TIME WITH THE CHILDREN (OF GOD)
We heard in our Gospel reading that two groups of people who didn’t like Jesus tried to trick him into saying something to get him into big trouble. They made a plan to go to Jesus and ask him whether or not they should pay taxes to the Roman emperor who ruled over them. The Roman Emperor’s title was Caesar. So they asked Jesus, “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
Now If Jesus said “Yes,” the people would be angry because they didn’t like the Roman government and didn’t want to pay money to them. But if he said, “No,” he would get into trouble with the Roman authorities.
So Jesus asked them for a coin. He asked them whose picture—whose image—was on the coin.
They answered: “Caesar.” Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” Matthew 22:21
The coin had an image of Caesar on it—the Roman ruler to whom all taxes had to be paid. The Bible says that we were created by God in the image of God. Now, we are not god ourselves, but God created us to reflect him through our life and service. Coins stamped with the image of their king belong to them. God has created us and stamped us with his image—so we belong to him!
Growing in faith at home prayer
SERMON
One Sunday morning as a family were getting organized to go to church, a father gave his son a $50 note and a $5 note. “Put the fifty in the offering,” the father said, “then you can have the five dollars to get an ice cream after church.”
After the service, the father noticed his son still had the $50. “Why didn’t you put that in the offering?!” his father exclaimed.
“Well it’s like this,” the boy explained. “You know how the pastor said that God loves a cheerful giver? I could give the five bucks a whole lot more cheerfully than I could the fifty!”
Today’s Gospel reading focuses on Jesus’ exchange with the Pharisees and Herodians in the matter of paying taxes. We might think of drawing out themes of a Christian’s responsibility to the government, or their financial giving to the church. These could both be an appropriate basis for a sermon, but there are much deeper issues in this text. Let’s begin by reflecting on the characters that Jesus is engaging with—the Pharisees and the Herodians.
We have heard a lot about the Pharisees in previous weeks—the religious leaders of Israel, who thought—and taught—that God would surely be more pleased with people based on their performance. The Pharisees acted out a pious exterior as they meticulously followed their framework of rules, and they frowned down on anyone who didn’t measure up to them. They opposed the Roman government, mainly because of the cult which became associated with the emperor from the time of Julius Caesar, who allowed himself to be worshiped as a god. His successor Augustus was known as ‘Son of eternal Caesar’ (‘Son of God’). The Pharisees therefore saw the government as profaning God and asserted that the Jews should not be subject to a pagan emperor, and regarded any tax paid to Rome as ungodly. On the other hand, the Herodians were the supporters of Herod the Great. Because Herod ruled through the favour of the Romans, they supported the payment of taxes to the Romans.
But they have a point of common ground: their desire to trap Jesus. So they banded together and ask him: “Tell us, what do you think: Is it lawful to pay tax to Caesar or not?” if Jesus agreed with the Pharisees and said taxes shouldn’t be paid, he would likely be cited for rebellion against the ruling authorities and executed. If he agreed with the Herodians and said taxes to Caesar should be paid, he would be seen as profaning God, coming under the condemnation of the religious leaders, who would likely impose a death penalty.
What a cunning plan! It seems no matter how Jesus is to answer he is at a dead end…literally. But Jesus knows all things in the human heart. He replied: “Why do you put me to the test, you hypocrites?” They are hypocrites because they themselves have a coin with the image of the emperor Caesar on it. Jesus has them show him the coin. On it, the image of the emperor was struck. They have already accepted and use Caesar’s currency as their money, therefore they have just brought their own judgment upon themselves. They seek to accuse Jesus of profaning God, yet they have done this in their hearts, with their rejection of Jesus. Jesus asks them: “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” They answered: “Caesar’s.” Jesus says to them: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what belongs to God.”
Romans 13 teaches that governments have their authority from God. Provided that governments don’t overstep the limits of their authority or rule contrary to God’s will, they have the right to call for obedience, support, and taxes. But human beings also have an image stamped on them. Genesis says that “God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27). They who have been created in God’s image are to give to God what belongs to him—themselves.
