the following: if you are going to engage in debate with someone, you need to study your opponent. You need to know their way of thinking and their arguments better than they do.  

In Matthew 21-22, as we observe the debate between the religious leaders and Jesus, we realize that the religious leaders are seriously outmatched. Jesus knows their religious affiliations, their way of the thinking, their arguments, and their games. It also becomes very apparent that the religious leaders do not know who they are talking to. They do not know Jesus’ true identity, but … Jesus wants them to know.

As we walk through today’s text, we will notice …

1. A Honing Question (which leads to …)
2. The Hinge Commandment (which leads to …)
3. A Helpful Question (which is meant to reveal …)
4. The Hinge Person