(retread from 2005) Pastor Michael Harman.
The Herodians believed it best to make friends with the Romans and rule
with them. The Pharisees believed it best to remove the Romans and rule
their own kingdom on earth.
Herodians loved Rome, and tried to act like the pop culture of the day.
Pharisees acted as if they were better than anyone else. They were
political enemies. One wanted to rule WITH Rome, the other wanted to be RID
OF Rome entirely.
Like the USA and Osama bin Laden, all they had in common was an enemy -
Jesus.
Popular opinion was that Jesus was going to set up His own kingdom.
Neither group wanted that. So, as the mid-Eastern saying goes: "the enemy
of my enemy is my friend" and the Herodians and Pharisees became strange
political bedfellows.
Many people today view Jesus as an enemy. Maybe you. Sometimes they
hear the false teaching that Jesus will set up an earthly kingdom which will
cut into their earnings, but more often it's for various other reasons.
They think: God and His church only want my money. Jesus makes rules
I don't like, and it's MY life so I can make up my own rules. And other sad
and crazy ideas. The Law comes crashing down against them.
So people today try to do what the Pharisees and Herodians did. They
realized Jesus had just spoken three parables against them, so they sent
their own disciples to force Jesus into a no-win opinion after buttering Him
up.
The NIV translates one line: "you pay no attention to who (men) are."
Literally, they say: "You don't see men's faces," the idea being that you
don't act one way for one crowd and another way for another crowd like some
politicians do. That makes is somewhat humorous when Jesus turns the tables
on them, calling them hypocrites.
In the first century, male actors wore masks of women, animals, and men
to represent them, trading faces each time they were a new person. The
word for actor in Greek is hypocrite, referring to the masks they used to
hide the actor underneath. They said Jesus did not figuratively see the
faces of men. The truth is: Jesus DID see their faces - even thru the
masks of their false disciples.
The question they asked was designed to be a trap. Does it please God
to obey a flawed, pagan government? They were certain there was no good
answer.
It is a bit of a tangent, but God's enemies do the same today when they
cruelly ask how a *loving* God could send Katrina to New Orleans, an
earthquake to Pakistan, high gas prices in California, or the coming
disaster on Wall Street. God doesn't fit in their narrow-minded society.
They hate God and they convince themselves that Christ must be removed from
society. They may do so under a mask of good intentions, but under the mask
is pure hate --- for God, and for their fellow man.
The tremendous answer Jesus gives does many things. It muzzles the
Pharisees who want to get back at Jesus for the parables He told which
ripped off their shabby self-righteousness. It also slaps down the
Herodians and their desire to turn their backs on God and live like the
Romans.
It reminds us all that even the worst government serves God's
purposes - as Isaiah wrote. The state may separate itself from the church,
but it can never be separate from God. God's will is always done. All the
universe is His. He is King of Kings.
People with a limited grasp of Christ do not understand the concept of
the 3 Kingdoms. "The good and gracious will of God is done even without our
prayer" and it might be added, 'without our sinful efforts, one way or the
other.'
"God certainly gives daily bread (blessings) to everyone without our
prayers, even to evil people" Luther says in the Third and Fourth Petitions.
We, who are believers in Christ, know that the Old Adam in us is evil and
can never be banished. For no good reason on earth, God gives US daily
bread.
God rules in the Kingdom of Heaven, to be sure. As Christians, we also
believe He rules in the Kingdom of Grace (which is the gracious rule of
Christ in the hearts, minds, and lives of believers). But when we
Christians confess that God rules in the Kingdom of Power - 'what does this
mean?'
God's radical authority over us extends even to those in authority over
us who are NOT Christian. We are tempted to rebel against God and His
appointed representatives. Some local or national politician steals from
the rich to buy the votes of the poor. A leader abuses his or her power,
mandates discrimination (you MUST hire illegal aliens and give bank loans to
unqualified folks of color), violates our Constitution by seizing property
without compensation, and the list goes on. We want to set ourselves up as
the judge, jury, and executioner - then lynch or even assassinate this new
Hitler. In so doing, we horribly sin and place *ourselves* under God's
wrath and judgment!
