In part 1 of this article, we saw Herodians and Pharisees come together to challenge Jesus about Rome, about government oppression. They posed a question -- “Should we pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” -- hoping to catch Jesus in an answer that either maddened the masses or went against Roman law.

We find ourselves in a place in Mark's gospel where the hostility toward Jesus is reaching its peak. Soon, the religious leaders will conspire with the Roman authorities to put Christ to death. But these leaders and authorities feel a need to build their case against Jesus, and in the final week before his death, that's precisely what they set out to do. In this passage we find two enemy groups, the Pharisees and the Herodians, join together in an attempt to stop Jesus. They presented a challenge to Jesus about government oppression in Rome.