Wednesday, 26 August 2026 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” Matthew  “You tell, therefore, us what You, it seems? It permits to give census to Caesar or not?” (CG) In the previous verse, it was noted that the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians went to Jesus, buttering Him up with platitudes. Now that they feel He is primed for a fall into the trap they have set, they say, “You tell, therefore, us what to You, it seems.” Here it goes. In the previous verse, they said to Jesus, “Teacher, we have known that true, You are, and the ‘way, the God’ in truth You teach, and not it concerns You about anyone. Not, also, You look to ‘appearance, men’.” Now, instead of asking what Scripture (the ‘way, the God’) says, they ask for an opinion that is surely intended to trap Him in a moral, religious, or cultural dilemma. One can see them salivating over the answer He will give, knowing that they have Him in a box. And so, with this in mind, they ask their question, “It permits to give census to Caesar or not?” The kensos, census, was introduced in Matthew  This is where they feel that they have trapped Him. If He says to not pay it, the Herodians are standing there, ready to report Him to the Roman authorities for being a rebel against their duly set authority. On the other hand, if He says that they were to pay the poll tax, the Pharisees, as the religious authorities over the people, would be able to tell the masses that Jesus was a traitor to the nation, placing the authority of the Romans above supposed allegiance to God, who established them as a people. The idea of “supposed” is not that the people could be disobedient to God, but that there may be a contingency not suggested in the presentation of their false dilemma that had nothing to do with disobedience to God. Life application: As noted in a previous commentary, fallacies are mistakes in reasoning that render an argument weak, unsound, or invalid. The content of the fallacy is based on an already broken structure of argumentation. The problem is that people quite often do not know what fallacies are or when they are presented. Instead, they hear what is being presented and, without thinking the matter through, assume that what is stated is valid. And there are a seemingly endless number of fallacies to contend with. Some, like the false dilemma, are often so seemingly innocuous that they are hard to pin down, especially when one is under pressure to give a response. A few common fallacies are: Ad Hominem – Attacking the person making an argument instead of the argument itself. Straw Man – Changing or exaggerating an opponent's argument to make it easier to knock down. False Dilemma – Pretending there are only two choices when there are more options. Appeal to Authority – Claiming something is true just because an expert or famous person says so, without real evidence. Bandwagon (Ad Populum) – Saying an idea is right because lots of people believe in it. Circular Reasoning – Repeating the claim inside the proof itself instead of giving a real reason. Slippery Slope – Claiming that a small first step will lead to a giant, bad disaster without proof. Hasty Generalization – Making a giant rule based on just a small example. We hear these errors in thinking all the time, but don’t consider them because we have not taken the time to understand what is being presented or who is presenting the information. Take time to go to a website that specifically lists fallacies and look them over. Consider each one in your mind before moving on. This will help you immensely when you hear people refer to all types of matters. One from a religious perspec