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First Presbyterian Citronelle – October 18, 2020

Matthew 22:15-22 (The Message Translation)

15-17 That’s when the Pharisees plotted a way to trap him

into saying something damaging. They sent their

disciples, with a few of Herod’s followers mixed in, to

ask,

“Teacher, we know you have integrity,

teach the way of God accurately,

are indifferent to popular opinion,

and don’t pander to your students.

So tell us honestly:

Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

18-19 Jesus knew they were up to no good.

He said,

“Why are you playing these games with me?

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First Presbyterian Citronelle – October 18, 2020

Why are you trying to trap me?

Do you have a coin?

Let me see it.”

They handed him a silver piece.

20 “This engraving—who does it look like?

And whose name is on it?”

21 They said, “Caesar.”

“Then give Caesar what is his,

and give God what is his.”

22 The Pharisees were speechless.

They went off shaking their heads.

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First Presbyterian Citronelle – October 18, 2020

It is said that the four things you do NOT talk about in

polite company are sex, money, politics, and religion. And in

our passage today, Jesus – of course – talks about three of them.

Jesus is confronted with a challenge by two completely

opposing groups – the Pharisees and the Herodians. And when I

say different, I mean a pair as opposite and opposed to each

other as Donald Trump and Joe Biden. But yet these two

completely opposing groups are able to unite around one thing –

making sure that Jesus does not upset the status quo.

For years now the Romans have occupied Jerusalem and

the rest of the former Jewish Kingdoms of Israel and Judea. And

in that time, the Roman Empire has seen to it that their power

and influence continues. As a result, various divisions have

formed among the Jewish people, each with their own response

to the Roman occupation.

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First Presbyterian Citronelle – October 18, 2020

First there are the Pharisees – those who hold strict

adherence to the Law of the Torah – both the written law of the

scriptures and the oral law of tradition. The Pharisees are not

supportive of the Roman occupation – at least in their hearts.

They are especially not in favor of having to pay tribute to the

Romans – to pay a tax in order to support the Roman armies that

occupy the city of Jerusalem. And to make matters even worse,

the coin they must use to pay the tax is the Denarius – a coin in

which the image of the Roman Emperor Caesar Tiberius is

emblazoned on the front, along with the words – “Tiberius

Caesar, Son of Divine Augustus.” And on the back inscribed

with the words, “High Priest.” In other words, the coins were a

graven image that declared Caesar Tiberius to be the Son of God

and the Great High Priest of the Roman Empire – because for

the Romans, church and state were strongly intertwined – to

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follow the emperor, to pay tribute to him, was also to worship

the emperor as a god. So for the Pharisees to be forced to use the

Denarius to pay their tribute tax was also forcing them to violate

the two commandments against worshipping other gods and

using graven images. Every Denarius was an idol. But, on the

other hand, the Romans did bring peace to the land, and as long

as everyone stays in line – as long as Jesus doesn’t shake things

up – then there is no need to worry about the Romans killing any

of the native Jewish population. The Romans will still allow

them to worship the Lord God in the temple. The Romans keep

other groups from invading and killing their people. The

Romans are a necessary evil. So the Pharisees paid their taxes,

but they didn’t like it.

The Herodians, on the other hand, were the polar opposite.

They were the wealthy ruling class among the Jews in Roman
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occupied Jerusalem. They loved the Roman occupation because

it was the Romans that put them into power. They were hand-

picked by the Roman governors to rule the Jewish people in

order to make the Jewish people feel as though one of their own

was ruling them. Herod Antipas was called, ‘The King of the

Jews” after all. It was the Romans that saw to it that they had

wealth and maintained power. The Romans worked in their

favor – as long as the Herodians were able to keep law and order

and make the people pay their tribute tax – as long as Jesus

doesn’t shake things up – the Herodians get to keep their status

and wealth. But if they can’t maintain law and order, it could

mean not only having their power revoked by the Romans, it

could also mean execution. So the Herodians paid their taxes,

and they liked it.

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First Presbyterian Citronelle – October 18, 2020

To say that the two groups didn’t like each other, would be

an understatement. The Pharisees hated the Herodians because

they did not stand up to the Romans and stop the forced payment

of tribute, the forced breaking of the commandments. The

Herodians hated the Pharisees because they constantly judged

them and their way of life as not being in line with the teachings

of the Law/Torah. But both of them have heard about this Jesus

guy – about the revolution that he’s been teaching in the

countryside. So when Jesus comes into town – there is a lot at

stake for both the Pharisees and the Herodians.

So the two enemies get together to try and trap Jesus. They

bring him a quandary that everyone thinks about, but that

nobody talks about in polite company. “Is it lawful to pay taxes

to the emperor or not? Should we pay them or should we not?”

If Jesus says no, he sides with the Pharisees and speaks against
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the Herodians and the Empire, thus making him guilty of

treason. If Jesus says yes, then he sides with the Herodians and

speaks against the Pharisees and the faith, thus making him

guilty of blasphemy. They got Jesus trapped right where they

want him. Either way he answers, Jesus has committed a crime –

either religious or political. He will be taken care of, and neither

side has to worry about Jesus shaking things up anymore.

