Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s

The Trap Set for Jesus Over Taxes to Caesar

Let's turn to the gospel of Matthew chapter 22, Matthew chapter 22. Last week we covered verses one through 14 with the parable of the wedding feast. And Jesus, if you remember, concluded with that statement, many are called, but few are chosen.

If you didn't hear that message, you can go back and listen to it. But now we're going to start in verse 15. So through the rest of the chapter, Jesus is now receiving a series of questions from his critics and his enemies.

So the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadducees, they've been trying to trap Jesus for a long time, trying to trap him in his words. And they're going to do that again here. This time Jesus receives a, maybe you could say a politically charged question.

He is questioned about whether or not the Jews should pay taxes to Caesar. So they think they got him right where they want him, because no matter which way he answers, he's going to make enemies. So if he says, yes, pay taxes to Caesar, then Jesus becomes like a traitor to his people.

They despise that. And he was going to make enemies among his own people if he did that. But then if he said, no, don't pay taxes, then they can make him out to be some sort of insurrectionist or something like that.

So they figure they have Jesus trapped, but we'll see how that goes. And this matters because it shows us how we should interact, how we should view the authorities, how we should view the governing authorities.

So we have a lot to learn from Christ and his apostles, but let's read Matthew 22, starting in verse 15. Says then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent to him their disciples with the Herodians saying, teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God and truth, nor do you care about anyone for you do not regard the person of men.

Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, why do you test me? You hypocrites show me the tax money. So they brought to him a Denarius and he said to them, whose image and inscription is this?

And they said to him, Caesar's. And he said to them, render therefore to Caesar, the things that are Caesar's and to God, the things that are God's. And when they heard these words, they marveled and left him and went their way.

Jesus' Answer and the Image of God

Okay. Okay. So that didn't work out so well, obviously it kind of blows up in their face. And I just love this. When people try to trap Jesus, they try to put him in an impossible situation. It almost always backfires, right?

But the problem is though, people will try to do that same thing to you. And we're not Jesus. We don't always have that perfect response, but we need to learn from Christ, especially this matter of rendering to Caesar, the things that are Caesar's or today, you know, we might say to Washington, the things that are Washington's, whatever we need to learn, um, what's our role and responsibility to government.

And then how do we balance that with our greater responsibility to God himself? So this really does matter for the life of the believer. But starting in verse 15, we see their motive upfront, right? This question is not a sincere question.

They're not really looking to know, uh, to find out, no, this is a test and really it's a test of allegiance. So we see their motive upfront. It says, then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle him in his talk, or as we would say, trap him in his speech.

But notice it's not the Pharisees themselves. Who are they sending? Well, they're sending their disciples. So Jesus, because we see some flattery, uh, right up front and Jesus and the Pharisees, this was a well-established, um, relationship of contention.

So I don't think the flattery would have worked, uh, from the Pharisees. It didn't really work from their disciples either, but these are probably younger men who are following, uh, these older religious leaders.

So they send these young men, these disciples, and it says in verse 16, and this is significant that they send them along with the Herodians. Now most of us are familiar with the Pharisees. They were the strictest sect within Judaism.

So it's a religious sect, very, very strict, you know, obeying the law to the T. That's what they were really all about. But here they're coming to Jesus along with the Herodians. So a lot of people are not familiar with the Herodians.

So the Pharisees were a religious sect. The Herodians were more of a political sect and they're called the Herodians because they supported the Herodian dynasty. Most of you have heard of King Herod, remember the king that tried to kill Jesus when he was a baby, right?

So that Herod, King Herod died and now his four sons, because Rome had a good relationship with Herod and they made him king, he was sort of a puppet for the Romans. But he died and Rome really didn't trust his sons.

They didn't have that same relationship. So his four sons were called Tetrarchs and they were ruling over four different regions or territories of his empire. But the fact is the Herodians were buddy-buddy with Rome and the Pharisees did not like that.

So really the Pharisees and the Herodians, normally they would have been enemies. They would have hated each other, but now they're teaming up to try to trap Jesus in his speech. So this would be an example of the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

So they're making an exception here, but it really just shows you how threatened they are, how much they hate, they come together in their mutual hatred towards Jesus. Jesus really was a threat, not only to the religious establishment, which was controlled by the Pharisees, but he was also a threat to the political establishment.

So basically both of these groups, everybody would have lost their position if Jesus ever became king. This is bad for all these different groups. So they're trying to protect their own positions, trying to uphold the status quo.

Look at verse 16. And it says, when they, the Pharisees, sent to him their disciples with the Herodians saying, teacher, we know that you are, what? True. And remember, the Pharisees or disciples of the Pharisees saying this to Jesus, you teach the way of God in truth.

Is that how they really believed? No, this is a lie. This is flattery. And obviously Jesus sees right through all of this. So verse 17, they say, tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful? And when they say lawful, they're talking about lawful as in, as we would say, biblical, you know, is it biblical to pay taxes to Caesar?

So is this, is this okay according to the Mosaic law? So is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? So again, this is the dilemma. If Jesus says yes, then he risks alienating the Jewish people who resented the Romans and their occupation and the taxes and everything else.

But if Jesus says no, then he can be accused of being a rebel or a traitor against Rome. So either he's a traitor against his own people, the Jews, or a traitor against the Romans. A no-win situation, so it seems.

Verse 18, it says, Jesus perceived their wickedness. And of course, this is the upper hand that Christ had that we don't have. We can have discernment sometimes. Some people I believe have the gift of discernment and they can look at a situation and just kind of evaluate it and know what's going on when others might not.

So that's discernment. Some people have discernment or levels of discernment. Jesus though, he could just read hearts. I mean, he could just read their mind. So that's something he was able to do. So this says in verse 18, he perceived their wickedness.

So again, Jesus had discernment, perfect discernment, really. And he said, why do you test me, you hypocrites? Show me the tax money. So they bring him a denarius. So who knows what a denarius is? You probably know it's a coin.

But let me just read this, just a short statement about a denarius. It says, it was a silver coin, the value of a day's wage for a Roman soldier. The coins were minted under the emperor's authority. One side bore an image of Caesar's face.

The other featured an engraving of him sitting on his throne in priestly robes. The Jews considered such images idolatry, forbidden by the second commandment concerning graven images, which made this tax and these coins doubly offensive.

So not only did they consider it idolatry, I mean, you'd have to imagine a Jew looking at this coin seeing Caesar in priestly robes. I mean, that's just got to make them mad, having to even look at this thing.

So the fact that they had to pay the tax and Caesar's presenting himself as a god or like the high priest. I mean, this is just adding insult to injury. And of course, Caesar did claim to be a god. He was worshipped as a god.

So to the Jews, this whole thing was an abomination. So that's why if Jesus says, yes, pay the tax, I mean, he is in hot water with his own people. So again, an impossible situation. But look at verse 20.

He says to them, whose image is on the coin? Or whose image and inscription is this? And they said to him, Caesar's. So Jesus says, and this is the most brilliant response maybe of all time. He says, render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.

So what is Jesus saying here? Is he saying that you should pay the tax? I mean, well, I guess some people could argue about that. I think he is saying, yes, pay the tax, but he's not giving them that soundbite, that quote, right?

So he's saying it without saying it, but he's making a bigger point. Yeah, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, but to God the things that are God's. And you owe much more to God than you do to Caesar.

But Jesus says it without saying it, so nobody can really pin him down either way. So it's really, really brilliant. So give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Caesar made the coins, right? It's his image on the coin.

He made the coin. So if Caesar wants the coin, give him his coin. But here's the thing. Yeah, it's Caesar's image on the coin, but it's God's image on you, right? Because every person was made in the image of God.

