Those questions..

Luke 20 19-47

How crafty were the Pharisees? As we saw earlier, they lay in wait like spies. They wanted Jesus to trip up and say something that they could arrest him for. Surely he would say something wrong.
Now matter how they tempted him, Jesus would not be fooled. He recognized their attempt to soothingly put him at ease. As soon as he messed up and said something wrong, they would pounce on him and drag him to court. Jesus wouldn’t mess up. He still had work to do. Though his time was drawing near, he had a few more things to accomplish. More tools to leave his disciples and followers.
Their first temptation was to get Jesus to speak out against the government. Is it lawful to give money to Caesar? Being Jews, they were subject to the occupying army. If Jesus was God’s son, he would release them of the burden wouldn’t he? Obviously paying taxes to an occupying force is wrong. They had hoped that Jesus would start ranting about the inequality of taxation without representation.
Nope. He said, give unto Caesar what is his. No argument.
Then they tried to trick Jesus with a question of the resurrection. Maybe this time they can trip him up and they can bring him to court on some trumped up religious charges. They brought up the issue of who’s married to whom in heaven. They hoped that Jesus would go into some deep religious discussion far away from his message and purpose.
Nope. He stayed on track. Jesus simply replied that in heaven, those who are saved have a new life. They don’t wed and they don’t die.
Perhaps in your desire to lead others to Christ, you have found yourself in similar situations. You know the questions:
Where did Cain and Able find their wives?
Were there dinosaurs?
Do I have to give money when I go to church?
What about gay people?
How old is the earth?
And on and on and on. People ask these questions to trip you up. When you present or attempt to present the gospel, it brings people to a point of making a decision. They become uncomfortable and instead of making a decision, they want to make an escape. How else better than to ask an irrelevant question. It’s up to us to remain focused on pointing people to Christ and not the political flavor of this age.
Take an example from Jesus. He answered the questions and returned people to the topic.
Should I pay taxes as a Christian? Give to Caesar what is Caesar. Give to God what is Gods. There, back to the topic of God.
Who will I be married to in the resurrection? In heaven, we are like the angels. Those who are saved don’t marry and they don’t die. There, back to God.
Stay focused and keep pointing people to God.