Jesus uses their attempt to trap him as an opportunity to challenge them, showing that God wants our whole selves: loving the Lord our God with all our soul and all our mind and all our strength. That’s what the Pharisees would say too, but while it’s the right answer, they were more concerned to know about God’s laws than knowing God. They were more concerned with being right, than seeking the righteousness of God in Christ. They were more concerned with their appearance, than their heart. In today’s text, Jesus challenges us too, for this isn’t an issue peculiar to the Pharisees or the Herodians. This is a human heart issue. One’s obligation to God is far greater than the cost of paying taxes to the government. It’s what’s pictured by the Apostle Paul in the reading to the Thessalonians today: giving our whole selves over to serving God, joyfully and lovingly.
That’s a picture of living the Christian life from the heart that is more concerned with knowing and loving God, rather than contending about being right. God wants us to pay our taxes but he wants us to respect the Government in the same way we would him, because through it he goes to work to provide for the nation. God wants us to be generous with our contributions to the church too, so that his gospel continues to be proclaimed, but he doesn’t want our dollars in the offering bowl if our hearts aren’t in there too.
It seems, then, that there isn’t too much gospel in this Gospel reading. It is more about giving and doing. Where is the gospel in it? It might seem all law…if it were not for the true image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15) who stood in the midst of his adversaries—the One of whom it was said: “…the knowledge of God’s glory is displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
This is the One who ultimately would allow himself to be trapped—not because he was tricked into it—but willingly, completely obedient to his Father’s plan to redeem the world. The setting of our text is Holy Week, after Jesus had triumphantly entered Jerusalem. In the end the Pharisees would get their way and they would kill Jesus, the image of the invisible God who became flesh and dwelt among us, by crucifying him on Good Friday. Jesus was faithful unto death—even death on a cross, to free us from bondage to sin, death, and the devil.
This has got to be the lens through which the whole of a Christian’s life and service is to be seen. Should we pay taxes? Should we give generously to the church? The question about our giving always begins with God’s saving. It was while we were sinners, while we did not give ourselves to God, that God gave his only Son for us, to free us and keep us as his own. Luther explained: “I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, Son of the Father from all eternity, and true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord. At great cost he has saved and redeemed me, a lost and condemned person. He has freed me from sin, death and the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with his holy and precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. All this he has done that I may belong to him, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in eternal righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally. This is most certainly true” (Small Catechism, Creed, Explanation 2nd article)
In the Ebbs’ home we have a 5¢ moneybox. Over the years, before PayWave became a thing, we put all the 5¢ pieces we accumulated from change in it. [tip coins out] In this jar, all the coins have the same image of the ruler of the British Commonwealth. This coin is very shiny. But this one is dull and dirty. This other one has some green corrosion. This one is badly scuffed and the edge is ragged and sharp. This one is so discoloured it is barely recognisable. But they are all worth the same.
I wonder if this is a helpful illustration of the communion of saints—God’s church. God has carefully, intentionally made all people and stamped them with his image, giving us all incredible dignity because God places the same value upon every single person, from the most vulnerable of embryos to those who are in the frailty of their twilight years. He has taken away the sin of the world through his Son, and in grace has claimed some as his own; the church. Some of these coins are more attractive and visually appealing, like the shiny 5c piece. Others are scuffed, or have marks, wounds from others. Some are stained with the sin of their past. Love for God in the lives of others is barely recognisable, like the very discoloured 5c piece, and sometimes we might wonder if they are actually Christian.
But are all worth exactly the same and treasured by God the same. God has saved us and kept us as his own [put coins back in moneybox]. Close to him, in his wallet, in the breast pocket of his jacket, close to his heart. God owns you – heart, mind, body, and soul, and he is not giving any of you away. For God paid too great a price to let any other rival have you. He poured out the Holy Spirit into your hearts, so that you have turned from idols to serve the living God. Now we’re at the point to answer the question of what God wants from us.
God your Father in Heaven continue to send you the Holy Spirit in his ministry to you each week through his Word and sacraments, just as he did for the Thessalonians, so that your faith continues to show itself in your labour of love, your endurance, and your welcome of the gospel, by which he will constantly renew you in the image of his Son. Amen.
