The idiomatic expression ‘the fish is caught by its mouth’, as we all know, means people’s hidden intentions or motives are effectively exposed by the words that come out of their lips. In other worlds, people can be cornered by means of calculated questions posed on them. In their responses, they might involuntarily reveal hidden thoughts and intentions. In some instances, these utterances can be incriminating.

By the way, the Greek word for fish is icthus and ICHTUS was an early church acrostic for Jesus the Christ: Iesu, Cristos, Theos, Unus, Soter or Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.

The Pharisees (or Temple Authorities) and the Herodians[1] attempted to trap Jesus through a question. But Jesus was able to thwart their attempt to ensnare him. The Temple authorities left Jesus amazed.

Entrapment

A pastor and founder of Heartland Presbyterian Church in Clive, Iowa, D. Mark Davis, has a blog on the Matthew Reading entitled The Structure of Entrapment. He wrote:

The structure of the whole encounter has been between two options – acquiescence to the emperor or resistance to the emperor in the name of fidelity to God. The structure is introduced by the persons involved – Herodians and Pharisees, who are strange bedfellows, since their commitments should have put them on opposite sides of this matter. But, again, it is not a genuine question; it is a trap.[2]

So let us go into this entrapment story. The Pharisees and the Herodians were trying to trap Jesus through a tricky question: 17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”

This question has implications:

Paying taxes to the Emperor has the full effect that one acknowledges the emperor’s lordship. For in the Roman Empire, Caesar is considered god. For Jesus to say ‘yes’ would mean he worships man not God. If Jesus says no, it means he undermines Caesar’s authority and his words are seditious.

Yet, Jesus’ response was beyond interrogation: “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” It is convincingly correct to the Temple authorities and to the colonial state represented by the Herodians. The reply sent them away in a mixture of amazement and frustration. They failed to catch the fish by its mouth.

Yet, from the Creation story point of view, Jesus’ response was incriminating enough because the implication is that the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. Everything ultimately belongs to God. Caesar therefore owns nothing, including his life.

But sadly, the Pharisees and Herodians did not realize they were themselves in a kind of a trap.

The Pharisees and the Herodians failed to see the trap they were in. The Pharisees were entrapped in the ‘law and temple’ while the Herodians were entrapped in their being vassals of Rome. Both were ensnared, aware or unaware, in subservience to Caesar.

Is it possible for us that in the life that we live, we are trapped by circumstances we are unaware of? Or we are aware but and we do not want to do anything about it or do anything to change it. Will we just accept these seemingly unchangeable circumstances as they are?

Many of us find ourselves in this situation. We may believe we are truly free but in reality, we are inside a box. We think of society as unchangeable and there’s no way society or the world can be re-arranged or re-ordered. So, we begin to live a routine kind of life.

Do we sometimes feel we are trapped in life? With all its wars, poverty, sufferings, and appalling situations such as the pandemic. Some are trapped in the political systems they are in, or the way governments run its affairs. Has the world become unbearable that a lot of people think it is a prison that one cannot escape from?

Yet, we cannot escape the realities of the world. But we have a choice: We must not look at it as a trap or a prison, but as a gift, a responsibility and a challenge. The only way out is to change the world, to steer it towards meaningful change.

How does this speak to us now? 

Paul (together with Silvanus and Timothy) writing to the Thessalonians, exhorted them for their “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in (the) Lord Jesus Christ.” For them as “chosen” by God, the message of the gospel came … not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction…” (1Thes 1:1-5).

Paul noted how the Thessalonians “turned from idols to God” and “to serve a living and true God…”

We are called to serve the living and true God with full conviction. We are reminded to be constantly aware that there are forces that will always attempt to confine us or entrap us into complacency and even to compromise our faith in God. These are the Caesars of our times. Let us cling on the symbolic “Fish” that was neither entrapped nor subjugated by any power on earth. The ICTHUS was always true to God’s divine will, to the sovereignty of God.

Amen.

[1] The fact that the Pharisees are in a position to send, not only some of their disciples but some of the “Herodians” as well, indicates that they are in consort with the Herodians. Mark also mentions the Herodians – twice (3:6 and 12:13), both times as co-conspirators with the Pharisees. The term does not arise anywhere else in the NT. Beyond the self-evident name, it does not appear that there is a lot of information about this group.

Mark Davis, The Structure of Entrapment, Left Behind and Loving It, 14 October 2014. http://leftbehindandlovingit.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/the-structure-of-entrapment.html (Accessed 16 Oct 2020).

[2] Davis, The Structure of Entrapment.