Daily Devotional For Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Good morning Southside. It looks like that old man winter is going to be here awhile with temps dropping in the teens at nights. We are making our way through the Gospel of John and we are going verse-by-verse taking our time to draw from each verse God’s applicable truth for our lives. Today, we come to Matthew 22:15-22:
“Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said. (16) And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. (17) Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?’ (18) But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, ‘Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?(19) Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.’ And they brought Him a denarius. (20) And He said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ ( 21) They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then He said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.’ (22) And hearing this, they were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away” (NASB).
Benjamin Franklin in 1789 in a letter wrote this, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” In this passage we see our enemies join forces against another perceived enemy – Jesus. Pharisees hated Rome and anyone employed or serving Rome. The Herodians loved Rome and all of Roman culture. In some way, this reminds us of an ancient Sanskrit (sacred writing and language) from India attributed to Arthashastra who said this, “The enemy of my enemy is my enemy.”
In 4 B.C. Herod the Great died and Rome divided his kingdom among his sons. The Pharisees did not like Jesus because He exposed their hypocrisy and extortion. The Herodians saw Jesus as a threat with His supernatural power. The Herodians lost temporary power and control when there was a political uprising by the Jews. Rome deposed Archelaus (Herod’s son) for this and replaced him with a different Roman governor. The Herodians feared if Jesus led any kind of revolt as some kind of Jewish Messiah, Rome would remove all of Herod’s sons and Herod’s descendants would never rule again. So to them, Jesus was a threat. The Pharisees hated and opposed Roman taxation and the Herodians supported it. So, these two opposing forces joined an alliance to trap Jesus. Remember, it was Herod who had John the Baptizer beheaded.
As you and I read this, they decided to attempt to flatter Jesus with lies about His sincerity and His refusal to show bias or partiality to anyone. They were hoping to “butter Jesus up for the kill.” It says that Jesus saw through their “malice.” The trap was a question of right or wrong; Jesus said it is neither. Jesus said it is an issue of timing and priority.
“Poll-tax” is the Greek New Testament word [κῆνσος; kēnsos], which is taken from the Latin word “censere,” from which we get out English word census. This was a tax the Jews hated because every year when this poll-tax came around, Rome took a census to see who was of age to now pay it. We see this poll-tax requirement being taken during a census when Jesus was born in Bethlehem (see Luke 2:1-4).
In 63 BC Rome conquered Israel and forced her to pay census taxes, which the Jews hated. Then in 6 A.D., Rome instituted other taxes on Israel that had to be collected by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court. This infuriated these Jewish religious leaders to be forced to collect taxes on their own people to send to a pagan government. Paying taxes for being occupied by an enemy and paying taxes for all the sinful activities attributed to Rome was hated by the Jews. In addition:
- A land tax of 1/10 of the grain and ⅕ of the win and oil produced was assessed annually.
- A 1% income tax on all wage earners.
- An annual census tax was also taken. Everyone 14-65 had to pay this. This was equivalent to one day’s wage.
- Rome also collected custom taxes at all major ports and crossroads. Tax was 2-5% of the value of the goods. Rome’s justification for all of this was what they called the Pax Romna – Roman Peace.
Jews hated paying these taxes because to them it meant their money was going to support their oppressors and symbolized their subjection to their oppressors. Much of these taxes went to support their pagan temples with all kinds of perversions, their military and those in power. Rome allowed their tax collectors to charge what they wanted above the required amount and that tax collector could keep the rest for themselves. Failure to pay your taxes could be punishable up to even death.
For most countries living under the Pax Romana, these conquered countries had been in so many wars they could not remember a time of peace. Rome conquered all the known world at that time with their vast and fierce military, most people lived in peace. Yet, the Jews hated all of this and from them emerged a group called Zealots, who looked for every opportunity to kill any Roman soldier or anyone who supported Rome. Such a Zealot group in 66 AD led a revolt against Rome that led to the total destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD as Jesus had prophesied.
So, the trap was this: If Jesus gave a favorable answer about paying the tax, the Jews would hate Him even more and thus the Jewish religious leaders would be in their right to have Jesus arrested for opposing paying taxes to Rome. If Jesus gave a non-favorable answer, then the Herodians could report Him to Rome and then let Rome arrest Jesus. It all seemed to both groups the perfect trap. Both groups felt they had a fail-safe trap that Jesus could not escape.
Jesus asked for a coin used to pay the poll-tax. It would have the emperor’s image on it. This was one denarius, the equivalent to one day’s wage for the average laborer. This is the coin Jesus asked for and used to expose their malice and to shut them up. Tomorrow, we will look more at this trap set for Jesus.
Reflection Assignment: On all US currency is inscribed, “In God We Trust.” This was first inscribed on coins beginning in 1864 during the Civil War. It is to remind us that our trust is not in money, but in God. It is a reminder not to let money be our master, but God. It is a reminder that our lives are more spiritual than physical. When you are using money, how aware are you of trusting in God when using it? We live in a culture that trusts everything but God. Other than God, who or what do you give your trust to and why?
Scripture To Meditate On: Romans 13:7, “Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, they say that death and taxes are guaranteed, but I believe Your love, grace, forgiveness, mercy and patience are also. Please forgive me when I put my trust in money of any kind, whether it is income from work, retirement, social security, and something else. Everything I have is Yours. You have loaned it to me to be a good steward of it. I pray that I will honor You with how I handle all the resources, especially money, you have entrusted to me. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly