Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost
October 19, 2008
The Rev. Charles Henrickson
“Joe the Pharisee and the Question about Taxes” (Matthew 22:15-22)
A popular figure comes to town, a man leading a movement, the man who has been
in the news more than anyone else the last couple of years. People are eager
to hear his message about “hope” and “change.” And of course there are people
who want to ask him questions, to get his views on a variety of subjects
affecting the nation. So someone comes forward to ask him a question about . .
. taxes. Taxes--an important question, one that gets the attention of the
crowd. Everyone is wondering: How will he answer?
No, the scene I’m describing is not Toledo, Ohio, the visiting celebrity is not
Barack Obama, and the man asking the question is not Joe the Plumber. Yes, the
question is about taxes, but the place is Jerusalem, the popular leader is
Jesus of Nazareth, and the man asking the question--well, let’s call him, “Joe
the Pharisee.” Now let’s join the scene in progress and listen carefully,
because how Jesus answers will affect everyone here today.
We’re in Jerusalem in the days leading up to the Passover. Jesus has just come
into town a couple of days ago. His enemies have been trying to figure out a
way to trap him, to trip him up, either to get the crowds to turn against him
or to get the authorities to come down on him. Jesus’ enemies would like to
get their hands on him themselves, but they have to deal with the political
realities. So they practice an early form of “gotcha” journalism: Figure out
a question to ask, so that no matter which way he answers, he’ll get in trouble.
Now among these enemies of Jesus is a group called the Pharisees. Jesus has
been exposing their hypocrisy for a couple years now, challenging their
religious leadership, and they hate him for it. But so far they haven’t been
able to catch him in a big slip-up. Even so, they’re gonna try once again.
And so our text begins: “Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle
him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the
Herodians. . . .”
There’s an old saying, “Politics makes strange bedfellows.” Well, so does
opposition to Jesus. What I mean is, groups that otherwise might not like each
other, when they have common cause, can become unlikely allies. So it is here
with the Pharisees and a group called the Herodians. The Pharisees, like most
Jews, were nationalists; they did not like the fact that the pagan Romans were
ruling over them. The Herodians, on the other hand, were political
collaborators who were willing to work under the Romans, because at least it
gave them some measure of power. The House of Herod was the local political
dynasty that had made a deal with Caesar to serve as puppet kings under the
mighty Roman emperor.
So now catch the tension and the electric political-religious dynamic at work
here, as the Pharisees set the trap. They’re going to ask Jesus a question
that, if he answers it one way, will disappoint and anger the masses. But they
also bring the Herodians along to witness Jesus’ answer, so that if he answers
it the other way, they, the Herodians, will not like it, and they will report
Jesus to the Roman authorities. A delicious trap, so the Pharisees think.
Heads, you lose. Tails, you lose also.
To gain Jesus’ confidence and good will, and to encourage him to speak freely
and loosen up his tongue, the Pharisees have their spokesman, “Joe the
Pharisee,” start out with some flattery: “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.” Now the irony here, of
course, is that all of this is true! Jesus himself is true--genuine,
authentic--and he does speak and teach the way of God truthfully. Yes, that is
exactly right! And yes, Jesus does not care about man’s opinion, nor is he
swayed by outward appearances. He has demonstrated that over and over in his
bold and controversial ministry. The irony here is that it’s the Pharisees
themselves who are not being true or speaking truthfully. They’re being
dishonest and deceitful and devious in their attempt to butter up Jesus and get
him to slip. Jesus will not fall for it, of
course, but this is how they’re leading into their trick question.
Which the Pharisees then ask: “Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to
pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” Well, that’s a pretty clever question, I must
say! A “gotcha” question! “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” Is
it lawful, is it right, for us Jews as God’s own children, who should be slaves
to no one, to pay taxes on our person to a foreign, pagan emperor who has us
under his thumb? If Jesus says yes, he has just lost the crowd; they’ll turn
against him. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?” If Jesus says no, the
Herodians will hear it, and they will mark him as someone disloyal to the
regime, a rebel against Caesar, a potential insurrectionist. And they will
probably report him to the local Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.
Jesus, as he is wont to do, answers their question with . . . a question. He
asks them: “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?” Jesus sees right through
their phony flattery and calls them on it. He is “aware of their malice.”
Even so, he decides to use this occasion for his purpose, and so he tells them,
“Show me the coin for the tax.” Somebody digs into his pocket and brings Jesus
a denarius, the Roman coin that would be used.
