They sent some Pharisees and Herodians to him to ensnare him in his speech. They came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone's opinion. You do not regard a person's status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?" Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, "Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at." They brought one to him and he said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They replied to him, "Caesar's." So Jesus said to them, "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.' They were utterly amazed at him. (Mk 12:13-17)
The Pharisees and the others always wanted to trap Jesus. They question him about Sabbath rules, about authority; ask for signs and so on. They were constantly putting to question and always with the intention of ensnaring him. This was because Jesus was different from the others and different from other leaders who were coming up to redeem the people. There was always something which they could not understand about him.
Even the opponents gave a very positive note about Jesus and his dealings. They considered him as a man of truthfulness. He was not a man to be carried away by opinions and views of the people. He was not a man of compromise. He was also not a man to be carried away by people in posts and positions. Jesus was a man who would not be influenced by people of authority and views and opinions of people. For him truth was everything.
One of the truths that he preached in this context is that people should not be confused about religion and society. Rather they should not confuse religion with society. Both are important and in fact they are two sides of the same coin. When one is overstressed at the expense of the other then he becomes either fundamentalist or communalist; depends on which one he stresses.
