We continue still our study in the Gospel of Matthew. I invite you to turn to Matthew chapter 22, page 983 in the Bibles that are in front of you. Last week we had the parable of the wedding feast, and today we come to the very important issue of paying taxes to Caesar, and a very good section also to come to the table of our Lord. Let's give our attention to Matthew 22, this beginning at verse 15. We will read through verse 22. This is the Word of the Lord.
Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle Him in His words, and 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. Tell us then, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why do you put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. Jesus said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They 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." And when they heard it, they marveled, and they left him and went away. There will end the reading of God's Word.
Well, as we come to the supper today, we have a wonderful section here that spells out so helpfully what God is after from us contrary to what we have seen in the response of the religious leaders of Israel. We have just gone through three parables. I remember these three parables that we we went through a grouping of three. And as I looked at this, I realized that following these very serious parables about entering the kingdom and about what they would do to Christ, that we have three tests that now follow right after the three parables that somewhat correspond all with the intention to delegitimize Jesus and his authority. For this is the section that really began when they questioned him about authority. That's what set all of this off. They were challenging; that they would not accept his authority. And after concluding this last parable, he rehearsed remember these gracious calls that went out to Israel. Here we have leaders come to him after these calls, right immediately after these calls. Leaders of Israel come to him and try to trap him in three ways: first is political, second is theological, and third is moral. So we're those are the three categories that here follow right after these parables that Jesus gave.
I want to really go right into this today, uh as as we see here clearly there is a plot against him, a question to stumble him, and then an answer to silence them. We read in verse 15 that then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him. You'll notice that "how to entangle him in his words this is a very important introduction that's being given to us. You'll notice here that they send for their own disciples and the Herodians. Fascinating moment here. The Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders, have just aligned essentially with their enemies, the Herodians. They have really formed together a group to come together and to assault Jesus.
It's here been said that the sanctimonious and the sacrilegious have joined hands in their cause to destroy Jesus. It's fascinating because the Pharisees, you know, meant "the separate ones." They were the separate ones who refused to associate or even touch dirty Gentiles. The Herodians? Who were the Herodians? The Herodians were a public political party. Oh, that's interesting, isn't it? Who distinguished themselves from the Sanhedrin. They were fond of Herod. They have formed here a totally unholy alliance against Christ. They have the Pharisees, the separate ones, aligned with one of the major political parties of the day. It's a remarkable thing that they came together here to form this plot against him. And it gives us a real inside look, I think, at really up front here, beloved, the heart of unbelief.
I want to park on that just for a minute. Why won't they just come to him for eternal life? They just need to come to him for life. He'll freely give it. This passage really helps us with that. Why did they reject the message of Christ? Why do people reject the message of Jesus Christ? We've seen how patient he's been. The whole fact that this world continues to go on demonstrates his long-suffering and his patience in calling people to repentance. But here there are, sort of, many things you can get out of the sort of psychology of unbelief. And I think we have to say here first that when the Pharisees came, and when they heard the teachings of Jesus very plainly, they never listened to him. They never listened to him. Every way in which they approached him was all wrong.
What we find after the parables is that they are the ones continuing to talk. and not listen. They are the ones who will not simply listen to the words, take them in, and come to him for eternal life. They simply talk. And I think that's one of the great issues today of unbelief. At core, it is really a refusal to listen carefully to the issues that Jesus is giving to us, to the word that Jesus is giving to us, to really take it in, to think about it, to understand it, to understand why he is saying it, to understand why he is emphasizing these kind of things.
We see the tactic here. Here they come, and notice what they say. They had come to him and they say, "Teacher, we know that you are true and care for no one, for you do not regard the person of man, but teach the way of God in truth." That is such a phony approach, isn't it? "Teacher, we know that you teach the way of God truthfully, and you don't care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances." That's quite a flattery, isn't it? They start by complimenting him. They start by flattering him. And the whole thing is pretense. The whole thing is exactly the very thing of what they claim of him, which is true, that he does not run on appearances. They're doing this thing. They're still playing the game. They still will not believe him. They still will pull these kind of games on him.
"We know that you're not swayed by appearances." And you almost could see, after the flattery of them, sort of zero in: "Tell us then. Tell us then what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
Now, they're trying to get him here into a web. They're trying to get him caught in all kinds of problems. But I think what's interesting is what it exposes about them in the question itself. What does it expose about them in the question itself? People won't often listen to Christ. They will not give careful listening to his word or what he is saying because they're coming with their own self-interests. But what those are is interesting. They're things that are not unimportant. That's really important to say here today.
