Matthew 22:15

“The Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.”

It seems as though it was the group that followed the strictest Judaism, the Pharisees, that was the most intent on destroying Jesus. In this case they reached out to their opponents, the Herodians, to try to trap Jesus and thus destroy him.  We recall that the Herodians were those who cooperated with King Herod who was appointed by the Emperor of Rome. This was contrary to the beliefs of the Pharisees who wanted nothing at all to do with the Roman authorities.  But when it came to dealing with Jesus, they both detested Jesus and wanted him killed.  So they agreed to ask Jesus if it is right to pay the tax levied by the Herodians for Roman use.  The Herodians expected  Jesus to say, “No,” in which case he is an enemy of the State.  That was their case against Jesus.

The Pharisees wanted to see Jesus trapped. That was their ultimate intent. Jesus picked that up and replied, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?” He knew the answer to his own question – because they wanted to destroy Jesus.

So, Jesus, noting that the coin before them had Caesar on it, he simply replied, “Give to Caesar what is his and to God what is God’s.”

Neither the Herodians or the Pharisees were prepared to spell out what was Caesar’s and what was God’s so they just walked away.

May I suggest that the Roman kingdom is spelled with a small “k” in this version while the Kingdom of God is spelled with a capital “K.”  I like that.