This is the Baimah podcast with Marty Solomon. I'm his co-host, Brent Billings. Today, we see the religious leadership of both Pharisees and Sadducees attempting to trap Jesus with a series of testing questions and witness the rabbinical brilliance of Jesus as a Jewish teacher.

So, apparently in the midst of this storytelling, like Jesus spends this week going on the offensive, now the religious leaders decide after being confronted, Jesus goes after all this religious corruption, they decide it's their turn. They're going to go on the offensive.

Now, throughout the course of these stories here, we're going to bump into something that's really unusual. The text tells us that the Pharisees and the Sadducees at different points in this journey are going to work together, which is unheard of. Like, on some level, you can't even believe it.

The most likely explanation for this is there are some Pharisees who work together with the Sadducees. Because Pharisees and Sadducees, we've already looked at the two groups, are diametrically opposed. They hate each other.

Now, we know there were corrupt Pharisees on things like the Sanhedrin, there are corrupt Pharisees. There are corrupt Pharisees. So, they exist. It's not the norm, but they were out there. And whether it's those corrupt Pharisees that are working with the Sadducees, or whether it's

just a slim portion of Pharisees that see things, they sympathize with the Sadducees, or whether it's their hatred of Jesus that draws them together. But this idea of the Pharisees and the Sadducees working together, that's a big deal. They are wanting to try and trap Jesus. They're wanting to try pretty hard to do this if they're willing to work together to get it done.

And I've tried to remove Jesus from his place of cultural influence. So, one of the great Jewish debates, we've already talked about the great debates, right? Of Jesus's day, we're talking about the eight great debates.

One of the great debates was a debate that swirled about pain taxes. These great debates were fueled in large part by two rabbinic voices. Who were they, Brent? Tell me.

Hello, and Shamai. Hello, and Shamai. So, to understand the context of these two rabbinical schools is to have a much clearer perspective on the Jewish world of Jesus. And we've already talked about it, but it's always worth reviewing as we go through.

And the rabbinical generation that preceded Jesus, there were two rabbis who argued vehemently about the great Jewish debates. As we've seen, there was a conservative rabbi who held an interpretation of the law driven by the priorities of obedience. Who was that Brent? Which one?

Obedience is Shamai. Shamai is the obedience lens. The obedience yoke is the word we've used before. On the other corner was a rabbi who held to a much more progressive interpretation revolving around love for one's neighbor. And that, who was his name, Brent?

Hello, hello. These two worldviews competed passionately over the interpretation of the law and matters of great debate. Nevertheless, in order to understand the context of the debate about taxes, we need to first point out the real issue isn't about taxes at all.

Now, remember, we're reading out of which gospel Brent? Matthew. Matthew, I think Matthew was probably not written in Greek. So, that's my own personal opinion. But I always feel like it's the worst gospel to go to if you want to look at the actual words that are being chosen in the Greek.

I don't think Matthew is one that actually chose the words. I think Matthew wrote in Hebrew. Nevertheless, I love to go to Luke. And Luke doesn't use the same word here, which again, I feel like it's an indication that something fishy is up in Matthew's Greek. But nevertheless, Luke uses the word in Greek called Kensoss. Now, Kensoss doesn't speak of taxes. There is a word to use in Greek for taxes. Luke uses it elsewhere.

But the word he uses in this parallel story is the word Kensoss. The King James translates us accurately as tribute. Should we pay tribute to Caesar? Not taxes. The debate isn't about paying taxes as you and I would be familiar with paying taxes.

In fact, the tribute they speak of was a particular coin. We have a presentation today, Brent. It's been a while since we put together a little presentation. But you have a picture in there of the tribute coin of that same time period, I believe. I believe it's a type of a serious tribute coin. And that would have been the same coin used in the days of Jesus. There's a tribute coin. A particular coin that every resident in the Roman world was expected to purchase. So you buy the coin. And then this tribute coin could be used as a receipt that proved you had to pay tribute to Caesar.

That proved you had paid tribute to Caesar and to Rome upon validation of this receipt. You could be given incense at any number of different outposts where tribute was paid. You would offer the incense and your worship to Caesar. Now, we also have at least a picture, maybe two or three or more.

But we have a picture of a place called Omrite as a place that we go on our trips with our disciples. And Omrite is one of three tribute temples that we know of that was built by Herod the Great. Herod the Great built three temples to collect this tribute, not taxes, but this tribute for Caesar. It was an act of worship and of devotion.

And so you would take this tribute coin that you would buy. You would take it to one of these temples or we imagine probably other places as well throughout the empire. But this coin would then they would give you a little pinch of incense. You would take the incense and you would offer your pledge, your worship, your devotion to Caesar on the altar of the incense altar.

It should be worth noting that we have uncovered one of three tribute temples constructed by Herod the Great less than two miles from Cessaria, Philippi. Sounds familiar? Or was that Brent, Cessaria, Philippi? Where was it? Yeah, like where where we run into that. I feel like we heard of Cessaria, the gates of hell, the gates of hell, right?

The disciples have recently been, as Cessaria, Philippi, before Jesus set his course towards Jerusalem. Now understanding this context helps us understand the question being debated. It's not about paying money. The question is about idolatry.

Realize that amongst the differing Jewish responses we have looked at before, there would have been differing opinions. So the question is, the Great Jewish debate is, do I pay tribute to Caesar? Do I get this coin?

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