What they come at him with are things that are not unimportant, but are things of far less importance than the crucial message that Jesus was bringing. Why don't people believe? Well, they don't want to face the real issues in their lives, don't they? I can see how that's not the crucial point that is initially being brought out in this text. They give attention in life to everything else rather than that which is most important. This, I would say, is one of the major reasons people stay away from church today. This is one of the major reasons people don't want to deal with the church because it forces people, if the ministry is doing what it's designed to do and it's accomplishing what it's designed to accomplish, it's forcing people to deal with the most important issues of their lives, the most important. And that's exactly what we have exposed here in this text.
Jesus had just preached a parable about what entering the kingdom and what was the crucial, driving ending point of that parable that should have left them with great effect? What was it? Well, it's that many are entering the kingdom, trying to enter the kingdom, and on the last day they will not be able to enter the kingdom because they don't have a wedding garment on. Now, that seems to be the most concerning issue in life, doesn't it? That we're all a moment away from death, and if you don't have a wedding garment on, you're not going to enter the kingdom. There are people who think they are and are not. And the Pharisees in these parables perceived that he was speaking about them.
Shouldn't that concern them? Shouldn't that concern people? It doesn't concern them at all. They don't worry about it at all. They hadn't listened at all. Now, this is the most serious matter. Jesus was constantly dealing with eternal issues with people. Jesus just said that outside his kingdom now listen to the language of the last parable and you'll see why this is so shocking what happens here in the last parable?
He said, "When the king came to look at his guests, he saw there were a man who had on no wedding garment. And he said to him, friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen.
What do you do with that? That's where I pause and say, have you listened to Jesus? He just said that's what's going to happen. Didn't it concern them? Shouldn't it have concerned them? And what should they have done about that? They should have come to him: "Be merciful to me, God, I'm a sinner." You think he would have cast them out? And that's a great test for us. Are we not thinking about what Jesus has been saying to us this whole Gospel? and that repentance and faith in Him as the Savior of the world is the most important issue of your life, right?
But here comes their question. Burning, driving in their minds, driving their whole lives: is what? Now wait for it. Politics. The political and the social issues of the day. There is nothing that winds people up more than politics. I mean, I go over to LA Fitness and work out. If I talk about Jesus, there's virtually no interest. If I talk about politics, watch out. The fights start.
Rome had conquered their land. They were living under this pagan authority, this wicked and tyrannical authority, Caesar, that imposed all kinds of unjust laws, who made statements and made claims that were flat out blasphemy. And in keeping here the issue of authority in front of us, you have to think about who is speaking here: the King, the one with all authority.
But here's what unbelief does. Here's what unbelief does: it elevates some secondary issue important as it may be. This is the tactic of the evil one. Important as it may be, "Well, don't you care about this?" They elevate some issue like that to the place of importance. We should note it carefully. People do it all the time. And here it comes: "Why are they doing it? Well, you know why they're doing it. Because, again, they're not really addressing the most important issues of life. It's a smokescreen."
Here it comes. "We have a question for you. We have a question for you. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Shall we pay or shall we not?"
Now, I want you to notice what they just did here. This was the hot button issue of the day. These guys would sit around and debate it. They would debate about taxes and about what the authority of Caesar was and how they were to live under such a thing. And they all came to different conclusions, and they debated and they argued about this. And today we essentially have here them trying to drag Jesus into the political debates of the day with a particular goal with a particular goal that he would say something that would offend major numbers of people and subject him to the charge of rebellion in Rome, which speedily would get you to the cross.
Well, Jesus would go to the cross, just not on their terms, right?
Think of this conundrum. There was the capitation tax, which was collected from every adult male in Judea, and it went right into the imperial treasury. Right? So in their hands would be Roman coins and paid into the treasury, they were commanded to give to Caesar for his kingdom. Now, what made matters all the worse is that it was believed by the Romans in the Roman world that Caesar, in all matters, was divine.
Now, I've never heard President Biden or Trump really claim that, have you? "I'm divine." Imagine living under that. "I possess all authority, and worship."
Here are the Jews in whose land it's our land And are subject to these gentiles and this is what they believed about their God, right? They were Jewish nationalists. They wanted their land back. They wanted theocracy back. They were waiting for this. They were expecting the Messiah to do this. But to throw money in his pot? That's to accept his claims, and it's to give indirect legitimacy to his government. And these were wicked emperors throughout history. Just read their history if you don't believe it.
The Zealots said, "We're not paying." If it were our day, they would take picket signs and march around the tax office. "Taxation is not better than downright slavery," as it's been said, right?
