13
to explain why the Pharisees specifically hated Jesus. He had parabolically condemned
Israel's leadership but not heretofore castigated the Pharisees. Yet through the preceding
sections of the Gospel, Jesus and the Pharisees have clashed repeatedly, especially over
interpretation of the Torah. Jesus was a threat to them theologically and sociologically,
undermining their hermeneutic and reliance on oral traditions and their popularity with the
people of the land was being undercut by Jesus fame.
46
So threatened, they were willing
to conspire with even the Herodians to snare Jesus in His words. The Herodians, who
were accepting of the Roman dominance, worked together with the Pharisees to oppose
Jesus, because "he was introducing a new kingdom that neither wanted."
47
The delegation of Pharisees launched the trap, asking a legal question, "
e[xestin
dou`nai kh`nson Kaivsari h] ou[
?" The prospect of trapping Jesus delighted them. Praised
as Son of David and regarded as a prophet, the Pharisaic leaders had only to discredit
Jesus by verbal trickery to dissuade the crowd from their initial high opinion. Any man
stumped, shamed, and ridiculed to silence would not be a suitable candidate for Messiah-
King. With Jesus on the fickle tight rope of public popularity, it would only take a little
push or a small slip and a drastic fall would ensue, destroying his honorable reputation. If
Jesus answered in the affirmative, he would incur the disfavor of the people possessed of
a Messianic fever. If he answered "no," the Herodians could charge him with sedition.
For his riposte, Jesus asked to see a coin
48
and then inquired, "
Tivno" hJ eijkw;n au{th
kai; hJ ejpigrafhv
?" Jesus pronounces an astonishingly insightful maxim: "
ajpovdote ou\n ta;
45
Bock, 328; Morris, 552; and Keener, 523.
46
From the vantage point of an agnostic society, envy motivated the hatred of the Pharisees and
blinded them from recognizing the significance of the moment of His Messianic self-disclosure. In a world of
limited goods, including honor, they must increase and He must decrease.
47
Stephen Westerholm, "Pharisees," in Dictionary of Jesus and Gospels , 611-12; and W. H. Hoehner,
"Herodian Dynasty," in DJG, 325.
48
Exasperated with their evil intentions, he first rebuked them for testing him and then called them out
as "
uJpokritaiv
." The denarius visual aid demonstrated their hypocrisy since Jews were not to have pagan
money in the Temple in the first place. Denarii had an idolatrous image of Caesar Tiberius on them and were
inscribed with "Tiberius Caesar, son of divine Augustus" on one side and " pontifex maximus " on the other.
Roman money was not acceptable in payment of the Temple tax. While the Jews had fought to keep Caesar's
image on the Roman standards from entering Jerusalem, yet, they carried his image on the money in their
purses. "One would make such as exception for money only if money were of extreme importance." See E.
Ferguson, Background of Early Christianity 2d ed. (Eerdmans, 1993), 84-86; Keener, 526; Neyrey, 112.