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 Beware of anyone who flatters you.  Flattery is a form of manipulation that should put you on guard the second your ears hear it.  Odds are, when you’re being flattered, the person doing the flattering is trying to get something from you or set you up for something unwise or unholy.

 The Pharisees and Herodians that were sent to Jesus came on a mission to trap Him in His words.  They didn’t like Him, trust Him, or worship Him.  They rejected Him and wanted to make Him look bad in front of others.  They sought to rob Him of His influence and authority, and they mistakenly believed flattery might help them achieve their goal.

 Scripture tells us that they chose to flatter Jesus by acknowledging that He spoke the truth and wasn’t swayed by the opinions of others.  They even had the audacity to applaud Him for teaching the way of God, even though they didn’t really believe what He said.

 With their flattery out of the way, these leaders got to the crux of their question and asked Jesus if it was lawful for the people of Israel to pay taxes to Caesar.  They wanted Jesus to take a public position on this contentious issue because they believed His answer was certain to upset someone.