MATTHEW 22:15-22; MARK 12:13-17; LUKE 20:20-26
Matthew 22:15. That they might entrap him in his words. The Pharisees,
perceiving that all their other attempts against Christ had been fruitless,
at length concluded that the best and most expeditious method of destroying
him was, to deliver him to the governor, as a seditious person and a disturber
of the peace. There was at that time, as we have seen under another passage,
a great disputing among the Jews about the tribute-money; for, since the
Romans had claimed for themselves the tribute-money, which God commanded
to be paid to Himself under the Law of Moses, (Exodus 30:13,) the Jews
everywhere complained that it was a shameful and intolerable crime for
profane men to lay claim, in this manner, to a divine prerogative; besides
that, as this payment of tribute, which was enjoined on them by the Law,
was a testimony of their adoption, they looked upon themselves as deprived
of an honor to which they had a just claim. Now the deeper any man’s poverty
was, the bolder did it render him to raise sedition.
This trick of taking Christ by surprise is therefore continued by the
Pharisees, that, in whatever way he reply as to the tribute money, they
may lay snares for him. If he affirm that they ought not to pay, he will
be convicted of sedition. If, on the contrary, he acknowledge it to be
justly due, he will be held to be an enemy of his nation, and a betrayer
of the liberty of his country. Their principal object is, to lead the people
to dislike him. This is the entrapping to which the Evangelists refer;
for they suppose that Christ is surrounded on all sides by nets, so that
he can no longer escape. Having avowed themselves to be his enemies, and
knowing that they would, on that account, be suspected, they put forward—as
Matthew states—some of their disciples. Luke, again, calls them spies,
who pretended to be righteous men; that is, persons who deceitfully professed
an honest and proper desire to learn: for the pretense of righteousness
is not here used in a general sense, but is limited to the present occasion,
because they would not have been received, had they not made a pretense
of docility and of genuine zeal.
With the Herodians. They take along with them the Herodians,
because they were more favorable to the Roman government, and therefore
would be more disposed to raise an accusation. It is worthy of attention
that, though those sects had fierce contentions with each other, so bitter
was their hatred against Christ, that they conspired to destroy him. What
the sect of the Herodions was, we have formerly explained for, Herod being
only half a Jew, or a spurious and corrupt professor of the Law, those
who desired that the Law should be kept with exactness and in every part,
condemned him and his impure worship; but he had his flatterers, who gave
plausible excuses for his false doctrine. In addition to the other sects,
therefore, there sprung up at that time a religion of the Court.
16. Master, we know that thou art true. This is the righteousness
which they counterfeit, when they offer humble subjection to Christ, as
if they were desirous to learn, and as if they not only had some relish
for piety, but also were fully convinced of his doctrine; for if what they
said had been from the heart, this would have been true uprightness. And
therefore from their words we may obtain a definition of a good and faithful
teacher, such as they pretended to believe Christ to be. They say that
he is true, and teaches the way of God; that is, he is a faithful interpreter
of God, and that he teaches it in truth; that is, without any corruption.
The way of God is contrasted with the inventions of men, and with all foreign
doctrines; and truth is contrasted with ambition, covetousness, and other
wicked dispositions, which usually corrupt the purity of instruction. So
then he ought to be reckoned a true teacher, who does not introduce the
contrivances of men, or depart from the pure word of God, but gives out,
as it were, with his hands what he has learned from the mouth of God, and
who, from a sincere desire of edification, accommodates his doctrine to
the advantage and salvation of the people, and does not debase it by any
disguise. As to this latter clause, when Paul asserts that he
does not make merchandise of the word of God,
(2 Corinthians 2:17,)
he means that there are some persons who use dexterity, and do not openly
overturn sound doctrine, or incur the disgrace of holding wicked opinions,
but who disguise and corrupt the purity of doctrine, because they are ambitious,
or covetous, or easily turned in various directions according to their
earnest desire. He therefore compares them to jockeys, (kuphlleu>ontev,)
because they deprave the pure use of the word of God.
For thou regardest not the person of men. It is also worthy of
attention, that those hypocrites likewise add, that Christ teaches rightly,
because he has no regard for the person of men. Nothing has a more powerful
tendency to withdraw teachers from a faithful and upright dispensation
of the word than to pay respect to men; for it is impossible that any one
who
desires to please men (Galatians 1:10)
should truly devote himself to God. Some attention, no doubt, is due
to men, but not so as to obtain their favor by flattery. In short, in order
to walk uprightly, we must necessarily put away respect of persons, which
obscures the light and perverts right judgment, as God frequently inculcates
in the Law, (Deuteronomy 1:16; 16:19,) and as experience also points out.
Thus Christ (John 7:24) contrasts acceptance of persons (proswpolhyi>an)
and sound judgment as things totally different.
