“Render Unto Caesar, and to God” Matt. 22.15–22, Oct. ‘17

1.                    Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Today we’re going to focus on the Gospel reading from Matthew 22:15-22.  Here Jesus tells us that Caesar, the emperor of Rome, was a servant of the Lord when he said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”  Jesus reminds us as Christians that we live in two worlds.  The realm of the earth and the realm of God and that God ultimately rules over both realms. He reminds us that God protects His people in both realms.  The message is entitled, “Render unto Caesar and to God.”  Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                   Have you had anyone ask you a difficult riddle recently?  If you haven’t, I have a few of them here for you today.  Are you ready, here we go… If it takes twenty minutes to hard-boil one egg, how long does it take to hard-boil two eggs? The answer is twenty minutes. It doesn't take any longer to hard-boil two eggs than it does to hard-boil one egg. OK, here’s another question. A farmer has 15 sheep and all but nine of them died, how many sheep does he have left? Who thinks they know the answer to that question? The answer’s nine. I told you all but nine of them died! I tricked some of you on those questions, didn't I?  Have you ever tried to trick someone? Has anyone ever tried to trick you? Sometimes tricks can be mean and sometimes they’re meant to get someone else in trouble.

3.                   In our Gospel lesson today from Matthew 22:15-21, some people tried to trick Jesus. They asked him questions so that he would get into trouble with one group or another no matter how he answered.  Matthew 22:15-22 says, “¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle [Jesus] in his talk. ¹⁶And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. ¹⁷Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” ¹⁸But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” ²¹They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²²When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.”

4.                   There are Jewish writings from 2000 to 1700 years ago that document the scornful view the Jewish leaders had for the “country bumpkin” people of Galilee.  The Pharisees were part of this Jewish group of leaders.  They couldn’t challenge Jesus on his miracles.  But, they thought that they could set a trap for Jesus in his speech.  In order to set the trap against Jesus, the first thing the Pharisees did was try to compliment him by saying in Matthew 22:16, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully.”  Here it is.  They try to trap Jesus in His words, but their words revealed their dishonest hearts and in fact they ended up trapping themselves.  You and I can be sure that what we say is just as revealing about us.

5.                   Why did the Pharisees try to get Jesus to either endorse or reject paying taxes to Caesar?  In the first century taxes created a heavy burden in the Jewish homeland, actually threatening the survival of some people.  Caesar’s taxes were a constant reminder that the Jews had lost their independence.  Rome was a super power and it wasn’t hard to see that many Roman officials, like Pontius Pilate, were extortionists, taking more money than they needed when taxing the people.  Sounds a lot like our society today here in America doesn’t it?  No wonder this was a hot topic.  If Jesus endorsed taxes, He would lose favor with the Jewish crowds.  If He spoke against taxes, the Romans would deal harshly with Him. 

6.                   Here in Matthew 22 Jesus doesn’t deny that there are things that belong to the government.  It’s not that the world is divided between the government and God.  Instead, God has two ways of governing.  The state and governing authorities receive their command from God to keep the peace.  The job of the government is to see that true justice prevails.  That’s what Caesar did.  The Romans maintained peace and order around the Mediterranean Sea.  In Palestine, the people had a real experience of this.  They finally lived protected from attacks from the desert tribes and at peace with the Persians. 

7.                   As Christians we can appreciate the cleverness of Jesus’ reply.  We have a dual citizenship as believers in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the one who has saved us from our sins and promised to us eternal life through His death and resurrection.  We’re both citizens in this earthly society and at the same time are citizens of heaven.  When Jesus tells us to, “render to Caesar what  is Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s,” he tells us that we’re to honor both God and our government, because ultimately even the government is under God’s control.

8.                   Notice that Jesus didn’t revolt.  Sure, he was a revolutionary if we consider the change he caused in the lives of people in the way they managed their money, treated their employees and performed their work.  But, when the people wanted Him to be their leader against the Romans he refused.  He didn’t want that.  This cost Him His popularity in Galilee and finally took Him to death on the Cross at Golgatha.  Jesus even told Pilate that he would have no power as a Roman governor if he hadn’t obtained it from God.  When it’s a matter of taxes, law and order, Caesar would have his way.  That’s part of God’s way of ruling the world.  

9.                   When Jesus distinguished between what we owe to the government and what we owe to God, he was in disagreement with the writing that appeared in Latin on the Roman coin that was handed to him.  It said, “Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the divine Augustus.”  Jesus’ words that he spoke in response to the Pharisees about paying taxes to Caesar also gave the 1^st Century Christians a refusal to offer worship to the Roman emperor.  Just as the first Christians refused to worship the Roman emperor and were killed for it, so too Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees and Herodians led to his own crucifixion on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.

10.               When we look more closely at what Jesus says, “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” we begin to realize that everything that we own, even our own bodies and our souls are the Lord’s.  Our own bodies and souls are made in God’s image.  Because of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, they now bear the stamp of God’s own image that was once marred because of our own sinful human nature.  Thanks be to God that now when he looks at us, once more He sees His image placed upon us.  We are his and we belong to Him.  As Psalm 100:3 says, “We are the His people, and the sheep of His pasture.”

11.               As Christians we realize that God not only rules us through the government, but ultimately through His Word.  He establishes His empire in our hearts.  So the question is, whether we want to give God what belongs to Him, which is ourselves.  As Jesus reminds us, we were once created in God’s image.  Just as Caesar put His picture on a coin, God left His impression on us so we would be His property, servants and children.  All of us are lost coins, but have been found again in Jesus our Lord and Savior.  How often do we recognize that fact that Jesus has found us and renewed us in God our Creator’s image?  Do we want to be a part of the real revolution—the one where the old Adam is dethroned and God has power?  May Jesus enable us to worship Him and Him alone as our Savior and Lord and give to Him all honor and authority that is due to His holy name.  Amen. 

12.               Please pray with me.  Lord what comfort and security it is to know that you can do so much good, even though people who don’t believe in You.  How wonderful is Your creation!  You have left your mark everywhere in nature.  You have left Your impression on people, also, so they love Your justice and defend Your Law without knowing whom they serve.  How much more willing wouldn’t we be to serve You, we who can feel You and know who You are!  Lord, Thy will be done, out in the world and in our own lives.  Amen.