man : for tliou regardest not the per- son of men.
17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou ? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not ?
18 But Jesus perceived their wick- edness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites 3
19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription ?
21 They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them. Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's ; and unto God the things which are God's.
22 When they had heard tliese words ^ they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
We see in this passage the first of a series of subtle attacks, which were made on our Lord during the last days of His earthly ministry. His deadly foes, the Pharisees, saw the influence which He was obtaining, both by His miracles and by His preaching. They were determined by some means to silence Him, or put Him to death. They therefore endeavored to " entangle him in his talk.'' They sent forth "their disciples with the Hero- dians," to try Him with a hard question. They wished to entice Him into saying something which might serve as a handle for an accusation against Him. Their scheme, we are told in these verses, entirely failed. They took nothing by their movement, and retreated in confu- sion.
The first thing which demands our attention in these verses, is the flattering language loith ivliich our Lord tvas accosted by His e7iem{es. " Master," they said, " we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man ; for thou regardest not the person of men." How well these Pharisees and He- rodians talked ! What smooth and honeyed words were these ! They thought, no doubt, that by good words and fair speeches they would throw our Lord ofi" His guard. It might truly be said of them, " the words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart : his