Today's Scripture Reading (January 31, 2024): Matthew 22
When I was in High School, I loved
the argument. To be honest, I loved it so much that sometimes I took the
opposite opinion just to argue with someone. As I got older, I probably became
a bit of a contrarian until I realized that that really wasn't who I wanted
to be. But I am still not afraid to hold a contrasting opinion on something if
I feel that opinion deeply.
But
in High School, my love for the argument led me to love the academic debate. It
was part of the English curriculum at the time, and my class was divided into
debate teams and randomly assigned different topics; none of these topics were
very serious. Whether we supported or opposed the resolution was likewise a
random action. My team went early in the debates, and we did well. I do
remember that we won the debate, and I received a reasonably good grade on the
assignment.
But
late in the series of class debates, another situation arose. One of the
members of another team was sick on the day of the debate. The teacher decided
that one of the other team members would have to do double duty, putting
forward the argument for herself and her sick teammate. The teacher assured the
shorthanded team that she would take that double duty into consideration when she
was assigning the grade for the debate. However, the leader of this team had a
different idea and asked the teacher if I could take the missing student's
position in the debate. The teacher looked at me and asked why he would want to
participate in the debate; after all, he had already received his grade. (Did I
mention that I love the argument?) But maybe the biggest surprise and
compliment for me came from the opposing team, who didn't want me in the
debate. They argued that it would be unfair for me to debate against them, even
though I would be going in cold, with absolutely no time to prepare for the
argument (which, if I remember correctly, was "Be it resolved that dogs
are better than cats").
Eventually,
the teacher sided with the team that wanted me in the debate. I entered the
debate arguing that cats were better than dogs, and we won. However, I am sure
the win had nothing to do with it and everything to do with the excellent
debate preparation that my teammates had done and that their opposition had done
only the minimum. But it was a fun class, and I became the only person in the
class to be on two winning debate teams.
I
am not sure that Jesus loved the argument, but he was good at it as he talked
with the religious elite of the nation. He was so good that the Pharisees and
Sadducees finally decided they wouldn't win the battle by using logic or
rhetoric. Now, Jesus's enemies had agreed that if they were going to defeat
Jesus, they were going to have to change their tactics and replace the debate
with treachery and violence. If they couldn't defeat him in the discussion,
they would kill him with a cross. But either way, the ministry of this Jesus
had to end, and it had to end soon.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew 23
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