Matthew 22:15-22, NLT - Then the Pharisees met
together to plot how to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be
arrested. They sent some of their
disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to meet with him. “Teacher,”
they said, “we know how honest you are. You teach the way of God truthfully.
You are impartial and don’t play favorites. Now tell us what you think about this: Is it
right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he
said. “Why are you trying to trap me? Here, show me the coin used for the tax.” When
they handed him a Roman coin, he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on
it?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
“Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to
Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
His reply amazed them, and they went away.
Can you
sense the irony here? The Pharisees are brainstorming
a way to get Jesus arrested and/or killed.
So they send their minions to approach Jesus with this ploy. Say to Jesus, “we know you are a
pull-no-punches-kinda guy; we know you’ll be completely honest with us.” Then they ask Jesus about paying the
extremely unpopular Roman tax. They
expect Jesus to speak publicly about not paying the tax, which will get Him
arrested. In other words, they dishonestly
go to Jesus asking Him to be honest.
It
doesn’t take supernatural power to see through this. I’m sure each of us have had the experience
of knowing beforehand when someone is being less than straightforward with
us. Jesus sees this for the trap that it
is and so, he sidesteps it. Many scholarly interpreters read some politics at
play here in Jesus’s response. I usually
side with scholars when interpreting the context of scripture, but in this
case, I’m not convinced. I don’t think
Jesus was trying to make a blanket statement about whether Christians should acknowledge
and respect secular governments. I
believe what Jesus is doing here is simply exposing the hypocrisy of the questioners. The key for me is that Jesus asks them to
produce a coin. They trap themselves
when they produce it. By producing a
Roman coin, they prove that they are Roman collaborators. There were people who honestly believed that
paying taxes to the Romans was sinful.
However, those rebels would not even be caught with Roman money in their
possession. The questioners realize that
they have been exposed when Jesus makes the point about who image is on the
coin they produced. When Jesus says, “give
to Caesar what is Caesar what is Caesar’s,” he is essentially saying “go do
what you were already going to do.” He
even calls them “hypocrites” when He does it.
The
takeaway for me from this passage is to be aware of own hypocrisy. The Jewish leaders benefited from many arrangements
with the Romans. Likewise, we often
benefit from institutions and cultural practices that we publicly condemn. I hate the negativity and dishonesty that is
rampant on social media, but I continue to participate in social media. I sincerely believe that broadcast media is
mostly infotainment catering to specific market demographics, but I still watch
“the news” everyday. I sometimes
complain about taxes, but I benefit from all the infrastructure those taxes
fund. To be fair, some of this is
unavoidable. I can’t avoid driving on
government-funded roads if I want to get to church. I think this is the reality to which Jesus
refers. Right now, we are hopelessly woven
into the fabric of earthly kingdoms. But
the invitation is to see that we also belong to God’s Kingdom and that Kingdom
will outlast all the others. There will
come a day when “Caesar’s money” will be worthless to us, so you might as well
give Caesar his portion now. It won’t
matter whether we are an American citizen or a citizen of Pakistan. The only
real question will be, “are we a citizen of Heaven.” The challenge is to keep
that in proper perspective.
Question: Where is
one place in your life where you are aware of your own hypocrisy?
Prayer: God help us
see the true allegiances of our hearts.
Point out to us the ways in which we don’t practice what we claim to
preach. Forgive us for our
hypocrisy. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for people you know that work for the government.
Song: Living Dangerously In The Hands Of God - Steve Camp
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