And now Jesus asks them another question, a question about the coin they
themselves have just provided. He asks them, “Whose likeness and inscription
is this?” That is, whose image, whose likeness, whose portrait do you see on
this coin, and whose name is inscribed on it? This sounds like a pretty
straightforward, simple question, and so the Pharisees quickly reply:
“Caesar’s.”
What the Pharisees don’t realize is that now Jesus has caught them in a trap!
Because what he says next is so brilliant, it is wisdom that cannot be refuted.
He will answer their original question about paying taxes, but he will do it
in a way which neither the nationalists nor the Herodians could gainsay. And
he lifts their sights, and the sights of the crowd--and our sights, too--to see
a question about ourselves, ourselves in relation to Jesus and to God.
Here is Jesus’ answer: “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” That gets at it, both our
relation to Caesar and our relation to God, in one fell swoop.
First, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” This is really the
minor point, because their question never really was a sincere question in the
first place, it was just a set-up designed to trap Jesus. But Jesus does
address briefly the matter of our responsibility toward civil government.
Whoever the “Caesar” is over you at any particular time and place in
history--well, Caesars need taxes to run whatever form of government happens to
be in place. The government may be doing a good job or a bad job with those
taxes, they may be collecting too much or too little in taxes--yes, there are
some people who think the government needs to raise taxes--but the point
remains: Nations need governments. And governments collect taxes. It’s what
they do. Caesar needs--and demands--his denarii. That’s the nature of life in
this world.
In our country, we have an unusual situation in that we are Caesar. We get the
government we elect. We get the taxes we elect. So to “render to Caesar the
things that are Caesar’s” in our context means to do the best job we can as
citizens to be informed and to choose wise leaders. This is an especially
timely word as we approach Election Day in a couple of weeks.
But as I say, this is only the minor point that Jesus is making. He has
something more to say that goes beyond taxes and Caesar. And that is, that we
are to render “to God the things that are God’s.” This is the most important
thing Jesus has to say, and it applies to Joe the Pharisee, Hank the Herodian,
plumbers and politicians and people in the pew. Render to God the things that
are God’s. And that has everything to do with how we receive--or reject--the
man who is saying this, namely, Jesus of Nazareth.
Now here we’re getting at it, and think back to that Roman denarius, with the
likeness and inscription of Caesar on it. If that coin had the image and name
of the emperor on it, and it did, then that meant you recognized it as such and
you received it and used it for operating in that kingdom. The coin bore the
image of the current Roman emperor, and the inscription gave his name and
title: “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus.” Did you catch that?
The Roman emperor claimed to be divine, the “son of the divine Augustus.”
Now here is Jesus, standing here right in front of you, telling you these
things. You have observed his person and ministry for several years now. You
have heard his words and seen his deeds, words of heavenly wisdom, deeds of
divine mercy. So now the question comes: Whose image and inscription does he
bear? The answer: God’s. Jesus’ words and his works attest, most clearly,
that he is indeed the Son of the living God, the only one there is. Then why,
O Pharisees, do you not receive this Jesus as your Messiah, your King and
Deliverer sent from heaven? That would be the right way to render to God the
things that are God’s. By believing in the one whom he sent! The image and
the inscription are there for you to see!
That image and that inscription are there for you to see, dear friend! Look to
Jesus your Savior. See in him the image of God, the God of all compassion and
mercy. So great is his love for us that he was willing to be rejected by his
enemies and to be crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. There on that
cross the inscription read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” But really
the inscription could read, “This is Jesus, the King who was willing to suffer
shame and suffering and death for your salvation.” Yes, Jesus renders to God
the things that only he could render: payment for all our debt of sin, a tax
we could never pay. But Jesus, the holy Son of God, does pay it, declaring in
his dying breath, “It is finished. Paid in full.” That the debt is paid is
shown when Jesus then rises from the dead, offering life and peace and eternal
salvation as a free gift.
So today as you see the image and inscription of God resting on this Jesus,
“render to God the things that are God’s”: Faith and trust in the Savior he
sends you--Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
With that in mind, we now sing as our Offertory, Hymn 422:
On my heart imprint Your image,
Blessed Jesus, King of grace,
That life’s riches, cares, and pleasures
Never may Your work erase;
Let the clear inscription be:
Jesus, crucified for me,
Is my life, my hope’s foundation,
And my glory and salvation!
Charles Henrickson
4749 Melissa Jo Ln
St. Louis, MO 63128
(314) 845-8811 (home)
(314) 779-8108 (cell)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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