Jesus had integrity (John 19:4), but His enemies tried to snare Him by getting Him to say things that would incriminate Himself. Ultimately, their plans were not so subtle - they expressed their hatred in a night-time arrest, followed by an unfair trial without true evidence being presented leading to a corrupt sentence, physical violence and death. They hated Jesus so much that they wanted Him dead.

In Jesus’ day, the religious leaders were in two main groupings: Pharisees (who believed in an afterlife with a bodily resurrection), and the Sadducees (who did not). Jesus had been saying that He would rise from the dead (Matthew 16:21, Matthew 17:9, Matthew 17:23, Matthew 20:19). That threatened the theology and credibility of the Sadducees in the eyes of the people. Those leaders wanted to discredit Jesus, and so they invented a story in the form of a riddle to trap Him … and prove that they were right.

Religious activity in Israel was controlled by two groups of leaders, Sadducees and Pharisees. Sadducees adhered strictly to the written Law in the first five books of the Bible, oversaw temple worship but denied that there was an afterlife. The Pharisees also taught from the Law of Moses but added many extra rules which God had never given, which became part of their culture. In their minds, the more diligent they were in their religious practices, the more God would be pleased. But what about those laws they failed to keep?

In many cultures, it is considered rude to say anything which other people might not agree with. It is important for communities to exercise social tolerance in order to bond together. However, when lies, error or falsehood of any kind is tolerated, social bonds are always weakened, and the community will fragment. Jesus spoke directly about this problem to the crowds and His disciples. It was an essential part of His teaching to His trainee apostles who would, in the future, deal with false prophets who would try to pull the church away from the truth of the gospel (2 Peter 2:1).