Matthew 22:15-22

23rd Sunday after Pentecost - 10-19-08

Pastor Troy Slater, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Herington, Kansas

It is somewhat funny I suppose, in a sad sort of way, to what extent those who oppose Jesus will go in their efforts to eliminate Him from the scene. I mean take our Gospel text for this morning from Matthew, chapter 22. You've got two opposing groups - two groups who really don't care for the other; two groups with polar opposite views towards the Roman occupying forces of the time. But yet here we find them joining together in opposition to Jesus in order to silence Him.

And of course the first group that we’ve got are the Pharisees - a group who would just love to see the Romans out of Judea and Jerusalem so that they could then practice their Jewish faith unhindered and undefiled by these Roman Gentiles. The Pharisees were strong Jewish nationalists. But then on the other hand you've got the Herodians - a group who are loyal to the Roman occupying force - a group whose power was dependent upon Rome staying in power. And so two polar-oppose groups - two groups who basically hated each other but two groups who come together united in their opposition to Jesus. And so they try to trap Him our reading tells us, they pose a question to Him. "Teacher," they say with deceitful flattery. "We know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of god in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

Now I suppose at first glance they do certainly appear to have Jesus in a pickle. For it seems to be a yes/no question but if Jesus answers the question with a "No, it is not right to pay taxes to the Roman government," then the Herodians would run off and immediately report Jesus to the authorities as trying to stir up the people against Caesar. And so Rome would then take care of this Jesus problem.

But if Jesus answers "Yes, it is right to pay taxes to Caesar", well then He would surely multiply His enemies, lose the favor of the more militant factions of the Jews, and probably disappoint the masses because they were fed on a daily diet of ultra-nationalism and hatred for Rome. In other words He would fall out of favor with the people and thus – or so the Pharisees assumed - this would take care of this Jesus problem. So depending upon His answer, either Rome would take care of Him or the people would take care of Him.

And even if Jesus tries to take a middle ground here or not answer clearly or definitively, they could use that too to damage His reputation, and turn the people against Jesus.  In any case, the figured, they had Jesus caught in a "no-win" situation. 

Well being God, Jesus of course perceives their malice, He detects their deceitful flattery and so he says, "Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?" And then He did the unexpected.  He asked them for the coin with which they are to pay the tax.  When they produced it, a denarius, He asked them "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" In other words, whose coin is this, who issues this money?  And of course they had to admit that it was Caesar's. And so then Jesus said those famous words, "Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." … "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's." And all the Pharisees and Herodians can do is walk away silent - amazed that Jesus was able to escape their little trap.

Able to escape their little trap for you see Jesus knows that there are two basic kingdoms through which God works in the world. Two basic kingdoms – the kingdom of God which of course God works through the church – and the kingdom of man – the state - earthly powers, earthly governments. Now to help illustrate what we mean here, take our situation today. We certainly live under two kingdoms, don't we? I mean on the one hand we are legal citizens of the United States of America. By virtue of our births in this land we are American citizens which affords us special rights and privileges in this land. And as such citizens we have agreed to submit ourselves to the various laws of this land. Citizens of the United States of America.

But yet at the same time – as Christians - each of us is also a citizen of God's kingdom. In fact St. Paul in Philippians, chapter 3 plainly and powerfully states, "our citizenship is in heaven." Our citizenship IS in heaven. Not "will be", not "may be" but IS – present tense - in heaven. By virtue of your new birth through the water and Word of Holy Baptism you have been claimed by God - made a member of His kingdom where you are to serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness. Citizens of God's kingdom. And so citizen of this country, citizen of God's heavenly kingdom. Those are our realities.

Now are these realities mutually exclusive? Seems that the Herodians and Pharisees thought so. But what's Jesus say here? Well He says, "No. They are not exclusive, you can serve the one while serving the other. You can live under the one while living in the under. These two are not unrelated. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

And indeed this is what we see as we look elsewhere in Scripture. I mean take Romans 13 for example where it says, "there is no authority except that which God has established." In other words, God gives authority – be it our governments or other authority figures – but God gives authority to guide us, to protect us, to correct us when we’re wrong, to enable us to live in peace as we live in His creation. And so if you serve or submit to the secular governing authorities - say by praying for them, obeying them, paying taxes to support their work, casting your voting ballot or even serving in office or in our government's military yourself, who is it that you are ultimately serving or submitting yourself to? To God. And if you rebel against that God-established authority - say by despising them, cursing them instead of praying for them, cheating on your taxes, refusing to exercise your responsibility to vote - who is it that you are ultimately rebelling against. Against God. And so when that secular or earthly authority is not commanding you to act or live contrary to the sacred commands of God, you must submit yourself to that secular authority.

