It is a scene that could be taken from the daily news feed. A young upstart is confronted by two established leaders. While holding opposing views on many issues, the two band together in an attempt to trap the newcomer. This is not a start from the daily news, however. The newcomer is Jesus in today's Gospel passage. The two established leaders, one a Pharisee and the other a Herodian, think they can trap Jesus by posing a question about the payment of taxes. No matter how he might respond to their questions, they would have the means to discredit him. Jesus sees through their hypocrisy and does not fall into their trap. His response gets at the hears of what is truly important: "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."