That's Genesis chapter one, verse 26. All of mankind was made with God's image. So give to God what belongs to God. That's your life. That's your worship. That's your whole spirit and soul and being. Give what belongs to God, give it to God.

This is your reasonable service, as Paul said in Romans 12. So verse 22 says, when they heard these words, they marveled and they left him and went their way. So in this answer, Jesus, I believe he's acknowledging different spheres of authority.

Romans 13 and the Purpose of Government

So let's turn to Romans chapter 13. And most, I think most everybody, even people that don't go to church, I think most people have heard this story. They're familiar with this story. But what does it actually mean for us?

I mean, how does this apply to us? So again, I think Jesus is acknowledging different spheres of authority. Caesar had a level of authority. Jesus didn't deny that, but God has much greater authority.

So there is an earthly sphere of authority and a heavenly sphere of authority. So just because God's people, just because we belong to a different kingdom, a heavenly kingdom, we still have civic and civil duties, right?

Now, are you a citizen of the United States or are you a citizen of heaven? Both, right? So you have responsibilities to both, which is the greater responsibility to God. See, a Christian would say to God, a non-Christian would not say that, obviously.

So basically, what it boils down to, I'll read from Romans 13 in a moment. But just to summarize this, how most people would put it, we should obey the governing authorities as long as they don't tell us to sin.

I mean, if you can just give the most basic answer, you need to obey the law, obey the governing authority as long as they don't tell you to do something that God calls sin. Is that true? Yeah, but that's very basic, that's very simplistic.

There could be a few situations I could bring up and you're not really sure which way to go, we'll touch on that. But look at Romans 13, Paul makes it, I think, even more clear. Jesus is trying to get out of a situation and teach a higher principle.

Paul is more explicit on these things. He says, let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. Paul says, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.

So what's Paul saying? He's saying human government was God's idea. Okay, so there are kings, there are governors, there's authorities in a town, in a nation. But human government is God's idea. Now, if you follow along with our study in the book of Genesis, you would know that it's generally accepted that human government was established in Genesis chapter 9.

Just make a note of this, Genesis 9 verse 6, the Lord speaking to Noah, he says, whoever sheds man's blood by man, his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God, he made man. So starting in Genesis 9, thousands of years ago, there were certain men who were set apart as authorities, and they were basically there to punish evildoers.

So if somebody committed murder back then, this group of people would make sure that murderer was put to death. That was a very early form of human government. Because what is government for? Now, if you ask ten people on the street, they'll give you ten different answers.

But biblically, government is for the punishment of evil. Reward the good, punish evil. Today, government sort of grows bigger and bigger, and they dictate every little thing, what windows to put in your house, and what nails to use, and just all these codes.

And some of it's well-meaning, but it just kind of gets out of control. Government's primary job is to protect the citizens, punish evil, reward the good. Look at verse 2. Therefore, since this was God's idea, therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God.

And those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. I found it interesting years ago, after one of these elections, that was the sign everyone was holding on the other side. Resist, remember? I drive through town and you see these signs, resist.

Resist the governing authority. That's what they were saying. Well, Paul would have had something to say about that. At the same time, we need to be careful. That doesn't mean that God always supports, hey, whoever's in power, God supports them and he blesses whoever's in power.

Is that true? No. So just because God established human government, that does not mean that every person who has pulled a coup or whatever, even rose to power legitimately and then done evil things. It does not mean that God supports that, obviously.

Why do we say that? Look at verse 3, Romans 13 verse 3. For rulers, ideally, rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.

For he, the governing authority, or the king, he is God's minister to you for good. And that same word as minister could be translated as deacon. He is God's servant to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.

For he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. So going back to the establishment of human government in Genesis 9, what was the first form of human government? Basically, the death penalty, and Paul reaffirms that here, because obviously the governing authority bearing the sword, what do you use a sword for?

Well, killing evil people. We don't have the right to do that. God does not support vigilantes, but he does give to government the right to put evil men, murderers, to death. So that is what's being taught here.

