Gotcha Politics and Gotcha Theology

Matthew 22:15-22 and the Trap Set for Jesus

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel.

According to St. Matthew, the 22nd chapter. Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle Jesus in His talk. 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 put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax. And they brought Him a denarius and 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.

This is the gospel of the Lord. Well you know things are really interesting. And that's a good way to put it. Interesting. When people who are normally enemies and at odds with each other have united together to join forces.

Could you imagine what a weird thing it would be in the United States here if the Democrats and the Republicans, the SJWs and the alt-right all conspired together to do a particular thing? We would say something is afoot.

The Pharisees and Herodians as Strange Allies

So in order to understand our gospel text today, you have to understand this. The Pharisees and the Herodians were not on talking terms. The Herodians, let's talk about these guys. Yeah, they're Israelites.

They're genetically Jewish. Here's the thing. They have completely bought into and are in full support of the Roman Empire and they're big guys who have Herod's sign on their yard. There's no election.

They just do that because they love him so much. They are totally buying into this. In fact, these are Jews back in the day who are wearing Roman togas, have no problem using Roman money while the Pharisees, everybody knows about the Pharisees, these guys have established their own righteousness, created their own rules, added to the scriptures and they had, well, they had ought with Caesar on a lot of grounds because number one, Caesar worshipped idols.

Caesar also claimed to be a god on earth and they were not buying into that and then the coins that they were required to give to Caesar in their taxes had the image of Caesar on it and the Pharisees, well, their big argument was to even have one of these in your pocket is idolatry.

It's idolatry. There's a guy who claims to be god on earth and you have one of these things and so they have kept themselves holy. In fact, if you remember, there are money changers in the temple. The whole reason why there's money changers in the temple is because you can't buy a sacrifice for God using that filthy, idolatrous Roman money so you had to exchange it for the holy temple shekel and so there was always a little exchange rate and they were making a little money on the side but you get the idea here.

So here's the thing. These guys are constantly at odds with each other. They're butting heads. They're having debates and of course, everybody in Israel has either chosen one side or the other and they have concocted the perfect scheme.

They are going to trap Jesus in his words. That's the idea here. We're going to draw him onto our turf. We're not going to let him teach us God's word on his terms. We're going to make him pick a side.

Which is it? Is it the Pharisees or is it the Herodians? And if he answers yes to either, they're going to string him up. This is the perfect—you almost see these guys sitting there in a smoke-filled room kind of concocting this thing and then afterwards going, this is it.

We're finally going to get him and then going, there's no way out for Jesus now. This is what they're thinking, right? But here's the funny part. The text says, they plotted how to entangle Jesus in his talk and then they sent their disciples.

The Pharisees themselves wouldn't even go. So they said to their disciples, listen, we can't be seen in public with the Herodians so we're sending you guys. And you can see them going, really? We have to go and be in public with the Herodians?

Yes. And so the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians then come to Jesus. Oh, and listen to these words. Man, so they're going to butter Jesus up. They're going to make Jesus' ego just swell. Teacher, we know that you are true and you teach the way of God truthfully and you don't care about anyone's opinion for you are not swayed by appearances.

So, I mean, what are they expecting Jesus to go? Wow, it's about time that you kind of finally figured out how important I am and all this kind of, and that I teach the word of God truthfully. Ah, it's good to see that you guys have finally come to your senses.

No, the text says he saw right through that and detected their malice. Malice is one of these things. It's hatred on steroids. It's hatred to the point of murder. Malice is one way or another. So you can see the setup here.

Gotcha Politics and Gotcha Theology

In our day, we talk about, what do we say, gotcha politics. Have you noticed that Trump and the media don't really get along? And it always seems like whenever there's one of those press conferences that the questions asked by the media are like those high inside fastballs designed to bean Trump in the head.

So we call it gotcha politics. This is the perfect gotcha moment. This is not just gotcha politics. This is gotcha politics and gotcha theology, all mixed up in one, and this is going to lead to the demise of Jesus, and the whole goal here is the murder of Christ.

The Pharisees and the Herodians, normally enemies, have come to the agreement, Jesus has got to go. He's got to go. So Jesus, aware of their malice, said, why do you put me to the test, you hypocrites?

Yeah, he called them hypocrites because they are. And so he says, show me the coin for the tax. And you can kind of see the disciples of the Pharisees going, we don't have one of those. We're not allowed to have one of those.

So they look over to the Herodians and one of the Herodians reaches into his pocket and his toga and pulls out a shiny new denarius and goes, ting, here you go, Jesus. So Jesus takes the coin and he says, whose likeness and inscription is this?

Caesar's. And he said to them, therefore render the Caesar to the things that are Caesar's. That's Caesar's money. That's his likeness. Give to Caesar the thing. If Caesar wants it back, give it back to him.

It's his. And you sit there and you can just see their heads at this point exploding. How did he get out of this? But that's kind of the point. Now, with that, I'm going to save the last part for just a second here.

God Ordains Earthly Governments and Commands Taxes

With that, we recognize then that when it comes to earthly governments, the scripture is clear. God is the one who establishes kings, even the pagan ones, even the idolatrous ones, even the ones who don't believe in God, even the ones who are atheistic, communistic, and things like that.

God can use them too. And you sit there and you go, but, but, but, but, but, but, but they're evil. Yeah, uh-huh. And what's your point? You see, our prophecy, our Old Testament text, did you pay attention to who was mentioned in that Old Testament text?

A fellow by the name of Cyrus. You guys remember Cyrus? See, Isaiah prophesied about Cyrus long, long, long, long, long before Cyrus' great-great-grandmother was born. And prophesied and named him by name and chose him.

He was the king of Persia who was responsible for releasing the Jews from their Babylonian captivity. And God called this Persian king his Messiah. That's what anointed means. That's how you say it in Hebrew, Mashiach.

Thus says Yahweh to his Messiah, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and to loose the belt of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed. And so you'll note then, here, God raised up Cyrus for the purpose of you and I, for our salvation.

Because he played an instrumental part by sending the Jews back to Israel after the Babylonian captivity. Well, the remnant that remained among them were those who were part of the lineage of Jesus Christ.

Jesus' ancestors were among that group. And by sending them back, God was using Cyrus, this pagan Persian king, to help make sure that you and I were bled for and died for. That we were forgiven of our sins and that the Messiah would come to bear.

So you'll note then, God establishes kingdoms. So then, do we pay our taxes? Well, as the old television show used to say, you bet your bippy. We pay our taxes. In fact, Romans 13 says it this way. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.

There is no authority except for from God. Those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists what God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgment.

So you note, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar. What does that also include? Well, it does include taxes. You'll see that. But it also includes recognizing that whoever is in charge has been instituted by God.

Now here in the United States, we know that the first week of November, Armageddon is going to break out. But at the end of that, whoever wins the election will be prayed for in this church. Whoever wins the election will be prayed for.

Prayed for, and you'll note then, we will pray that God will work through that fellow for good. Therefore, whoever resists the authority, resists what God has appointed, those who resist will incur judgment.

Rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, you'll receive his approval. For he is God's servant, for you are good.

But, but, but, but, but, that guy doesn't even believe correctly. He has false ideas. Yeah, I know. What's your point? The left-hand kingdom is established by God for the purpose of punishing the evildoer.

That's what it exists to do. And you'll notice, if you pay close attention to what the government's all about, what does the government do? Well, Congress and the Senate meet together and what do they do?

They make laws. Right, they make laws. So, once they make a law, then this is considered legal and this is considered illegal. And those who break those laws, what do they do to them? Oh, they arrest them.

And they punish them, or they fine them, right? And so you'll note then you have your judicial system set up for the purpose of establishing correctly whether or not somebody has committed a crime or not, and then they end up going to prison or they are set free.

You'll note that the government spends an inordinate amount of time dealing with all the evil in this world. And the reality is this. You can be an atheist. You could be a Buddhist. You could be a Christian.

You could be whatever. And still do a pretty decent job of punishing the evildoer. That's what they're established to do. Surrender to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. So, if you do wrong, be afraid.

He does not bear the sword in vain. He's a servant of God. An avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience.

And who was the head of state while the Apostle Paul was writing this? Caesar. Caesar was the head of state. Roman Emperor. Now, because of this then, you also pay your taxes. The authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing.

