And they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to trap Him with words.
Here the opponents’ new scheme is seen. The Pharisees and the Herodians usually held different positions, but they united against Christ. This shows that an unbelieving heart can temporarily join even with its opponent when the goal is to resist God’s truth. Their aim was not to learn the truth, but to catch Him in His words. Yet Christ’s wisdom always surpasses human cunning. A person may prepare a trap against the Lord’s word, but in the end it is the hypocrisy of his own heart that is exposed.