So that's the purpose of government. And Jesus recognizes all of this. He recognizes the earthly authority, the civil duty, even paying taxes. Jesus, notice Jesus did not come out and say, no guys, you don't have to pay your tax.

That would have been a popular stance, right? Some of you really wish Jesus said, no, you don't have to pay your taxes. Amen. You say, well, what if they're too high, though, right? Like, what are the taxes now, 30%, 40 of your income?

If you're wealthy, maybe 50 of your income, maybe more, I don't know. But I suppose you could say if a government imposed like 90 tax, at some point it does become unlawful, and we could talk about the American Revolution.

I think there were cases where there were unlawful taxes imposed, that it was just not to pay them, but of course you gotta deal with the consequences. So you need to balance this out, and sometimes it is difficult, because there are always exceptions to the rule.

Look at Romans 13, verse 5. And I see Romans 13, you say, well, I thought we were in Matthew 22 and the thing with Caesar. I view this as just a commentary on what Jesus was saying. Paul is just carrying that out to its logical conclusion.

Romans 13, 5, therefore you must be subject not only because of wrath, but also for conscience sake, for because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing.

Render therefore to all their due taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Now I know you didn't come to church this morning just to be told, hey, you need to pay your taxes.

It's like, why do I wanna hear this? But you do need to pay them, because if you don't, what's gonna happen? Bad, bad things are gonna happen. So let's turn to Acts chapter 5, but again, this is the general principle.

If it's not forbidding you from doing what God commands or commanding you to do what God forbids, then generally, yes, we need to obey the laws of the land. So if the government says pay this much in taxes, you really should do it.

Because if you don't, again, bad things are gonna happen, but it's not a sin. Paying taxes to Caesar was not a sin, okay? Even though the coin itself, you could argue, was sinful, cuz it depicted Caesar maybe as a god.

You could argue that that was sinful, but paying the tax is not sinful. I think we see that from Jesus. So the basic situation, obey the government as long as they're not telling you to sin, right? Okay, we all agree, that makes sense, that's biblical.

But that's an overly simplistic viewpoint. Because just one example before we read from the book of Acts. You remember in 2020, all of a sudden, things got a little murky, you know? At some point, yes, obey the government, but wait a minute, the Bible says do not forsake the assembly.

So there was a question there, who are we really going to follow? Are we just gonna do whatever the government tells us to do, or are we going to consider that and obey God first? I tried to do that, and that's why I left it to people's conscience.

If you wanna stay home, hey, shut down for three weeks, these churches that did that, fine, whatever, makes sense. But I didn't feel right telling people they couldn't worship God. So I just said, hey, let that be up to you, because I didn't see this as a clear issue, okay?

So I think sometimes the government goes too far. Can we agree on that? That sometimes they go a little too far in telling you what to do. All right, good, glad we agree. Acts 5, you see what I did there?

Civil Disobedience When Human Authority Forbids Obedience to God

Okay, Acts chapter 5, verse 12, here's another principle. The apostles were told by the governing authorities, don't preach in the name of Christ. And did they listen? Well, let's read. Acts 5, 12, and it says, and through the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were done among the people.

And they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. Skip ahead to verse 17, for the sake of time. It says, then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with indignation.

And laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. Now, what were they arrested for? They were arrested for preaching. Okay, verse 19, so they're in prison. But at night, verse 19, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, go stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.

So what did the apostles do? They're so tired. Saying they broke out of jail would be not completely accurate, but in a sense, yeah, I mean, that is what happened. Now, would they have broken out of jail normally?

No, but when God sends an angel and opens the door and says go, who are they gonna listen to? God, okay, verse 21, and when they heard that, they entered the temple in the next morning and taught. But the high priest and those who were with him came and called the council together with all the elders and the children of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought.

But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported saying, indeed, we found the prison shut securely in the guard standing outside before the doors. But when we opened them, we found no one inside.