This was clever: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Shall we pay up or shall we not?"
Now, Jesus knows this is a big trap that they have have really tried to get him into to support giving to a kingdom here giving to the kingdom of Caesar. But if they could get him to say, "Don't pay," they could get the charge of rebellion against Rome and be done with him. This is exactly, by the way, the charge they make at the Cross. Remember, when they were taking him to the Cross, and they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a King."
So that's a direct lie by the way so they want to catch him in all the political issues of the day. This is what they want to do. Anything they can find to not have to deal with a great claim of authority over their own lives his rule which is ironic, isn't it? This is God's Son. This is the King. This is the King.
Now, Jesus was constantly being pulled into this. Remember, someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?" Then he said to them, "This: take care and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
Think of the trap really for pastors today in the environment that we're in: "Pastor, why don't you speak to this? Why don't you focus on this? What about our government and the abuses? Why don't we hear from you more about this?" These are the kind of conundrums that always confront us. And if you want to see how divided everyone is, you know, this is these are the issues that everyone uses to do the same thing the Pharisees did to jesus to divide up the church because they don't want to listen to the message. They don't want to get to the core issues.
Or if you want to take it away from politics: "Pastor, you don't really believe, do you? Really believe that Jonah was swallowed by a fish? What was that creature that swallowed him? Tell us your position on the sun standing still." Not unimportant issues, I guess.
People today have more interest in the stock market and baseball than the issues regarding their eternal destinies. And it shows it all the time. You live this all the time. As the concerned pastor says, "I get you twice a week in preaching. Do you know that there's an eternal judgment coming?"
You see, when people don't believe, this is what they do. They create sad diversions from the real issues of life.
Well, Jesus in verse 16, knowing their malice, "Why do you put me to the test?" This is what Israel always did to God. That's a loaded question. Jesus won't let it happen. He never let us avoid dealing with the main issues of life. And I believe that's why this is so important this morning.
Other issues are important. Don't get me wrong. Christians are interested in politics. Christians are interested in these things. They have to be citizens of this kingdom. They have to be salt and light. We are interested in these things. But Jesus is setting priorities here.
And notice how he does it: "Bring me a denarius. I want to see it." The wisdom of our Lord is amazing here. So they bring him a denarius and probably put it right in his hand. It's an amazing thought. Jesus holds up the denarius and says, "Whose inscription is this?" On one side it had Caesar's head. I have coins in my study that have Caesar's head on it from the first century. And the other side shows typically a seated female, his wife, is what they would do. "Caesar Augustus. Tiberius, son of divine Augustus," read the coin claiming that Augustus was a god. This is in his hand, right? This is in his hand. And isn't that the point? Does he recognize that authority? Does he recognize caesar not as god, of course well Jesus gives a fascinating statement:
"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
And they marveled.
What inscription is on that coin? What did Jesus say? "Pay your taxes." Very simply, "Pay your taxes." Those coins belong to Caesar and his kingdom. "Pay your taxes. You should render what is Caesar's and give it to him." what belongs to him and what jesus just said to them if they really stopped and pondered it which it seems they might have here because they marveled is "Yes, Caesar has an authority. Embedded in this is the recognition, by the way, in great providence. Guess where we land tonight? is Romans 13. On pay your taxes. I didn't set that up. Think about it carefully."
"Render to Caesar what is Caesar's. What is Caesar's? What is Caesar's?" Jesus is saying, is "You're you're concerned and You're fighting over all your energy you're giving all your energy over what belongs to Caesar fighting against caesar or finding the right Messiah to conquer him and paying taxes to him. Isn't is that not the very thing to this day we're still complaining about? The times are bad. Politics is awful. The situations are all evil."
You know, the wise person says, "It's always been this way. It's always been this way." Have you ever read the history of Israel? The first century was abusive. Every generation has moaned in their moment about the state of things: "Oh, it's so evil these days. We've got to do something about Caesar."
"What's he collecting from you?" says Jesus.
Ready for the answer? "It's just money."
And how you respond to that might indicate where you are. Caesar collects money. And if Romans 13 matters, these authorities are ministers of God to maintain peace and order. We'll look at that tonight. But in this statement, Jesus is capturing the limits of what Caesar can collect. That's the point. Great limits. Great limits. His kingdom is limited. His kingdom is temporary. And it's powerless to deliver you in what matters the most.
Isn't that the point? What can Caesar really do for you? Really, think about it. So give it to him. What does all this obsession with him, and all this interest in him, and all this interest over interest in politics really say about you? That we're avoiding the real issues of life.
