Sparring With Adversaries

Luke 19: 45-48

And He entered the Temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, It is written, My House shall be a House of Prayer (Isaiah 56:7), but you have made it a robbers' den.
And He was teaching every day in the Temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the Jewish leaders were trying to destroy Him, 
But they could not find anything that they could do against Him, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said. 

This is the second time Jesus threw out all the dishonest businessmen from the Temple. And with having raised Lazarus from the dead and then His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, the Jewish leaders were doing their best to try to take Him down any way they could, but they had to be careful, because all the common people were believing in Him; and they wanted to maintain their control. 

So one day (Luke 20:1-8) when He was teaching in the Temple, the Jewish leaders, confronted Him, and they asked Him where did He get the authority to teach and do all these things--who gave Him all this ability?

And Jesus answered them with a question: Was the baptism of John from Heaven or from men? 

He knew they couldn't answer that, because they didn't believe him, but the people did. 

So they said, they didn't know!

Because they refused to answer, He did, too; He knew they wouldn't believe Him, anyway. 

This was His last week to teach and share God's ways with the people He loved, and He wasn't going to take any guff from them. But He maintained courtesy and wouldn't put them down; He let them do it to themselves. 

O my Father, please help me remember Jesus' perfect gentlemanliness in sparring with His adversaries. Keep me aware of Your presence and power to control my own tone of voice and words when adversaries confront me. Help me to always be Your lady with respect for myself and others, and let the base abase themselves. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!