Proverbs 25 starts by letting us know these proverbs were recorded by King Hezekiah. They were still proverbs of King Solomon, and they read as his proverbs. He continued to cover the gamut of topics, although the chapter has several references to the king. Let’s look at one of those: 15With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone. Proverbs 25:15 (ESV) Patience plays such a powerful role in our lives when we see the big picture and the long term, instead of living for only the here and now. A ruler, or anyone else for that matter, may be persuaded over time, to come to our point of view. But if we think only of the moment, and practice impatience, we are far less likely to see any change. King Solomon used an image from everyday life to underline his point: a soft tongue will break a bone. Again, this is true if we are patient. Without patience the bone withstands the effort to break it, but over time the tongue will do its work.
Proverbs 26 focuses more than the typical chapter on fools and the outcomes of their actions, and ultimately of their lives. It is helpful to remember as we read each of these proverbs that the words we’re reading, if followed will turn into actions. Those actions, if repeated, will become habits. The habits will ultimately forge our destinies. That is why it is so important not to let foolish words, or thoughts enter our minds in the first place. When we do, we must remember not to repeat the action. Otherwise it becomes a habit and that leads us down a slippery slope.
As we return to Luke 20, the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders is intensifying. They ask Jesus question after question, starting with a challenge to His authority to say and do the things He has been saying and doing. It seems a reasonable question, but Jesus doesn’t fall for the trap. He uses His common response of answering a question with a question. He asks them whether John the Baptist’s authority was from heaven or man? The questions was lose-lose for the religious leaders, because if they answered heaven, Jesus would ask them why they didn’t listen to him, but if they answered from man, the crowds would go after them, because they considered John a prophet. The religious leaders said they didn’t know, so Jesus responded He would not tell them the answer to their question either. Jesus then told a parable about a vineyard owner whose tenants were evil, and ultimately killed the vineyard owner’s son. The religious leaders realized the parable was about them. They wanted to arrest Jesus, but the crowds were on Jesus’ side. As the chapter continues, Jesus responded to what seemed like unanswerable questions, but Jesus had no difficulty answering them. When the religious leaders asked their seemingly lose-lose question, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?” Jesus asked for a coin, and when they gave it to Him, He asked whose inscription and likeness were on it? When they said it was Caesar’s, Jesus told them to render to Caesar the things that were Caesar’s and to God the things that were God’s. When the Sadducees attempted to trick Jesus with a question about the resurrection, Jesus basically said, “You need to go home and read your Scriptures, because you don’t know what they say.” After these interactions, Jesus went on the offensive. He knew the religious leaders were going to arrest Him, and He was going to be crucified, so He took the straight at them approach. While we are never called to be arrogant when dealing with those who stand against us as we stand for Jesus, we need to be sure we don’t back down from speaking the truth in love. It must be truth in love, but we can offer nothing less!