The Trap
Tuesday of Passion Week was jam-packed for Jesus.
It would be a full day of teaching, and now that the temple’s been cleansed, the courtyards are filled with crowds of people instead of stalls of animals.
It’s been said that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” i.e., two hostile parties might agree to set aside their own differences to come together against an enemy they share in common.
And that’s exactly what happens on the last Tuesday of Jesus’ earthly life.
The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians were three sects within the High Council who normally hated one another; but these days there was Someone they hated more: the Lord Jesus.
So they got together in an effort to trip Him up.
They engaged Jesus in a public forum in front of capacity crowds who were hanging on every word.
First, the Lord’s opponents spread a net before His feet with some smooth words of flattery (see Proverbs 29:5).
“We know you’re a man of integrity and teach God’s truth without compromise,” they gushed.
(Did Jesus roll His eyes?)
Then they baited the trap:
“Please tell us whether it’s right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
They pretend to be struggling with a moral dilemma and need Jesus’ sage advice.
Asking Him that question was like tossing Him a live grenade, or so they thought.
They’re thinking, either way He answers, He loses.
If He sides in favor of Rome and legitimizes their oppressive tax codes, people will see Him as disloyal and unsympathetic to the plight of the Jewish nation.
His popularity would plummet, and nothing would make them happier.
And, if He denounces Rome’s authority to tax, they’d accuse Him of treason and summon the Roman guards.
I’m sure they’re thinking that Jesus has no way out, but…
Apparently Proverbs 21:30 wasn’t part of their morning devotions that day:
There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.
Jesus takes a lose-lose situation and not only sidesteps the trap, but He turns it into a beautiful teaching moment.
Notice that He first reveals their deceitful intentions and exposes their malice:
“Why are you trying to trap Me, you hypocrites?
(I can hear the crowds gasp.)
“Show me the coin for the tax,” so they brought Him a denarius.
He tosses them the coin and asks them about the image it bears.
They confess: It’s Caesar’s.
“Well, then,” Jesus says, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God!”
With one sentence, the Lord preaches a sermon that could fill an entire library with its valuable insights.
He’s reminding His followers that we live in two kingdoms, and that we have obligations to both.
In Caesar’s world, we must submit to authority, pay our taxes and live peaceful and quiet lives as ideal citizens. But when they ask us to violate our consciences or break His commands, we can respectively decline with God’s blessing (see Acts 5:29!).
In Christ’s world, we give to God our utmost love, zeal, and obedience.
The bad guys (in religious robes) go on from there, taking turns, trying to hit the jackpot and be the ones to “entangle Jesus in His words”—but each time they try, they fall on their faces in humiliating defeat.
There’s some beautiful words from Psalm 18 that eloquently sum up the moral of the story here on Tuesday of Passion week:
To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd (vv. 25-26).
In other words, If we shoot straight with the Lord, He shoots straight with us. But if people play games with Him, He will beat them at their own game!
It’s good to remember in a world filled with deception and evil schemes, that the Lord (and His people) will prevail!
But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth He has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness (2 Peter 3:13).