But of course that always raises the question, "Well what if the governing authority is trying to lead me into sin." Well the apostles' famous words certainly come to bear here: "We must obey God rather than men." I mean take this as an example. We of course know that abortion is wrong - a grievous offense against the Fifth Commandment - "You shall not murder." Now some within the Christian community will tell us that it's therefore our obligation to then turn around and murder those who perform abortions. But I would say, "Oh yea. Who appointed you to be the judge, the jury and the executioner." If the laws of the land have been broken, there are those whom God has put in place to exercise the power of the sword - the rulers and administrators of our land. And if that is not you, then you have no right to take another's life no matter how grievous of a sin they may have committed. That's not your place. Rather your place is to pray for the Lord to bring those who perform abortions to repentance; your place is to speak up in the public square for the lives of the unborn; your place as a citizen of this country is to work within our government structure to help pro-life laws be passed; your place is to help elect candidates who will stand up for the unborn; your place is to care for the woman who is in a crisis pregnancy. That's your place.

But now say the government passes a population-control law that says couples can have one child, but after that, all pregnancies must be aborted. What do we do as citizens of God's kingdom? Submit to that law of the government? No, absolutely not. For here rather "we must to obey God rather than men." We must obey God rather than men.

But again, outside of a law in which that secular or earthly authority is commanding you to act or live contrary to the sacred commands of God, Jesus is saying you must submit yourself to that secular authority. For again, Paul makes it very clear that governments and other authorities are ordained and established by God's order, "no authority exists except that which has been established by God." And so a flagrant disobedience to law is obviously a flagrant disobedience to God. Of course the fourth commandment clearly states that we have an obligation to those whom God places over us. This God-given authority rests in the home - with parents; this authority rests in the school - with administrators and teachers; it rests at work - with employers and supervisors; it rests in the government - with governors, presidents, judges and law enforcement officials.

Of course we live in a day and age when almost all authority seems to come into question. It seems that the thing to do is thwart authority. That’s why being a law-enforcement officer is one of the most stressful jobs in our country; that’s why employers have such a hard time finding responsible employees; this thwarting of authority is why our school teachers and administrators have to spend so much of their valuable time dealing with behavioral issues rather than teaching; that’s why teenage rebellion has become accepted in society as almost a right of passage.

Of course this is nothing but the Old Adam in us - that Old Adam that like the first Adam said, "I want to do things my own way. I want to be my own god, play by my own rules, live by my own standards, be my own authority."

But Jesus says, "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's." He is the Lord of your life - submit to Him and His will and His representatives in this world. Submit to that authority that He puts over you.

After all you are His. You are His - as a Christian you live under His kingdom. I mean that's what Jesus ultimately came to do, right? To bring you to live under Him in His kingdom. You know it's interesting to note that this exchange Jesus had with the Pharisees and the Herodians, it occurred during Holy Week. Tuesday of Holy week probably. Of course in just a matter of 2 1/2 short days Jesus would submit himself to the governing authorities as they led him outside the walls of Jerusalem and up a small hill called Mt. Calvary. And of course up that hill He would carry a cross. A cross - an instrument of torture and death used by the governing authorities of His day. And of course upon that cross, sent there by the Roman governor, nailed there by Roman soldiers, guarded by Roman centurions, ridiculed by Jewish authorities, upon that cross, Jesus would die. He would give His life as the sacrifice for sin - the sacrifice for all sin - for you, for me, for all. The innocent dying for the guilty. He did all of that upon a government's instrument of death. … He did all of that upon a government’s instrument of death. …

Really quite remarkable when you think about it. The cross, the symbol we use most often to remind us of our Savior's sacrifice for our sins, is a symbol that for quite a time, for many people reminded them of their government. The cross was an instrument of the government - but yet Jesus submitted himself upon it - not screaming about how unfair it was - and He certainly could have 'cause it was - but rather He submitted Himself upon that cross pleading, "Father forgive them." "Father forgiven them." … …

Yes we are certainly blessed to be citizens of these United States as we live under God's established authority - our government and other authorities - we submit to them because they are there by God. They are there by God who "has purchased and won us from all sin, from death and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver but with his holy, precious blood and His innocent sufferings and death." We live under our Lord's authority as we live under the cross. And so may He guide us and our authorities, may he teach us to rule and to live under Him, our Lord and our God. Amen.