If you accept that there is a lesser of two evils; you have already lost the war. Throughout our lives, we are from time-to-time presented with a choice, where both outcomes are bad. We are asked to pick the one that is the least bad, and then expected to make that choice. To refuse to choose is often an outcome by itself that may be worse than actually doing anything. It is called a no-win situation. And so often it is presented, with us falling into the trap of trying to decide how to do the least damage with what we pick. This trap is not new. But it represents a lie told by Satan whose premise is quite insidious. He tells us through these situations, that “you” must control your fate by making a choice where all the options are bad. The reality is, that while every option “we” could pick is bad, “we” still have another choice … take it to God in prayer, sit back, and watch the power of God at work. For while humans truly are limited in their choices, God is not, and what God can do can truly amaze.
None-the-less the Pharisees had been very angered by the 3 stories Jesus had told regarding the state of church leadership, and how they might still be redeemed. The Pharisees believed they were already good enough and had no need of redemption, especially by this upstart with no formal acknowledgement by the system of religion they managed. This message of light from the outside was not welcome in their tightly concocted inner sanctum. So they responded by creating three traps of their own, one by each of the main groups or sects of their religion. This would insure fairness among them, as well as diversity of thought, so that even if one line of thinking failed there would still be another to attempt to catch Jesus up in what He said. But underlying all their attempts would be the common premise of presenting two choices where no matter what He picked, He could be embarrassed in front of the people. Their problem was they reasoned as men, and forgot, or refused to admit, Jesus reasoned like our God does.
The first trap would come from the Pharisees who considered themselves preeminent among their peers. These masters of the Tora would seek to catch Jesus up in a popularity dilemma. The topic was taxes, just bringing up the very word “tax” to an Israelite at that time, was to kindle anger of the deepest variety. They may have picked this particular topic, because Matthew, the author of this very gospel to his Hebrew contemporaries, was a former agent of Rome collecting taxes from his brethren. Tax collectors had earned a reputation lower than harlots or sodomites in this day and age. They were in effect traitors to their people, doing Rome’s work, and then profiting off of it besides. If Caesar demanded a single penny from a farmer, the tax collector may very well take two, and keep one himself. This made the process even more onerous, and the tax collector more hated, perhaps rightly so. So the Pharisees figured there would be no way to discuss taxes with an honest Jesus and not embarrass Him immensely.
Matthew begins in chapter twenty-two picking up in verse 15 saying … “Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. [verse 16] And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. [verse 17] Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?” Nothing was left to chance in setting this trap. The Pharisees sent Herodians with their disciples to act as witnesses for the state, in the event that an otherwise honest Jesus decides to get hinky with an unpopular topic like this one. The Pharisees feared Jesus may just bow to the will of the people on this, so they actually sent government spies to watch in case He did. They also used a proxy, that is, they sent their disciples to execute the trap so no one could ever directly accuse them of any impropriety in trying to spring a trap like this one. Perhaps they used disciples Jesus had never met, so He would not see any connection back to themselves.
Then to disguise the trap, the disciples use the highest form of false flattery upon Jesus, first calling Him Master. Then proceeding to compliment Jesus again on how He ALWAYS teaches the truth. If they really believed this, they would not be there trying to spring a trap on Him. They would have joined His ranks and become true disciples of the Most High God. But they did not believe this, so their words were lies as they crossed the lips of those who did not mean a word of it. I wonder, do we do the same? Do we compliment our God in our prayers, bragging about how good He is, and how He is good all the time; yet the minute adversity blows our way, we crumble and blame God for it. Then our true beliefs emerge as we blame God for every horror that happens on earth, casting Him as an angry God, who is looking to punish us for our deeds, instead of redeem our hearts from them.
Or worse, we cast Him as a God who just does not care enough to save us from the horror that has come our way. Never once acknowledging what we do, or sin, or a devil bent on our misfortune as the cause of what we stumble into. Cancer was not put here by God, it exists because evil exists. No disease was ever intended to exist. It is the very presence of evil in our world that permits diseases to become part of our knowledge of good and of evil. We were intended to be ignorant of them. But instead we chose to become familiar with them. This is the knowledge our God thought it best we never understood let alone encountered. Breaking trust with God resulted in all of this. But this was not God’s idea, and His number one job is to redeem us from evil, and extinguish the effects of evil on a permanent basis. Not as a punishment for those who embrace it, but as salvation for those who want no more to ever be a part of it.
