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People who want to analyze me often ask, "If you see a glass that is filled to the middle, to you, is it half full or half empty? There are only two answers they give me to choose from. If I say half empty they'd label me an optimist (maybe I was just thirsty when they asked). If I say half empty they'd label me as a pessimist. I like to give my own answer since I am creative. I will remark, "I don't know, I'm too busy thinking about how to creatively make use of the unused space."

This usually sets people to a different track of thinking. It isn't the expected response. It isn't what they had worked out. It makes them look at the person rather than a chart, and it also lets them know I've thought about what they are asking. Jesus did this too.

People asked him, "Is it lawful to pay taxes?" They thought that he could only give two answers, yes or no. If yes, they knew His followers would think less of him because they wanted to rebel against having to pay taxes to Rome. If no, they would turn him over to those same Roman authorities. What did Jesus do?

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"
"Caesar's," they replied.
Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."
And they were amazed at him (Mark 12:13-17).

I really like that last sentence. They came to trap him, had it all worked out and they walked away amazed.
They came again another day with a "glass half full, or half empty" question.

Again, when the woman caught in adultery was brought before Jesus they thought if he orders execution we have Him, because they were under rule of the Romans, and only Romans could order executions. However, they also invoked Moses' name saying the Law of Moses required stoning so that if he said no, He would be going against the Jewish law. They thought they had him again He looked at their hearts and one by one they all left forgetting their original thoughts (John 8:3).

Some think Jesus was always attacking the teachers of the law, I disagree He cared for them as much as anyone else. He knew their hearts and what it would take to break through, for them to see clearly there are more than just the words in the law, but there was the heart behind why the law was given.

Even A few began to express that Jesus was changing their thoughts.


Some of the teachers of the law responded, "Well said, teacher!" (Luke 20:39)

Jesus also asked questions Himself as well. Again they came to ask him what authority He did His miracles with. Instead of answering He gives them a question that gets them talking and thinking. He replied, "I will also ask you a question.

Tell me, John's baptism--was it from heaven, or from men?"
They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Why didn't you believe him?' But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet."
So they answered, "We don't know where it was from."
Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things." (Luke 20:1-8)

Jesus always got to the heart of the issue. Sometimes people will come to you and me thinking they have the question or the answer that will trap us. I need to remember I can listen to the Holy Spirit and know how to respond.

However, I believe most of the time people come with an honest question. It is something that they are really struggling with. They have thought through the possibilities and are still unsure. They expect that I have thought through their moral dilemma as well. They may not need a yes or no answer. They may need to know where you and I stand and why I believe in doing so. You and I have to call on God's discerning spirit to see what the person is really asking.

I encourage you to do a little more, and I encourage myself as well. I have to sadly admit that too often I have come back with a quick rehearsed answer. Too often I have given a yes or no when it was the perfect God given moment to share what I really believed. Parents call those teachable moments, some call them divine appointments.

They deserve more than my quick answer. They deserve more than a "half full, or half empty" answer. They deserve me taking the time to think through, and taking the time to engage the other person’s thoughts. They deserve me looking deeper to the heart of the person and then showing them Jesus in mine.

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