Matthew 22:15-46 | Mark 12:13-37 | Luke 20:20-44

In these passages Jesus is being tested by the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jerusalem, trying in many ways to trap Him with various tests.  In one they try to get Him to condemn Roman taxes, but He simply said “give to Caesar what belongs to him, and to God what belongs to Him”.  The Sadducees tried to trap Jesus with a story about a woman who sequentially marries 7 brothers, but Jesus explains to them that they don’t understand the scriptures, or the power of God, as there is no marriage in heaven, and everyone who has died is still alive in heaven.  By others He is asked about the greatest commandment, which He tells them to Love God with all of their being, and to love their neighbor as they love themself.

In the story of the first passover in Exodus 12, God tells Moses to take a perfect lamb on the 10th day of the month, to examine it and verify it is unblemished, and then kill it on the 14th day of the month.  It is this same thing we are seeing in the days leading up to the Lord’s crucifixion, where He is being tested and examined, but found to be perfect, and without sin.