So the apostles were involved in at least something like a jailbreak. Okay, they were put in prison and then they got out, they left. Now, they would never have done this normally. They never would have shanked the guards or anything like that.

They never would have had Mary bake them a cake with a file inside of it or something like that. They never would have done that. But when God sends the angel and he opens the door, they will obey God over man.

And that's really the principle and we always need to find the balance. Again, there are some situations. I think COVID at first was one of those situations where it was kind of difficult for some people to know exactly the right thing to do after the 15 days to flatten the curve went by.

It was a new challenge and we have to pray and figure out what to do. But you always obey God above man. I mean, that's a given, always obey God above man. And that's what you see the apostles doing. Skip ahead to verse 27.

So they're put in prison, the angel busts them out. Now they're preaching in the temple, which is against the rules, against the Sanhedrin. It says, when they had brought them out, they set them before the council and the high priest asked them, saying, did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name?

But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. So this is a clear example of, I know that's what you're saying and I don't know if it was technically the law, but even if it was, there was no way they were going to obey it.

So what do we learn? There does come a time for Christians to resist. Okay, so that attitude of resist the government, resist the governing authorities, no matter what. I mean, that is a sinful attitude, resist, resist, resist.

But there does come a time to resist. So do you see that? Okay, so what Jesus said in Matthew 22, he's teaching, yes, there is a sphere of authority, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, but render to God the things that are God's.

So what's the application for us in short while we are called to respect and obey the governing authorities, render to Caesar, we are to respect and obey God above all else. So generally when the authorities say, do this, yes, we should do it as long as it's not sinful.

But again, there are different situations that are not so easy to sort out. So I just wanna spend the last few minutes in application going over a few situations that might be hard to figure out, but to encourage you to stand up for what you believe in.

Standing Up for Faith Against Pressure from Employers, Health Mandates, and Culture

I believe over the next, if things keep going the way they're going, the next 5, 10, 20 years, it's not illegal to preach the Bible in this country. As of now, I think we're headed in that direction. We've already seen little pieces of that in Canada and in Europe where people have basically just quoted a Bible verse and they were arrested.

I mean, that has happened. To my knowledge, it hasn't happened here. So we need to know when to resist, when should Christians resist? So against God, never, but when is it right to practice civil disobedience?

I know Christians aren't really known for protesting, right? I think it's safe to say that the modern political left almost has a monopoly on civil disobedience and protesting. When you see someone protesting, usually they're of a specific persuasion.

Christians, you rarely ever see protesting, but let me point something out. There's this little thing called the Protestant Reformation, where Martin Luther and, they got the name, people argue about this, but they were really protesting the Catholic Church, were they not?

And the Catholic Church was, like the Pharisees, they were both the religious authority and the political authority. So the Catholic Church had a stranglehold in Europe, and the Protestant reformers were resisting the authorities.

Now, were they right? Well, if you talk to Catholics, they'll say they were wrong, but you talk to us, I would say that they were right. I'm not saying they were right about everything that happened, but they were right.

If Martin Luther never took a stand, I know he had some theological problems of his own, but if Martin Luther never took a stand, would the Reformation have ever happened? So much good has come from that.

I praise God. You know, really, the liberties we have today in this country, you can trace them back to the Protestant Reformation. If the Reformation never happened, I don't think the United States of America would be here today.

I mean, just look at the history, there are direct connections. So Martin Luther, the Reformation took, and it's not Martin Luther, King Jr. Okay, just so we're clear on that. Martin Luther, totally different guy.

But if he never took a stand, if he never stood up for what was right, that probably never would have happened. So therefore, as Christians, we need to keep our priorities straight. We need to be willing to take a stand for what is right.

All too often, Christians, we wanna be so polite, we wanna be so kind. And in this willingness to be so polite all the time, sometimes we don't stand up, we don't speak up. We need to speak up. If we don't speak up and stand up in this moment in history, we're going to lose our freedoms.

