Flattery

In Matt 22:15-21, I was reminded of an Aesop Fable I was reading to my granddaughter.  The scripture verse was The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech.  They sent their disciples to him with the Horodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.  And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status..."
    Knowing their malice, Jesus said, "why are you testing me, you hypocrites? ..."

The Pharisees flattered Jesus telling Him that they knew He was truthful.  But their flattery was obvious.  Jesus knows their hearts and called them hypocrites!

Aesop has a fable about a sly fox and a bird.  The bird had a big yummy cube of cheese in its beak.  The fox wanted it.  So the fox flattered the bird.  "I heard that you had the most beautiful voice in the forest."  The bird was a fool and fell for the flattery.  He opened his beak to sing and in doing that the cube of cheese fell out and down into the mouth of the fox.  This time flattery worked.

Don't be susceptible to flattery.  Be suspicious of anyone flattering you.

The Scorecard

Monseigneur Peter's homily made me smile. I knew exactly what he was talking about. It's like a baseball game--you need a scorecard to know the players. I'm talking about Sunday's Gospel, Matt. 22: 15-21.

On one side you have the Pharisees. The leaders of the law. The protectors of religion.
The other side you have the Herodians. They represent the secular. Those that owed the government their livelihood. They support King Herod who support Caesar. Normally, the Pharisees and the Herodians were on opposite sides. But they've joined together to defeat Jesus. A common enemy united them.

Then there's their opponent, Jesus. They throw him a curve ball. They slick it down to slide towards Him, ever so smoothly, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and than you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth...", but it's a trick.

Will Jesus be fooled?

No! Jesus hits the ball out of the park.

"Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God."