Matthew 22:15-22 " Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap Him in His words. They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. 'Teacher', they said, 'we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?' But Jesus knowing their evil intent said, 'You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax. They brought him a denarius, and He asked them, 'Whose image is this? And whose inscription?' 'Caesar's,' they replied. Then He said to them, 'So give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's.' When they heard this they were amazed. So they left Him and went away."
Backdrop: Matthew is careful to note by name the two groups of people who are confronting Jesus: the Pharisees and the Herodians.
The Pharisees were self-righteous legalists of their day, loving rules more than people. They came from a sect of Jews who vigorously opposed Rome. Two centuries before this exchange with Jesus, history would record their skirmish with Rome as the Maccabean Revolt. Given their political position, the Pharisees were on the side of not paying taxes to Caesar.
The Herodians were also a Jewish sect who were loyal to King Herod. Rome allowed the Jews to experience a tiny measure of power by designating their own kings who were clearly subservient to Caesar and Rome. The Herodians knew not to bite the hand that fed them and were by default loyal to Rome and Caesar and would have been on the side of paying taxes.
Jesus seams to have been backed into a corner. If He says that we should pay taxes to Caesar, then He's just aligned Himself with the Herodians. This would weaken his view among those Jews who were hoping Him to be a political revolutionary that every Jew thought the Messiah would be. But if He says, we shouldn't pay taxes to Caesar, He's just aligned with the Pharisees while at the same time lining against Rome. This would be a declaration of war.
But Jesus does something very curious...He calls them 'hypocrites" while asking them for the coin they use to pay the tax to Caesar. The coin in question has an image of Caesar on it. To the Pharisees, using this coin to pay taxes to Caesar promoted emperor worship. But they had no problem using the coin to shop or to serve their purposes. Yet the moment the coin didn't align with their likes or caused some discomfort, they all of a sudden had "convictions."
Bryan Loritts shares: I love my Democratic brothers and sisters, many of whom chose that party because they are passionate about the poor. Their convictions find their place in the Scriptures, where over and over again God commands His people to engage the poor. If you are a follower of Jesus, so should you. But I want to ask my Democratic neighbors is that if I took a peek at your tax statement, would I see a genuine commitment to the poor and less fortunate, or would I see someone who, like the Pharisees, talks a big game but doesn't genuinely and authentically live out their political declarations? Many of my Republican friends are passionate about the issue of the right to life and speak out against abortion. This too is a deeply biblical conviction that we all should embrace as followers of Jesus. But if you'd forgive me, it's one thing to verbally speak out against the issue of abortion; it's a completely different thing to come alongside these young pregnant women and offer to foster or adopt. To simply articulate our belief in being pro-life but not even roll up our sleeves and offer positive alternatives is to play the part of hypocritic Pharisees. Christians have not garnered a favorable reputation for separating issues from people in the political process. You can find us with our signs, and at times shouting voices and mean spirits, standing against injustices like abortion, but lost in all of this is a sense of genuine care and concern for the women who are contemplating such a major decision. Whenever our opposition to the issue becomes louder than our concern and love for the people, we've brought dishonor to our Lord. The easy thing is voting; the hard thing is being personally invested. |
Why was this so amazing? Jesus uses the word "likeness" which is the Greek word eikon and simply means image. Both groups gathered would have been familiar with the creation account. It is here where God creates man in His image and likeness. The Greek translation of the Hebrew in Genesis has the word for image as "eikon." This is the translation known as the Septuagint. These Jews could not help but think back to the creation where God makes man in His eikon.
So Jesus is basically saying: give the government and Caesar their due; after all, it has his eikon oni it and because of that he owns it so return it to him. But then Jesus says we are to give to God what is God's. Well, what is God's? In context, we are God's! The totality of who we are belongs to Him because we have been made in His eikon, His image. Jesus is teaching that image equals ownership.
With one sentence Jesus has in essence said that their arguments about politics in teh scheme of things are petty. Governments deal with aspects of our lives, while Gog wants ALL of our lives. Governments solely deal with the outward dimensions of our lives, not our hearts. Following the Civil Rights Movement, laws were changed. But people are still fighting against racial inequality and issues of economic injustice decades later. This is because fundamentally , these issues are not merely outward but inward; they stem from evil, fallen hearts. While government can change laws, it cannot change hearts. Her power is merely external and never internal.