The Pharisees and Sadducees Refuted. Luke 20, 19-47.
The question of the Pharisees: V. 19. And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on Him; and they feared the people, for they perceived that He had spoken this parable against them. V. 20. And they watched Him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of His words, that so they might deliver Him unto the power and authority of the governor. V. 21. And they asked Him, saying, Master, we know that Thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest Thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly. V. 22. Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no?
So embittered were the scribes and the chief priests on account of the merciless frankness of Jesus that they sought to lay violent hands upon Him in that very hour. But their fear of the people caused them to take such a step under advisement. Though they fairly ached to vent their anger upon Jesus, since they understood that the parable had been spoken against them, yet they deemed it expedient not to try extreme measures. The people at the time of Jesus, not having received the proper instruction in the Word of God, were about as fickle as the majority of the people to-day that live without God in the world and are driven hither and thither by every wind of doctrine, no matter from which side it is presented. But they had to do something to have an outlet for their feelings, and so they employed watchers and sent them to observe every move the Lord made and every word He spoke.
The instructions of these spies were simple. They were to simulate great piety and righteousness, surely not a difficult matter for the sanctimonious hypocrites, all for the purpose of laying hold of some word of His, which might be construed in His disfavor. In that event the Jewish leaders wanted to deliver Him to the rule and authority of the Roman governor. To strike once and for always, under the semblance of honesty, in the pose of men that were sincerely anxious to know and do their duty, that was the program of the Jewish leaders.
Their ingenuousness in the entire matter seems pitiful when the omniscience of Christ is taken into account. But they earnestly try to insinuate themselves into His favor by words of honeyed flattery.
There are three points which they hold up before Him in order that He may not recognize their true selves under the mask. They flattered Him that He had sound judgment, that He always said the right thing at the right time; they praised His impartiality, that it made no difference to Him whom the sentence would strike, so long as the truth prevailed; they gave due deference to His sincerity, that He always said just what He thought. All of which, in their mouths, was the basest and most hideous flattery.
But what made the matter almost ghastly was the fact that every word they uttered was true, in the full sense of the word. If only they had come to Him with sincerity in their heart and with openness of mind, then He would have been but too glad to lead their steps on the right way for their soul's salvation.
Their question was in the nature of an alternative, whether it was the right, the proper, the obligatory thing to pay tribute, the imperial tax to the Roman emperor, or not. Whether the answer of Jesus proved to be positive or negative, the Pharisees hoped to gain the upper hand. For should He, in the presence of such notorious opponents of the Roman government, declare Himself against the payment of the tax, then they could accuse Him before the governor. But should He declare Himself in favor of paying the tax, then they could fasten the suspicion upon Him, as though He were not the true friend of the people, but an abettor of the Roman tyranny.