We are going to lose our right to preach the word of God. So just a few examples of when maybe to obey God over man. Some things that I've heard of. So number one, make sure that your allegiance to God surpasses all earthly allegiances.

What does this look like? For example, some of you work at a corporation, a business. If you are ever asked to lead a DEI sensitivity training seminar, where you are told to promote these unbiblical ideologies and lifestyles.

If you're ever asked to do that, what are you gonna do? Say, well, it's my job, I need to submit to my boss. Well, I agree you should submit to your boss, but you should submit to God first and say, you know what?

Employer, I don't feel comfortable doing that because that goes against my faith. What you're telling me to say, what you're telling me to promote goes against this Bible verse. You know, if you do that, a lot of Christians are afraid to do that, or they just wanna be polite and go along with it.

If you do that, your employer will probably respect that. Maybe they won't, but you know what? Let's say you get fired. Don't we trust in God anymore that God will supply another job, maybe even a better job if we stand up for what is right?

I mean, that's one situation that could come up. Another situation with the COVID thing, and I know this isn't, there's no Bible verse that makes it clear. But a lot of people are totally fine getting the shot, and that's up to you.

That's up to you, no problem. A lot of people are not okay with that. And when you're told there's an authority telling me I need to inject this substance into my body, my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

And my conscience says, I just don't feel it's right. You know what, that's a time to stand up and say, hey, I'm not criticizing people who get it, but before God, I don't feel that I should get it, okay?

Come to me, I've written three or four people a letter. And as far as I know, they've all gotten out of it, and it's been totally fine, no problems. So that's another example, and these are little things, I admit.

But even something like this, when your boss asked you to work on Sunday. Now, I know this isn't something that's been preached on a lot, but if your boss asks you to work on, let's say you almost never have to work Sunday, and your boss asks you, and you work, I'm not criticizing anyone.

Please understand that. But I just think, would they ask an Orthodox Jew to work on the Sabbath? I'm pretty sure an employer would not ask an Orthodox Jew to work on the Sabbath. So if you're in that situation, and your conscience says, you know what?

I don't feel that, now obviously there are certain fields, professions where you need people working on Sunday, that's a different thing. But if your boss asks you to work on Sunday, you could ask and say, you know what, I feel that I have a duty to the Lord to be in church on Sunday.

See, here's the thing, a lot of Christians, they don't even ask. So I'm just saying, stand up for what you believe in. Stand up for what you believe God would have you to do in these situations. And again, these are all small, little things.

One more example, and then we'll close. This is a little more important, but it happened a week or two ago. The current Speaker of the House in Washington, DC, the man is a professing evangelical Christian, a Southern Baptist.

And he was asked, they sort of tried to put him in a situation like Jesus, trap him in his words, that's what they were doing. And they asked this Speaker of the House about this new congressman, who identifies as a woman, and they asked the Speaker of the House about the bathrooms, and are you gonna let the person go into this bathroom?

And pressure was applied to him to get him to cave in, cuz that's what unbelievers love. They love to put Christians in a situation just to see if we'll take a stand or collapse. Unfortunately, the guy at first, he sort of collapsed.

That's the way it looked. But within an hour or two, I don't know if he prayed about it, or mustered the courage, or God laid it on his heart, whatever it is. He actually came forward, I think hours later, and you know what?

That Southern Baptist leader in Washington, DC, he actually did take a stand for what's right. And that's so rare these days, and I was encouraged to hear about that. If he had gone along with it, he would have been a bad testimony.

But the fact that he took a stand, could it have ended his career? Possibly, it's unlikely. Here's the point. People will always say, it's the law of the land, it's just the way it is. You need to conform to the culture, whatever it is.

There will always be people who test you, just like they tested Jesus. There will always be people who try to trap you in your words, and we need a generation of men and women who simply don't allow that to happen, and stand up for what you believe in, and say, you know what?