“Render Unto Caesar”
Sharing Christ’s Lovge Worship Series
Rev. Dr. Todd Speed
Decatur Presbyterian Church
Matthew 22:15-22
October 22, 2023
The religious and political leaders of the day questioned Jesus’ authority. Who do you think you are? And by whose authority are you saying and doing these things? Jesus responded with three parables of judgment, which we explored over the last three weeks.
Following the sharing of these parables, the religious leaders wanted to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the crowds, who regarded Jesus as a prophet. Since they did not feel comfortable arresting him – yet – they decided to entrap him.
They would catch him with the “hot button” issues of the day. Surely, his answers would draw a line in the sand between him and at least part of the crowd. So they asked him three questions – the first about politics, the second about religion, and the third about the law.
Today, we examine the first entrapment question, the political question. In effect, they were asking this new, popular teacher/healer – Are you a liberal or a conservative? Are you a Democrat or a Republican?
What are your views on government taxation? They might as well have asked Jesus: what are your views on gun control, abortion, and illegal immigration?
To this point, the crowds were still very much behind Jesus. They had not yet turned on him. So the religious leaders wanted to pigeon hole him, to break off some of his support, to encourage at least part of the crowd to be against him.
If Jesus began to take sides, then at least a goodly portion of the people would turn against him. Though they tried to “butter him up” by calling Jesus “sincere” and “impartial”, truth be told, the religious leaders, full of malice, were out to get him.
Their question had to do with paying taxes to the Roman Emporer. When Jesus was a boy, a revolutionary named Judas has started an uprising over paying taxes. Jesus would have known that the Romans mercilessly crushed that uprising and left people hanging on crosses all over the Judean countryside.
Jesus did not come to get other people hung on crosses. Jesus also had lived experience of the cruel oppression of the Romans. He knew how most Jews hated those Roman coins, which were symbols of their oppression. With the image of the emporer was stamped on their currency and the Emporer even referred to as “divine”, for many Jews, these coins were blasphemy. Even handling them, let alone offering them at a Temple, was breaking the Second Commandment against graven images.
Hear the Word of God from Matthew 22:15-22
Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality.
Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’
But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’
Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
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They were amazed by his answer.
Jesus did not fall into their trap. He refused to be pigeon-holed. He turned their question back on them and made them aware of their own insincerity and hypocrisy. Whose head and title are on this coin? Caesar’s, they answered. Give back therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperors and give unto to God the things that are God’s.
The Pharisees viewed submission to the Roman authorities as a necessary evil. They did not like it at all, but they had decided to seek the middle way. They would submit to Rome as long as Rome did not interfere too much with their religious practice.
Their problem with Jesus was that he was the one interfering with their religious practice! When the Pharisees conspired with the Herodians against Jesus, they were already showing their stripes.
The Herodians were supporters of the royal family and its puppet KIng Herod. The Herodians supported going along to get along, including paying taxes to Rome. So the Pharisees compromised their position in order to gang up on Jesus. In our text, Jesus refuses to pick sides between two squabbling human parties.
Jesus does state an unequivocal position on one of the hot, divisive issues of the day. Instead, he lifted the conversation and debate to a higher level. How many times did Jesus say, “You have heard it said, but I say to you…”? Jesus looks at the issue not from a human point of view, but from a divine point of view. He encourages us to lift our level of discussion above either/or typologies, beyond liberal versus conservative debates, and see from a fresh perspective.
Jesus knew that such divisions can ultimately lead to violence and much suffering. Instead of drawing lines in the sand and arguing our position, Jesus calls for sincere spiritual discernment.
Instead of canceling the side that disagrees with us, Jesus call for unselfish awareness of our own intentions and the realization of our own limited understanding.
I have always been wary of those who claim confidently that Jesus is on their side. If we are wise, we would repent of such arrogance. If we are wise, we would seek through prayer and discernment to get ourselves on Jesus’ side.
Let us be clear, God does not belong to the USA. The good ol’ USA belongs to God. Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God, Promised Messiah is not a Democrat. Nor is Jesus a Republican!
Jesus came to usher in a whole new realm, the kingdom of heaven. No political party of this world fits neatly into his coming kingdom of heaven.
At our Montreat Conference last week, Diana Butler Bass commented on how religious identity in North America is being replaced by political identity. We have far fewer fights over theology and religion these days than we do politics.
Christians in North America need to reclaim our primary identity. What is your primary identity?
Is your primary identity a child of God and a disciple of Jesus Christ?
Or do you more readily identify as a card-carrying member of a particular political party? Bass called for no more talk about “purple churches”. That language is no longer helpful because it assumes that the identity of congregations is either “red” or “blue” or a mixture of the two.
We are not a red church or a blue church or a purple church, for God’s sake! We are a church of Jesus Christ who belongs to no party.
Though one of Jesus’ disciples was a Zealot, Jesus did not support the actions of the Zealots, the bloody revolutionaries. The Zealots sought to avoid all taxes and violently inflict terror on their Roman oppressors. Though one of Jesus’ disciples was a tax collector, neither did Jesus support the cultural compromisers, those who went along with nearly everything the Romans required.
The compromisers went along in order to get along, sometimes sacrificing their faithfulness at the altar of convenience and security and self-serving.
When faced with divisive issues of the day, Jesus turned the debates into theological questions. What does it mean to render unto God all that belongs to God? And, with one foot still firmly planted in the kingdom of this world, what exactly do we owe unto the Caesars of this world?
Everything, ultimately, belongs to God.
So we render everything unto God – our wills, our works, our resources, and our governments…and render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Which begs the question – what belongs to Caesar?
What do we owe our governments?
Caesar could be oppressive, for sure, but Caesar was not all bad. Caesar paved roads across the known world. Caesar provided for the common language, Greek koine language, to be shared across the empire, making it easier for the news of Jesus to be spread. Caesar provided the pax romana, the Roman peace, which allowed for freedom of travel for the earliest disciples and missionaries.
If God allows for Caesar to rule for a while, then taxes may be paid, because Caesar only rules by the will of God. When God chooses to liberate people from Caesar’s oppressions, God will do so, in God’s way and in God’s time. If Caesar requires some of the denarii you have earned, then give them gladly, because our lives do not consist in the abundance of possessions.
Our lives consist in living according to God’s will. Perhaps if we rendered unto the Caesars of the world what belonged to them, and if Caesars asked for no more than what belonged to them, then we would avoid many a war.
Perhaps if we loved our neighbors as we love ourselves, we would avoid many a war. Perhaps if women and children were not abused and misused, we would avoid many a war. Perhaps If the resources of the earth were equitably shared, we would avoid many a war. Perhaps if vengeance belonged to the Lord alone, as the Scripture demands, and forgiveness was sought and given, we would avoid many a war.
These entrapment texts from Matthew 22 challenges us to rise above the black and white answers to difficult questions, to rise above the either/or divisions in politics and religion, to rise above any easy religious practice that fails to examine intent, and to call for repentance.
If we continue to draw lines in the sand, and continue to cancel those with whom we disagree, the children of the world will suffer. If we want to avoid warfare, then we will do well to listen not to squabbling parties, but to Jesus.
We will do well to seek divine guidance and stop seeking to win our earthly battles.
Rev. Dr. Todd Speed
Decatur Presbyterian Church
Decatur, Georgia