People in all their interest in politics are looking for what? What Israel always looked for. What did Israel always look for? "A king like all the other nations." But who's standing in front of them? Their King, who has all authority in heaven and on earth. And they're refusing him, just like Israel of old did.
Now you can understand the question, right? And the answer: "Render to God the things that are God's."
Isn't that the most important issue of the text this morning? Everyone's talking about what belongs to Caesar. Everyone's worked up about Caesar. Everyone's worked up about who's in political office, Biden or Trump. "Who's talking about what belongs to God? Where's that in the discourse, right?"
"What belongs to God? Who's concerned about that? Let's talk about it. I'm not very interested in our people."
What is God's? Is he just after your money? He's not after your money. He doesn't need your money. It's all his. If a coin has Caesar's image on it, what has God's image on it? You. You. He put his image on us. Here were all these image bearers who weren't giving anything that was God's that belonged to Him.
You see the brilliance of this? You see the utter brilliance of this? He turned them back to the real issue on priorities. And to me, beloved, it seems like such a gracious reply. I wanted to just ponder and think about: "What do you think life's about? What do you think life's all about? Money? Do you think your life is just meant to be lived independently? Were you not made for a purpose? Do you have value? Of course you have value. What do you really need? And do you know you bear His image? That He made you in His image?"
And they're worried about whether they should give money to Caesar, but have they ever thought about what belongs to God? You don't give to God what is God's by hating His Son. You don't give to God what is God's by having no faith in his Son, the gift he gave to the world. That's what the parable was all about. They want to kill his Son.
Is it so wrong to say that we're living at a moment of greatest distraction I've ever seen in my 48 years of life Over Caesar? Over politics? I've never seen such debate, such fear, such worry about the future, such fear of losing our country, such anger, such camps divided among Christians that I've ever witnessed in my life at this moment.
Now, it's always been this way, but things come in cycles, and this is quite a moment.
You've been told your whole life, "Your home is not of this world." You've been told that "the things of this age are passing away." You've been told that "Christ's kingdom is eternal." You've been told to "set your minds on things above."
Our heart is on what? "Do not fear him who can kill the body." If you're worried about Caesar, "Fear him who can kill the body and soul in hell," said Jesus.
But have you thought about what God can do for you?
I think this is the most mind-perplexing response to close this out and come to the supper. You know what he can do for you today? What Caesar can't: deliver you from all your sins and save you and justify you and sanctify you and give you glory and eternal life. This King can actually help you. This King actually takes interest in you. This King dines with you.
Caesar has very limited authority, beloved. The Lord has authority over your body and your soul. So we should make primary in life what? His worship, faith, and His promises. We should give to God those things. We should care about repentance. We should make central to Christianity without pretenses the Gospel of Jesus Christ to save people from sins. That's what should be primarily on our lips as Christians.
And if you look down to the end of this chapter, then you'll find the last test is over love: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself."
Christ is our Champion today. And the most pressing issue of your life and my life is whether we have repented and believe the Gospel of the kingdom and come to this King who's a gracious King, who's a loving King, who cares about you, who actually, Caesar doesn't care about you. Donald Trump does not care about you, ultimately. He cannot deliver you. Only Christ can.
Don't avoid the most important issues of your life. Render to Him the glory that's due to His name. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. He came on a mission. Rome, the U.S., its problems are important. But not nearly as important as your soul's. And Christ cares a lot more about that because He already has a new kingdom planned for us. Heavens and earth.
Repent and believe in Him.
And here's the tie today: Donald Trump cannot save you from hell. Jesus can. Render to him the glory due to his name. He is God. He is King. You are his image bearers Your devotion and response and faith to this King who has loved you is what he's calling you to. And today he says to you who believe, "Come, eat and drink."
What King? Think about this. What King gave his body and his blood so that you may live eternally with him and a new heavens and new earth where righteousness shall dwell? "Come," "Come to me. says jesus Eat and drink. Taste and see that I am good."
Amen.
Let's pray. Oh, Lord our God, thank you for this, and thank you for instructing us in your way. We confess, Oh Lord, that so often we give all of our attention and devotion in the course of our weeks to things, Lord, in the big picture that will not matter. And even in these things that are important in this age and we do care about these things we ask that our priorities would be as Jesus instructs us. Or we will give to Caesar what he asks us to give in money, but most of all, Oh Lord, may we respond in faith, giving glory to God as image bearers for this belongs to God the god of our deliverance in jesus name we pray. Amen.