The real focus of this pericope is the question of the authority of
Christ which was asked a chapter earlier (21:23). What is your response to
His rule over us in the Kingdoms of Power and Grace? Will we fear, love,
and trust God above all things - and believe He will care for us --- or
become little gods and d-i-y?
At the heart of the question raised by the lackeys of the Pharisees and
Herodians is a lack of faith. Their evil intent displayed itself in their
lack of trust in God to take care of them in this world -or- the next.
Jesus loved them enough to warn them sharply with the Law and then to
point them toward the Father's care. There are many applications which can
be made to us.
I know from speaking to you that many of you are angry at what has been
going on in Washington DC and you want to remove all the incumbents in the
elections so 2006 and beyond will be better. But if you place all your
hopes of a good tomorrow on people, ANY people, you will be in for hard
times in a few short years. DON'T be like the Pharisees and Sadducees!
Jesus confirms that He is God as He reads the evil hearts of the
unbelieving Pharisees as they pitifully try to trap Him. HE knows your
heart and mine, too. The wisdom of God is far beyond being trapped by human
beings. Some use this text to talk about the Two Kingdoms, or the
importance of our service in the realms of government: such will be the
topic in Bible study the next two Sundays. Some use this text to show how
as citizens of 2 Kingdoms we need to obey God rather than man when the
opinions of men conflict with the Laws of God and how these conflicts can
often be opportunities for us to show the strength of Christian faith rather
than condemnation. No doubt many such sermons will be preached today in one
of those veins.
But again, the real focus of this pericope is the question of the
authority of Christ which was asked a chapter earlier (21:23); what is
*your* response to His rule over us in the Kingdoms of Power and Grace?
Our Old Testament text tells how the LORD will raise up an unbelieving
man named Cyrus decades after Isaiah was dead to free the Children of Israel
from the Babylonian Captivity even though as a people they had ceased to
worship Him. It is a text of pure grace toward a hard-hearted people.
In many places in the Old Testament, God raises up kings for His
purposes and then takes them down according to His designs (Daniel!). But
even in the New Testament, we are told to conduct ourselves with honor and
dignity (1 Peter 2) before unbelievers, and pray for unbelievers in high
places (1st Timothy 2) for the sake of the spread of the Gospel.
Do you trust that God is working in the world, even in natural
disasters, elections, and other events for the good of His Kingdom of Grace?
If so, you are regularly praying for world leaders, common folks suffering
from Katrina and the earthquake that claimed over 40,000 lives recently.
Do you believe our LORD enough to "render to Caesar" on April 15th (and
some of us quarterly) without condemning every branch of our state and
national government?
Yes, this is a sermon filled with Law! And you and I must feel its
crushing weight.
But there is Gospel! Christ gives us the power to "render to God the
things that are God's": forgiveness, salvation, peace in troubled times,
joy in purpose, and so much more. Because Christ went to the cross for the
Pharisees, Sadducees, and you and me, we know that we are totally forgiven.
In gratitude for His love and compassion, in the power of the Holy Spirit,
we live changed lives. God gives us the trust we need to realize He is
working for our good, even during presidencies and political "spin" that
refuses to acknowledge His design or bend a knee to His rule. Because of
the cross, we pay our taxes and give honor to even corrupt and wicked
administrations who do evil with our money. Of course, "we must obey God
before men" as Peter said in Acts. But the same LORD who spoke creation
into existence and maintains it by grace will guard and keep us by His power
unto everlasting life.
Over and over and over again in Holy Scripture, we can read about how
God loves His people; they turn away from Him, but He works to bring them
back to faithful living. God's love continues today, in you. We can have
confidence of His continued care because of the cross.
May the Lord fill us with His Word and Spirit, so that we know "from
the rising of the sun to the place where it sets" we rejoice in the LORD who
gives all good things. Amen.
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