Jesus has told a parable about paying rent to a remote landlord. His opponents knew it was about their misbehaviour and went away angry. Now they send others to exploit Jesus’ words in order to trap him. He says it’s right to pay distant overlords, does that include their Roman ‘master’: Caesar? It’s a lose-lose question where Jesus either gets slandered to the crowd or to the authorities. But he escapes the trap, exposes their own wrong attitudes and teaches important lessons to his disciples.
Photo from Yorkshire Museum, via Wikimedia Commons
And here is a short talk based on the same passage: He Changed The World (Episode 50)