Beyond the lies they believe about what Jesus’ preaching includes, the disciples also compliment Jesus on being no respecter of persons – essentially that Jesus would talk to Caesar the same way He talks to a beggar in the street. This further false flattery is not something they believe, but they are taunting Him into staying true to this course in order for Him to answer the trap badly. And so after meticulously laying the trap, they spring it – asking Jesus if it is lawful to pay taxes. Notice they do not make reference to which law. They could have been talking about the law of Moses, or of Herod, or of Rome, or of God. They leave this reference unclear so they can combat Him no matter how He answers. This was the best minds in the country, coming up with the best test, they could imagine. All to trap Jesus in front of the people.
Matthew continues the story in verse 18 saying … “But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?” Yikes! It is as if a bright light is turned on in a dirty kitchen late at night, and the cockroaches who were all to happy to feast in the darkness are now revealed by the brilliant light, their antennae darting back and forth as they scream to each other “we must hide, we must hide”. They run for the corners looking to be rehidden by the darkness, but it will not come. Jesus perceived their wickedness. He knows in an instant who did this, who was responsible for this, and what they are trying to do. He calls out their hypocrisy as He knows they do not believe a word they say to Him, about Him at least. He knows it is false flattery. And then in bone chilling words He once used with Satan himself, He asks these wicked men, why they are tempting Him.
And do our prayers that say one thing, and our lives that witness another, earn us a similar response? When we treat sin like gold, and freedom from sin, like a pain we want to avoid – do we not behave the same way as our Pharisee forefathers? We have countless requests of our God, for the millions of things we think we need. But only routine prayers to say thank you for food, and even less so when our other requests are granted. Our prayer life resembles a child on Santa’s lap at the mall. Our hearts are revealed to the same God who walked among us, as He walked among these Pharisees. They did not believe they needed to change; how many of us believe exactly the same thing. We count ourselves “good” enough already, just like they did.
Jesus responds picking up in verse 19 saying … “Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. [verse 20] And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? [verse 21] They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.” Hold the phone!! There is not supposed to be any “good” option in this response. There is not supposed to be a “good” answer. This was a trap of bad vs worse, no good option allowed or anticipated. And this is why you lose. You, me, the Pharisees back then, all keep looking at situations with human eyes, limited by human thinking, and ideas about what is possible and not possible. Instead, we could be turning over our “impossible” situations and decisions to God and watch what He can do, instead of trying to dictate to Him what we want Him to do. Our prayers “telling” God what to do, are as worthless as our trying to take things into our own hands in the first place. We are in effect, trying to lead God. When we should be surrendering to God and following whatever He decides – expecting what He does, to not look like anything we would have thought of, and to be a million times better than anything we could have imagined.
The conclusion of this story occurs in verse 22 saying … “When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.” This response is so strikingly sad. They heard Him. They were blown away that He had figured a way out of their trap. And then they left Him and went their way. Notice nowhere in that response was any sort of change on their part. They did not become disciples after that. They did not repent of their intentions. They scurried back like the cockroach, to plan another attack in the darkness, for darkness is what they craved. Make no mistake, when you walk away from the light, you are headed for no other destination than the darkness.
People who treat Jesus as some kind of option, or some kind of alternative – believing that spirituality is all that counts, and doing good all that matters – walk away from His light, into the darkness of deceit. Jesus offers you a real change in who you are, how you think, and how you love. You cannot fix that. You, on your own, may not even believe that needs fixing. But it does. It is the self-love that cripples you, and damages others. And because self is at the center of it, you are powerless to fix it. But Jesus is a master at re-creating you from who you are now, into what He knows you are capable of being. He is not looking to leave you in your misery, making excuses for your pain. He is looking to lift you out of your misery, freeing you from your pain forever. That is the kind of change we can all embrace. The free kind. The kind that comes from submission, instead of control. Walk away from your own ideas about bad and good, possible and impossible, and turn it over to Jesus, who can do things, and show you things, and make you into something you could never have imagined. And the word regret will have meaning to you no more.
But the traps for Jesus were not to be ended just yet …
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