Jesus’ response, however, is not what they were expecting.

“Why are you playing these games with me?” Jesus knows what

they are doing, knows what their true intentions are. You can

sense the frustration and annoyance Jesus must feel. You can

almost imagine Jesus’ eyes rolling in the back of his head, as he

lets out an annoying sigh, “Do you have a coin? Let me see it.” –

Are these really the questions you are concerned about? “This

engraving—who does it look like? And whose name is on it?”

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First Presbyterian Citronelle – October 18, 2020

Jesus asks curtly. “Caesar’s” they respond – not really sure

where Jesus is going with this. Then Jesus responds rather

matter-of-factly, “Then give Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give

God what is God’s.”

Jesus’ response is shocking because it tears apart all the

issues that we don’t discuss and the ways in which those issues

divide us. We don’t talk about money, politics, and religion in

polite company because those things are so divisive. Money,

politics, and religion are “too personal to discuss.” We easily get

upset when we talk about the way our tax money is spent by

politicians on any side – some of us don’t like that our taxes are

spent on welfare programs or free healthcare because we believe

that it promotes dependency or entitlement. Some of us don’t

think that our taxes should be spent on subsidies for multi-

million-dollar corporations because they have tons of money

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already while the average American is struggling to get by. And

besides, when are these millionaires gonna pay their fair share?

Some of us don’t think that our taxes should be overly spent on

the military because supporting war or violence of any form is

against our values system, even our religious beliefs.

What we don’t hear in Jesus’ response – but what those

present would have heard – is Jesus echoing the Genesis

creation story in the question he asks back of them: “Whose

head – image – is this, and whose title?” The use of the word

“image” – or “icon” in Greek – shows us that Jesus isn’t

concerned about the payment of taxes, Jesus is concerned about

identity. Who are we as human beings? Not just who we are, but

also whose we are. Genesis teaches us, “So God created

humankind in God’s own image, in the image of God, God

created them; male and female God created them.” And this is
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what gets lost in our arguments about money, politics, and

religion – that we are called by God to a higher fidelity. A

fidelity that is higher than who we vote for, who should receive

our hard-earned tax dollars, or who’s beliefs should influence

our laws. It’s not about whose image is on the coin, but whose

image is upon us.

We forget about the image of God that is stamped upon

each and every one of us. As Rev. Dr. David Lose – President of

Luther Seminary points out, “For while we may feel strongly

about our political loyalties, before we are Democrat,

Republican, or Independent, we are Christian. And while we

may be confident that how we spend our money is our business

and no one else’s, yet if we forget in whose image we have been

made we may succumb to the temptation to believe that we are

no more than the sum total of our possessions and that our bank
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accounts tell a true story about our worth and value.” In other

words, instead of our value being determined by God’s claim on

our lives, our value is determined by our stuff. And thus we

devalue our own worth.

And if we can so easily devalue our own worth, it becomes

even easier to devalue others. When we forget that each and

every human being is stamped with the image of God, we can

easily place blame upon, make assumptions about, and build

barriers around anyone that looks or lives differently than the

status quo, anyone whose presence may shake-up what we’ve

always held to be truth. We may assume all those on welfare are

lazy, drug-addicted, freeloaders and require them to take a drug-

test for the assistance they and their children need. We may label

all Muslims as terrorists because of the actions of a few

extremists while arguing that Christian terrorists, such as the

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Westboro Baptist Church, the KKK, and other White Supremacy

groups, are “fine people” who don’t represent all of Christianity.

We may accuse immigrants of stealing our jobs while at the

same time benefitting from the cheap goods produced by their

underpaid labor and the taxes they still pay. We may prevent

people from marrying who they love based-off of religious

beliefs while living in a country where we are supposed to be

free from other people’s religious beliefs. We may struggle to

understand the protests for Black lives who are still oppressed

by systemic prejudice so deeply imbedded in the fabric of this

nation that systemic racism and white privilege are like water to

a fish.

If we were able to actually see the image of God upon each

of these people, if we actually tried to see each of them as a

beloved child of God instead of a threat to our money, politics,

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or religion – just think of how united we would be instead of

how divided we actually are.

This is what Jesus is pointing out to both the people of his

time – the Pharisees and Herodians – and to us today. We keep

asking the wrong questions. We keep testing Jesus. And Jesus

keeps telling us, “It’s not about you. It’s not about your politics,

your money, or your religion. This is so much bigger than you.

This is about God, and God’s claim on your life, and God’s

claim upon all of creation.”

We are all – and by “we” I don’t just mean us in this room

or even just Christians, but I mean ALL of humanity – we are

ALL created in the image of God. And we as Christians are

expected to align our values and our identity with that image

that God has placed upon us. An image of wondrous love and

overwhelming grace. And image of total sacrifice on behalf of

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those who did not deserve it – including us. An image that calls

us to give ALL of ourselves – not just 10% of our money – to

give ALL of our very being to God – not just the spiritual part,

but also the part that deals with politics, money, religion, and so

on. If we are truly able to do that – then money, politics, and

religion wouldn’t be such taboo topics. Money, politics, and

religion would no longer divide us. And the Reign of God would

be even closer to us all. AMEN.