Posted by
Maudie in Mandeville on Sunday, April 11, 2010 4:57:56 PM
The Pharisees were certain they could trap Jesus into either affirming God's law, or that it was lawful to comply with Caesar's law and pay his tribute. Either affirm God's Law and the Pharisees would 'rat out' Jesus to Caesar, thereby getting rid of Jesus with the sword of Caesar, or show Him to be a hypocrite of God's law.
[Mat 22:17] [The Pharisees sent their disciples to Jesus, who said,] Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
Jesus was fully aware that it is against God's Law to give tribute to a heathen "Caesar". He also knew that it would enrage "Caesar" for Him to say so. He evaded their trap by not defining what was or was not "Caesar's". He didn't even affirm that the penny with "Caesar's" image and superscription was to be rendered to "Caesar". Jesus' answer was that the Pharisees should render to "Caesar", a heathen who did not know or obey God's Law, exactly what was due to any heathen or Israelite who did not obey God's Law:
[Num 15:15] One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you. Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of (God's) law. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Therefore, the Pharisees knew that what they had just been told was to render unto "Caesar" what God's Law required: death, and since they were declining to carry out the sentence of the law, they were hypocrites, since they were the enforcement officials of God's Law and knew what "Caesar" was due under God's Law. They had also been told that what they were doing by not harkening to carry out the sentence of the law, that they themselves should be put to death along with "Caesar" in order to put their own evil away from Israel.