St. Matthew 22:15-22
Then. When? "Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might
entangle Him in His talk." When was this? Just after Jesus had spoken
the parable of the wedding banquet which we heard last week. Jesus
had spoken of the wedding feast and how one can be found worthy of
staying in the wedding banquet. The answer was to be clothed with
Christ, thereby demonstrating love and living out the baptismal life
of faith.
Such talk angered the Pharisees. So, plotting how they might
entangle Jesus in a web of deception, they decide that it would be
good to send some of the Pharisees young disciples with the Herodians.
By sending some of the young disciples of Pharisees, eager young
upstarts that they were, the deception would seem less evident. Young
disciples would come off as curious and in need of instruction. Their
hope was that Jesus would see this as an opportunity to straighten out
some misguided young future Pharisees.
In order to entrap Jesus, they sent along the "Herodians" followers
and supporters of Herod the Tetrarch. If they could just bait Jesus
into using this as a teaching moment for the disciples, then the
Herodians would be there to catch Jesus in sedition and have him
beheaded by the Roman government. What a difficult situation to be
in. No matter how Jesus answers, He is either going to come off as
rebelling against the Roman government which will cause His arrest or
He is going to speak against the Old Testament and incite the anger of
the Jewish people which will cause a whole different set of problems.
So, these disciples of the Pharisees use flattery to get Jesus to
open up. "Teacher we know that you are true, and teach the way of God
in truth; nor do you care about anyone, for you do not regard the
person of men."
They ask, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" They are
trying to get Jesus to speak frankly and openly. They are trying to
see if Jesus will uphold the Mosaic covenant, but they also regard
Jesus as a rebel king. It seems to have been a common thought in
those days that Jesus would be a political king who would lead Israel
to great domination by worldly standards.
Jesus knows their wickedness, calls them hypocrites and seeks to find
a denarius. He then tells them to render to Caesar what is Caesar's
and to God the things that are God's. We know what belongs to the
government: pay your taxes and obey the laws of the land. Paul says
it well in Romans 13:4, "For the governing authorities are God's
servants to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does
not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's servant, an avenger to
execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be
subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience sake.
"Show me the tax money." Jesus subtly points out that it is these
young Jewish students who have themselves given in to Rome and have
accepted them against the Mosaic covenant. What is more, is that one
who knew his Old Testament would also realize that the very presence
and rule of the pagan Romans is the declaration of Israel's
unfaithfulness to God with the punishment being that of being ruled by
a pagan government.
In the Lord's answer is the recognition that there are things that
belong to the world and there are things that belong to God. His
answer even hints that the Jews shouldn't be worried about money.
Only the pagans go after such vanity. Caesar wants his money...so,
give it to him. But, what is the Lord's is meant to stay with the
Lord. So, what is the Lord's? Give to God the things that are God's!
Certainly God has no use for tax money.
He does want your heart, though. Yea, even more, He wants your soul.
Even more so than that, God wants every part of you to belong to Him.
The Lord desires that your heart goes upward to God in love. He
wants your mind on Him and on the mysteries of the holy scriptures.
St. Paul speaks aptly of the Christian: "For who has known the mind of
the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ"(1
Cor. 2:16)
What is God's is your life and your praise and honor to Him. "Or do
you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in
you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were
bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your
spirit, which are God's"(1 Cor. 6:19-20). The whole plan of the
Pharisees backfired because Jesus condemned the Pharisees for allowing
the Romans in and He let Caesar have what was his.
Furthermore, Jesus, in a marvelous and brilliant way, did teach the
young disciples of the Pharisees something very important. In fact,
they marveled at what Jesus had said and went their way. The world
isn't any different today. The rulers of the world want the worldly
things and Christians are trying to understand how to live in this
world without being held captive to it.
We look at our world today and we seeing a mounting debt in the midst
of a looming recession, which leaves less money for the populace. We
become disgruntled and angry at those people at the top who have
mismanaged funds, yet continue to get richer. If we are not careful,
the world's problems could consume us. Ironically, this happened with
the Pharisees.
They became more interested in and concerned with the world's
affairs, yet less engrossed in God's. The sad result brought by this
shift in focus was that they couldn't even spot the Messiah who had
come, which the holy scriptures had prophesied and promised would
come. The world can have its ways and means, so long as God has you.
For you were bought at a hefty price. There is a spiritual debt that
God the Father required of each of us and it was punishment and
payment for sin. But it is God who made the payment Himself. Jesus
Christ, hung upon a tree, the cross at Golgotha shed His blood, making
the payment for the sins of the world. An incredible and
insurmountable debt of its own, but spiritual, the love of God was
made known by the giving up of His Son for your life.
God gained access to the hearts, minds, souls, of the entire human
race through the death of His Son. Through holy baptism, you became
God's own child, and He gave you His Holy Spirit as a guarantee of
this payment and ransom. Caesar can have that metal denarius. It
shall perish with him. But, you God wants to keep. Feeding you in
the holy supper, the Lord bids you to live in Him, to die in Him, and
to live in Him. Then. When? When the Lord speaks, then Christians
are brought to life and kept there for eternity. Then the world may
continue on its worries of things perishable, but you shall be made
imperishable.
"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's?" The world
means to take, but when God says to give, He means simply to receive.
Amen.
--
Rev. Chad Kendall
www.frchadius.blogspot.com
Trinity Lutheran Church
Lowell, Indiana
___________________________________________________________________________
'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise
noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such
gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_
_attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as
for quoting or use in a congregational setting
_with_or_without_attribution_.
Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list.
Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster.
Subscribe? Send ANY note to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe? Send ANY note to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archive? <http://www.mail-archive.com/sermons@cat41.org/>
For more information on this or other lists offered by Confess And Teach
For Unity, you can contact the CAT 41 list administrator at:
Rev. Fr. Eric J. Stefanski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
