test

In the twenty-second chapter in the Gospel According to Matthew (NABRE), the Pharisees devise for Jesus what they believe to be a no-win scenario. Their aim is to either force Jesus to speak openly against Roman rule, thereby making him a target to the Romans, or to force him to encourage the people to bow to that Roman rule, which would have undermined Jesus’ credibility as a religious leader and possible Messiah.

In the Gospel According to Matthew 22:18 (NABRE), Jesus confronts the Pharisees by asking them, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?” The word translated here as test, πειράζω (peirazo), has a couple of different meanings. In the positive sense, it describes testing to determine something’s worth or value, for example, the way gold is tested or tried in fire. In a negative sense, it can mean temptation. In both cases, however, the trial or test ends up showing the merit of the thing tested.

How does Jesus’ response allow him to escape from the trap laid by the Pharisees? What does this response show us about Jesus?

related topics: agony; into test; temptation

you also may like our two-part study of the psalms
Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church provides an in-depth look at all 150 psalms based on The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, a translation prepared by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey and endorsed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). This translation is being included in new Liturgy of the Hours books. Volume I currently is available only in a digital format. Click on these links to view a sample first lesson from Volume I and another from Volume II.

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