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15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. 16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “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. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. 20 And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” 21 They said to Him, “Caesar’s. And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way. ~ Matthew 22:15-22
Today, we continue our study of Matthew 22 where the religious leaders of Israel were running out of ways to stump the Lord Jesus. Sadly, in spite of all the Old Testament revelation identifying the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the Jews rejected Him. Herein, we have one of the great abiding principles of all time: being defined by good or being defined by evil. And, the hearts of the religious leaders were so hardened to God by evil, they were blind to the truth when He walked among them.
It was still Wednesday of the final week of the Lord Jesus earthly life. By Friday, the Lord Jesus will be crucified. On this Wednesday, He spent the day in the temple surrounded by the masses of people who flowed into Jerusalem because it was Passover. And when He came into the city, they, full of hope, wanted Him to be the long-awaited Messiah. And so they gave Him a triumphal entry and they were still hanging on His every word and deed. They expected the Lord Jesus to set up a political kingdom.
In this passage the politicians, the Pharisees and the Herodians, to try and make the Lord Jesus look bad by getting Him to comment on the politics of the day. The idea that there is separation between church and state is bogus. Our world view must touch everything we do in life, including politics. But, our hope must never be in politics. It is a shame that we compartmentalize our faith but we must not find our hope in politics. Abraham Lincoln once said, “My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”
In v.15-17 of today's passage we read, "15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. 16 And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, '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. 17 Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?'"
Although they did not get along at all, the Pharisees and the Herodians teamed up in their attempt to nullify the Lord Jesus eyes of the people. This was difficult because the Pharisees were against the rule of Rome in Israel, while the Herodians supported the rule of Rome in their land. The Pharisees hated having to pay taxes to Rome, whereas, the Herodians enjoyed the opulence that the Roman taxes brought them. These two opposing groups were unlikely allies who decided to lock arms in an attempt to discredit the Lord Jesus.
In v.18-21 of today's passage we read, "18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, 'Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the tax money.' So they brought Him a denarius. 20 And He said to them, 'Whose image and inscription is this?' 21 They said to Him, 'Caesar’s.' And He said to them, 'Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.'"
In response to the question of the Pharisees and the Herodians, the Lord Jesus asked for a Roman coin which bore the image of Tiberius Caesar. On this coin was an inscription proclaiming Caesar to be the "son of God." It was a small silver coin known as a denarius which was equal to a day's wage for a Roman soldier or for a day laborer. Only the Caesar had the authority to mint gold or silver coins in those days.
With the coin in hand the Lord Jesus reminded them that they were supposed to be citizens not only of heaven, but also of their country. That meant God held them responsible to pay taxes to Caesar who had the right to collect their money. It also meant that God had the right to collect their worship. These supposed leaders of Israel didn't understand that their cause had to be fueled by their worship. Someone once said, “Worship has been misunderstood as something that arises from a feeling which 'comes upon us,' but it is vital that we understand that it is rooted in a conscious act of the will, to serve and obey the Lord Jesus Christ.”
This story has been easily twisted to support separation of church and state. It is used to tell the church to stay out of politics. Such an argument is fallacious. Our worship of the God of the Bible must never come from our cause. When our worship is spawned by our cause, we will, like the Pharisees and the Herodians, make the non-essentials our essentials. When our worship is spawned by our growing and correct understanding of who God truly is, we will increasingly realize God's value system. This just underscores the idea that we must be defined by the God of the Bible.
Worshipers of God do not need power, like the Herodians, nor do we need to destroy power, like the Pharisees. Worshipers of God allow themselves to be embraced and defined by Him. The Lord Jesus came to liberate us from the pressure of having to fix ourselves. He came to liberate us from the faulty idea that we must find and free ourselves. He came to rescue us from the slavish need to be right, rewarded, regarded, and respected. He came to relieve us of the burden we inherently feel to trust in ourselves in order "to get life right." He came to secure for us what we could never secure for ourselves. As a result, life ceases to be a tireless effort to establish, justify, and validate ourselves.
In v.22 of today's passage we read, "When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way."
Not only did the religious leaders go away astonished due to their failure to trip up the Lord Jesus in front of the people, they departed from Him having not understood His words. One can only imagine what it was like for these supposed leaders when they realized they opposed the very God they claimed to worship. When we operate according to God's definitions of things, we will not leave the God we are learning to love. In addition, we will grow in our personal relationship with Him and His peace will rule our hearts. Moses refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He insisted on being defined by the God of the Bible who used him to change the whole world as he operated by God's rules. As we learn to worship God by living in concert with His definitions of things, we will increasingly become more and more like Him.