Yep, we pay our taxes. Guess what I'll be doing on April 15th next year, regardless of who wins the election? Sending in my taxes. Now, just so you know, I wait until the very last minute because I don't want the government to have my money a moment sooner than they have asked for it.

But you get the idea. But still, the tax check gets written to the United States Treasury, and that's what we as Christians do. And we recognize that by doing this, this is a good work. God wills for us to do this.

Pay to all what is owed them, Paul then goes on to say. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar. Taxes to whom taxes are owed. Revenue to whom revenue is owed. Oh, and listen to this one. Respect to whom respect is owed.

You mean I have to show respect to that guy? I didn't even vote for him. He's not my president. Well, actually he is. So yes, respect and honor for whom honor is owed. So now that we've got that sorted out, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and God is the one who has established that, what do we make of what Jesus does next?

The Image of God and What Belongs to God

Because this is what I think is a good way of putting it, the ultimate gotcha. But I have to kind of note here that I'm going to change the meaning of the word just a little bit. See, Christ says, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar, and to God the things that are God's.

Which begs the question, what is God's? Does that mean send in your tithe check? So a seed offering to Roseboro Ministries. No, that's not what this is talking about at all. In fact, using this same imagery, you'll note that Christ held up the coin and said, whose likeness and inscription is this?

Well, may I remind you of something quite important. Regarding our creation, regarding our creation in Genesis chapter 1, it says, God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, over the livestock, and over all of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created in male and female, he created them. To render to God the things that are God's is to recognize that Christ doesn't want your money, Christ wants you.

We were all made in the image and the likeness of God. We belong to him. And granted, sin has destroyed and marred that image of God and that likeness, but you will note that Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, to redeem those who were lost, to save us, to render to God the things that are God's is to recognize that God wills for us to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, our soul, our mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourself.

This is what it means to render to God the things that are God, but the thing is that we don't, we haven't, we've woefully fallen short of this, and so we recognize then that the mission of Christ is to come and to get us.

We are gods, you are gods, and you'll note that these fellows, these Pharisees, their disciples and the Herodians, this isn't even on their radar. They don't even have the things of God in mind. The only thing they care about, well, is themselves.

Their power, their false religion, their whatever. They've lost sight of the fact that God has called them to be forgiven and to be merciful to others, to render to God the things that are God, and that's you.

So you'll note then that Jesus here is about ready to go to the cross. He, according to Colossians, is the image of the invisible God in human flesh, and so Christ came to restore that image of God and to return us to God himself by bleeding and dying for all of the ways in which we have failed to love God with all of our heart, our soul, our mind, and strength.

All the ways in which we have thought that we belong to and exist for ourselves. How many times have you heard somebody say, it's my body, I can do with my body whatever I want to do with my body? Well, it ain't.

It belongs to God, and Christ has bled and died for it and paid for that, paid for you with his own precious blood. So you'll note here that these fellows, they actually backhandedly spoke the truth about Jesus.

Teacher, we know that you are true and that you teach the way of God truthfully and you don't care about anyone's opinion for you're not swayed by appearances. This is true. Jesus, he is the one who knows what is true and he teaches about God truthfully, and he has made it clear that he has come to seek and to save the lost.

Adoption, Grace, and the Ultimate Gotcha

And we note then that scripture is very clear, that for everyone who believes that they are no longer under the dominion of darkness, under the power of the devil, or even under the delusion of their own self-importance or their own self-determination.

But instead, having been set free and redeemed from those, we are then adopted into the family of God and have the right then to call God our father as adopted children. So you'll note, this text begins with gotcha politics, it begins with gotcha theology, but it ends, when you consider the implications of it, with a different kind of gotcha.

Here in the United States, when a family adopts a child, they have to go to court, a judge has to make it official, it has to be approved, and they have a term for that day, the day when the judge finally puts the gavel down and makes the adoption final.

It's called gotcha day. And so a good way to think about it here is that what they intended to do in doing the gotcha with Jesus, Jesus, by going to the cross, does the ultimate gotcha, so that they can be forgiven, pardoned, redeemed, and adopted so that God can render to God the things that are God's, and that's you, and that's me.

All done by grace, through faith, because of the great love that God has for each of us. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

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