The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Matthew 22:15 “Then the Pharisees went and counseled together how they might trap Him in what He said. 16 And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. 17 Tell us therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?’ 18 But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, ‘Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.’ And they brought Him a denarius. 20 And He said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ 21 They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then He said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.’” (NASB)

The Pharisees are well known in the New Testament and we expect trick questions and traps from them. The Herodians on the other hand, don’t get much press time in the New Testament. As their name implies, the Herodians were supporters of the Herod family dynasty. The interesting thing about the Herod family is that the Herods weren’t Jewish. The conferred the title of kings of the Jews on themselves and maintained their power, wealth, and rule with the support of the Roman occupation. Think of them as a political party that supported and favored the occupying rule of the Roman empire.

As such the Pharisees and the Herodians hated each other. The Pharisees were of course Jews and were more about the religious rule of the people and the place and centrality of the temple. They hated the romans and they hated collaborators like the Herodians. The fact they the Pharisees are willing to team up with the Heordians to put a stop to Jesus’s ministry and end His popularity speaks to their desperation.

The Pharisees and the Herodians get together and they craft a question, a question they hope will drive Jesus to fall into one of two ditches and thus fall into unpopularity with one of two groups, if not with all of them.

We know how this works. We see it all the time. A “got-ya” question is put to a person and if said the person is wise and wishes to remain creditable and popular, said person will answer the question in such a way as to criticize and praise both side of the issue at hand. Throughout my career, I have watched many a pastors and no small number of laymen do this kind of thing in efforts to show how unoffensive and reasonable they are.

By the time we get to Matthew 22:15, we have just finished a series of parables told by Jesus for an audience made up of Pharisees, priests, and other religious leaders and commoners. All of those parables all had an underlying theme: hypocrites and Israel’s self-righteous leaders will reject the Son of God, the Messiah, as their forefathers had rejected the greater and lesser prophets of old and as they had rejected John the Baptist and his call to repentance..

Each of those parables were told in the presence of the hypocrites and each was designed to call the religious leaders to repentance. In those parables, Jesus controlled the conversation. He asked the questions. He set the agenda.

In this morning’s Gospel lesson the Pharisees and Herodians try to turn the tables on Jesus. They put a question to Jesus. It was a trick question. It was meant to be trap for Jesus. “The Pharisees went and counseled together how they might trap Him in what He said. 16 And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?”

They approach Jesus like a typical elitist, right? They assume Jesus is just like the rest of us. Ego-centric and ego driven. They try to soften Him up by stroking His ego. They falsely praise Him for being a pious, wise, and well intentioned teacher of the Torah, a man on the top of his intellectual game and a man filled with integrity. He is truthful (they are thinking “not.”) “Teacher, we know that You are truthful…” He teaches the way of God (they are thinking “not”) teach[es] the way of God in truth… A man of His own mind (they are thinking “not”) “defer to no one.” And a man who is not swayed by people of position or power or by the massess, (they are thinking “not”) “You are not partial to any.”

They had hoped to steer Jesus into one of two ditches. They asked this question, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

If Jesus answers “no,” then the Herodians would have the evidence they needed to have Jesus arrested. He would be speaking against the lawful authority of the Romans and Caesar himself to govern and to collect taxes in exchange.

If Jesus answers “yes,’ then He would become immediately unpopular with the people who hated the Roman occupation, which was most of the Jews in Jerusalem and Judea.

See in their theological thinking, there were only one of two answers. The people of God were either to be governed by a theocracy or by a government of this world, a pagan government. They couldn’t imagine any other options. There were two possible answers and no more. They thought they had Jesus trapped on the horns of a dilemma.

With either answer Jesus would be out of the picture, life could return to the way it was before Jesus, and they could return to their uneasy peace between the Romans, the Herodians, and the Pharisees.

Jesus, of course, wouldn’t entrap. 18 “Jesus perceived their malice, and said, ‘Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.’” Notice Jesus asked them for a specific coin, the coin that is used for the poll tax.

The poll tax was a head tax. It was a tax just for existing in within the walls of the Roman empire. To the Jews it symbolized the Jewish subjugation to Rome. Nationalist Jews questioned whether the poll tax should be paid, since it went directly to pagan Rome. Jesus asked for the coin with Ceasar’s image and for the coin that went directly to Rome.

He ups the anti again. “And they brought Him a denarius. 20 And He said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ 21 They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then He said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.’”

Jesus understood what they were trying to do. He also understood something that they did not understand. Jesus understood that both civil authority and religious authority are from God. As Jesus told Pilate, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” (John 19:11)

God authorizes and is in control of both kinds of authority. It is not an “either or.” It is a “both/and” situation.

The thought Jesus would deny Caesar’s right to collect taxes. Instead He affirmed that right. At the same time, He reminded the Pharisees that they owed a debt, not only to Caesar, but also to God. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”

It is a classic text for two kingdoms doctrine. In our biblical tradition the government is often called the “the Kingdom of the Left.” The other kingdom is the church and it is called “the Kingdom of the Right.” One is ruled by law and the use of force when necessary. The other is ruled by the Word of God and grace.

But there is much more going on here than a lesson about the Christian’s relationship to the government. Today’s Gospel is about more than taxation and duty to our governments, as Scriptural as these things may be.

Pushing the Christian faith, that is the actually teachings and true Christian faith exits in the heart out of public view and out of practical everyday life has been going on for decades now. And only now are we beginning to see the devastating effect it has had on the Church, on Christians, and on our communities and country. “We can’t let those people of traditional Christ faith sit in seats of power, influence, and policy making.” And Christians and the church have complied.

True Christian faith is a terribly practical thing. Faith trusts God Word. Faith clings to Christ, to His person and His work. Faith believes what God has promised the Christian. Faith reaches out in love to ones neighbor and serves him and her through our respective stations in life, including the voting booth and in government service.

Jesus was not a theorist. The Christian religion is not like all other religions held together by pious abstract thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Jesus is not some ivory towered professor who wraps Himself in rules and regulations of conduct and potentialities. Jesus is not some guru who spends all His time telling you how things ought to be. Jesus is practical and real. He talks about every day things, paying taxes, serving your neighbors, your job as mother and father, husband and wife, sons, and daughters, and Christians who are to worship in Spirit and truth.

With His answer “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” Jesus summarizes your entire Christian life. The state is not to be your god. That’s folks what progressive educational and political philosophy teach. The state is the arbiter or morality, truth, duty, and judgment. The state will shape your children’s and grandchildren’s character and future. The state will reshape human nature or so the progressive think.

It appears that things are heading in a very bad direction for our country, the church, and our families. But as long as we cling to Christ and His words we have nothing to fear. The Word of the crucified Christ remains.

In this quick little exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees and Herodians Jesus puts everything in its proper place. Render to the government what is owed and to God, what He is owed. Don’t put your faith in government and politicians. Your trust belongs to Christ Jesus, your Redeemer and God.

That’s the Old Testament reading. While God used king Cyrus to discipline the nation of Israel for its falling away from the faith, God was ruling through both the state and the church. (Is. 45-5-7) “I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. . . from the rising to the setting of the sun . . . there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.”

God the Father was owed true faith, love, devotion, and obedience. We could not pay Him those things. But Jesus Christ paid it on our behalf. God the Father was owed everything and Christ gave it to Him.


AMEN

May the Peace that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Pentecost 20, 2020 – The Only God

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