In Luke 20, Jesus gives us one of his most famous responses, a Solomonic response, that is, Jesus resolves as God in person, what his enemies present to him to his judgment.
"Keeping a close watch to him, they sent spies, who prentended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. So the spies questioned him: ´Teacher we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?´
He saw through their duplicity and said to them. ´Show me a denarious. Whose image and inscription are on it?´
´Caesar's´, they replied.
He said to them: ´Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God´", Luke 20:21-25
With his answer, although Jesus separates the earthly things from the spiritual things, Jesus avoids giving a direct answer to avoid falling into error, his enemies ask him a trick question, in order to accuse him to the authorities.
A prudent response would have been not to answer, simply to remain silent. But Jesus is a spiritual man, a person full of the holy spirit.
Jesus resolves using the spiritual gift of counsel: listen (perceive with attention), meditate with intuition and inspiration, decide with discernment and creativity. Prudence is asociated with the faculties of the soul: the imagination and the fantasy. The gift of counsel or sacred listening uses the faculties of the spirit: the intuition, the inspiration, the creativity. The intuition seeks, the inspiration resolves.
This difference between prudence and the gift of counsel, will influence the teachings of Jesus, to the rational man corresponds to resolve with prudence, to the spiritual man corresponds to resolve with gift of counsel, the difference is in the inner master or inner teacher, the Holy Spirit:
"But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time, you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" Matthew 10:19-20
The art of listening, the gift of counsel, the sacred listening is the art proper of the wise: "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect", Matthew 5:48.
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