Trust in the light of the Holy Spirit

The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap him in speech.  They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status.  Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” Knowing their malice, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?”  (Matthew 22:15-18)

The first thing I thought when I read this passage in Matthew today was that this could be a snapshot of current American politics!

The Pharisees were “hypocrites” filled with “malice”.  They were also cowards in that they wouldn’t even act on their own malicious plot.  Instead, they sent some of their own disciples to try to trap Jesus.  Most likely, the Pharisees sat and discussed this plot in great detail, instructing these messengers on exactly what to say.

They began by complimenting Jesus telling Him they knew He is a “truthful man.”  They then went on to say that they knew Jesus is “not concerned with anyone’s opinion.”  These two accurate qualities of Jesus were spoken because the Pharisees believed they could use them as the foundation of their trap.  If Jesus is truthful and not concerned about other’s opinions, then surely, they could expect Him to declare that there’s no need to pay the temple tax.  The result of such a statement by Jesus would be that He would be arrested by the Romans. 

The sad truth is that the Pharisees spent a tremendous amount of energy plotting and planning this malicious trap.  What a waste of time; time they could have spent spreading love and service to others!  And the glorious truth is that Jesus spent hardly any energy dismantling their plot and revealing them for the malicious hypocrites they were.  He said, “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Matthew 22:21).

Why it is that human nature feels the need to make everything so transactional?   Why is it that humans need tear others down in order to feel good about themselves?   Why is it so easy to get ‘sucked’ into negativity, mistrust, judgment, and cynicism?   Pharisees and Herodians were very strange bedfellows – they hated each other!  Maybe that’s the message of this gospel, be careful who you hate – hate never has a good outcome!

Jesus is always about love.  They wanted to trip Him up, they’d do anything to ‘catch’ Him – even join their hate together!  

We all belong to God’s Kingdom.  We’re heirs to God and God’s kingdom, and that defines for us who we are and Whose we are (Romans 8:16-17).   We have a privileged citizenship, and we’re called to extend that privilege to all in God’s kingdom.   We, like Jesus need to be voices of love and truth to all facets of our lives.  We can’t be about plotting against, we must be about building the kingdom, finding ways to bridge rather than divide, search for common ground that makes room for growth, vision, and possibility.  We must be like Jesus and learn to make room for the light of the Holy Spirit – and trust where that light shines (Philippians 2:16-17).