18. Knowing their malice. They had opened the conversation in
such a manner that they did not appear to differ at all from excellent
scholars. Whence then had Christ this knowledge, but because his Spirit
was a discerner of hearts? It was not by human conjecture that he perceived
their cunning, but because he was God he penetrated into their hearts,
and therefore they gained nothing by attempting the concealment of flattery
and of pretended righteousness. Accordingly, before giving a reply, he
exhibited a proof of his Divinity by laying open their concealed malice.
Now since wicked men every day employ snares of the same kind, while their
inward malice is concealed from us, we ought to pray to Christ to bestow
upon us the spirit of discernment, and that what he had by nature and by
his own right he may grant to us by a free gift. How much we need this
prudence, is evident from the consideration that, if we do not guard against
the snares of the wicked, we shall constantly expose the doctrine of God
to their calumnies.
19. Show me the tribute-money. When Christ orders them to bring
forward a coin, though at first sight it appears to be of no great importance,
yet it is sufficient for breaking their snares. In this way they had already
made an acknowledgment of subjection, so that Christ did not find it necessary
to enjoin upon them any thing new. The coin was stamped with Caesar’s likeness;
and thus the authority of the Roman government had been approved and admitted
by the general practice. Hence it was evident that the Jews themselves
had voluntarily come under obligation to pay tribute for they had given
up to the Romans the power of the sword; and there was no propriety in
making a separate dispute about the tribute-money, for that question depended
on the general arrangements of the government.
21. Render therefore to Caesar those things which are Caesar’s. Christ
reminds them that, as the subjection of their nation was attested by the
coin, there ought to be no debate on that subject; as if he had said, “If
you think it strange to pay tribute, be not subjects of the Roman Empire.
But the money (which men employ as the pledge of mutual exchanges) attests
that Caesar rules over you; so that, by your own silent consent, the liberty
to which you lay claim is lost and gone.” Christ’s reply does not leave
the matter open, but contains full instruction on the question which had
been proposed. It lays down a clear distinction between spiritual and civil
government, in order to inform us that outward subjection does not prevent
us from having within us a conscience free in the sight of God. For Christ
intended to refute the error of those who did not think that they would
be the people of God, unless they were free from every yoke of human authority.
In like manner, Paul earnestly insists on this point, that they ought not
the less to look upon themselves as serving God alone, if they obey human
laws, if they pay tribute, and bend the neck to bear other burdens, (Romans
13:7.) In short, Christ declares that it is no violation of the authority
of God, or any injury done to his service, if, in respect of outward government,
the Jews obey the Romans.
He appears also to glance at their hypocrisy, because, while they carelessly
permitted the service of God to be corrupted in many respects, and even
wickedly deprived God of his authority, they displayed such ardent zeal
about a matter of no importance; as if he had said, “You are exceedingly
afraid, lest, if tribute be paid to the Romans, the honor of God may be
infringed; but you ought rather to take care to yield to God that service
which he demands from you, and, at the same the to render to men what is
their due.” We might be apt to think, no doubt, that the distinction does
not apply; for, strictly speaking, when we perform our duty towards men,
we thereby render obedience to God. But Christ, accommodating his discourse
to the common people, reckoned it enough to draw a distinction between
the spiritual kingdom of God, on the one hand, and political order and
the condition of the present life, on the other. We must therefore attend
to this distinction, that, while the Lord wishes to be the only Lawgiver
for governing souls, the rule for worshipping Him must not be sought from
any other source than from His own word, and that we ought to abide by
the only and pure worship which is there enjoined; but that the power of
the sword, the laws, and the decisions of tribunals, do not hinder the
worship of God from remaining entire amongst us.
But this doctrine extends still farther, that every man, according to
his calling, ought to perform the duty which he owes to men; that children
ought willingly to submit to their parents, and servants to their masters;
that they ought to be courteous and obliging towards each other, according
to the law of charity, provided that God always retain the highest authority,
to which every thing that can be due to men is, as we say, subordinate.
The amount of it therefore is, that those who destroy political order are
rebellious against God, and therefore, that obedience to princes and magistrates
is always joined to the worship and fear of God; but that, on the other
hand, if princes claim any part of the authority of God, we ought not to
obey them any farther than can be done without offending God.
22. They wondered at him. Here, too, it appears how God turns
to a different purpose the wicked attempts of His enemies, and not only
disappoints their expectation, but even drives them back with disgrace.
It will sometimes happen, no doubt, that wicked men, though vanquished,
do not cease to growl; but, though their insolence be not subdued, however
numerous may be their assaults on the Word of God, there is an equal number
of victories which God has in his hand, to triumph over them and Satan
their head. But in this reply, Christ intended to give a peculiar display
of his glory, by compelling those men to depart crowned with shame.
