Matthew 22:15-22 - Whose Image?

[00:00:00] Foreign, everybody. [00:00:08] You're right. [00:00:12] It's a weighty privilege to be up here again. [00:00:15] I've been immersed in the passage we're going to talk about for a number of weeks. Sam, thanks for asking me to do this. Sam's taken a well deserved respite for hang with his family this week. [00:00:28] Don't forget, Jim is in Columbia with Greg and Jenna. I think they're there for a couple more days, aren't they? So pray for them as they go door to door and share the gospel with our brothers and sisters and our partners down in Columbia too. [00:00:47] All right. We have a lot to cover and a lot to unpack, so I'll try and jump into this. Hang on while I arrange myself here. [00:00:57] We need a bigger pulpit Saint. [00:01:03] Like I said, it's a privilege to be here this morning and to open up this particular passage. I'm really grateful that the guys asked me to do this. I think I'm a little worried, to be honest with you. [00:01:17] I had a chance to preach to all of you last summer and the topic was suffering. [00:01:24] Today the topic is taxes. [00:01:28] And so if they ask me again, I'm just going to have to think twice as hard. I'm starting to see a theme here and it's starting to bother me, but I'm going to do my best. And we're going to open up a passage in Matthew chapter 22 this morning and we are actually going to talk about taxes in an oblique sort of way. [00:01:54] Kind of ironic that we're doing that at this particular time of the year. We have a ticking clock in front of most of us to file our own taxes. So I'm assuming this is a topic of conversation amongst many of you. [00:02:09] I think if you're looking to have an animated, robust conversation with someone in the next month or so, you can hardly do better than to bring up this particular topic. [00:02:20] Try that conversation about taxes with most people and I think the results are easily predictable. Increased blood pressure, higher stress levels, foreboding Images of Form 1040 and Schedule A and B and W2s and all that kind of fun stuff, all set against the background of a loudly ticking alarm clock that goes off inescapably at midnight on April 15, unless you file form 4868, which gives you another six months respite before the stress levels increase once again. [00:02:56] So I had just such a conversation about this topic last Sunday afternoon at the quarterly McAlevy birthday party when one of our guests asked me if I was excited about the fact that our new president had signed an executive order decreeing that Social Security was no longer going to be taxed. Right now, benefiting from my membership in a family that has four generations of certified public accountants and being cursed with the same infuriating gene as all of them have I waxed eloquently about the fact that that information was incorrect. Sorry. [00:03:36] And that I then waxed kind of poetic on why only Congress is empowered to change impactful provisions of the federal tax code. [00:03:48] In retrospect, that probably wasn't the right way to take that conversation. [00:03:54] What I should have done was something far more prudent. [00:03:57] And so I'm going to offer to you this disclaimer, which is really what I should have said to a family member. Please note that Bruce's sermon provides no tax, legal or accounting advice. It's been prepared for informational purposes only, is not intended to provide, nor should it be relied upon for tax, legal or accounting guidance. You should consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors before engaging in any tax related transactions. [00:04:26] Fun. [00:04:28] So with that disclaimer out of the way and a lesson learned in wisdom and grace by your speaker this morning, we will keep going. [00:04:43] So all you have to do is add in a healthy dose of the various political perspectives on taxation and philosophy in general, and you have a perfect recipe for what I would call an interesting conversation, at least for someone as geeky about that kind of stuff as me. All that to say that people's dander gets up when you talk about the topic of taxes? It's always been that way. It's always been that way. It just so happens to also be true in the passage that we're talking through in Matthew 22 today, where we're going to look at Jesus interactions once again with the religious leadership in Jerusalem. Let's read that text and then we're going to pray one more time. Matthew, chapter 2, verse 22 verse 1522 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to trap him by what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians. Teacher, they said, we know that you are truthful and teach truthfully the way of God. You don't care what anyone thinks, nor do you show partiality. Tell us then what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? [00:05:52] Perceiving their malicious intent, Jesus said, why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax. They brought him a denarius. He said, whose image and inscription is this? Caesar's, they said to Him. Then he said to them, give then to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. When they heard this, they were amazed. And so they left him and went away. [00:06:22] That is the word of the Lord. Let's pray before we keep going. [00:06:29] We are grateful, Father, for your word, for the many ways in which it pierces us, convicts us, teaches us, humbles us, and makes us familiar with you and your heart. [00:06:46] Lord, thank you for the family of God, for the opportunity we have to gather to look at it deeply. We pray for the Spirit of God to be in our midst so that the word of God would go forth powerfully. Lord, use the words that you've given me and more importantly, the words that we read in this text to change our hearts, change our lives, to change more into likeness of you. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. [00:07:17] All right, all right, little background. As we kind of seen the past few weeks going through Matthew, Jesus and the Pharisees and the Sadducees kind of have reached their maximum intensity and intention with him. The disruptive influence of Jesus and his followers kind of had been marginally overlooked or tolerated, while it had remained largely confined to the rural and outlying regions of Israel, in Galilee and et cetera, et cetera. But now we've got a completely different circumstance now. Jesus had stormed Jerusalem, the center of religious influence in the country. He had clearly not come unnoticed from his triumphal entry into the city that was seen by thousands of people, to his driving out of the money changers and the merchants from the temple courts, then to his very public challenges to the credibility of the religious leaders that we've been talking through the last few weeks. Jesus presence in Jerusalem had become an alarming and destabilizing presence. And it had really put at risk the status quo in the minds of the religious leadership in Jerusalem. It was inevitable that something was going to have to give. And Jesus, of course, knew that perfectly well. He knew that he had foretold it. [00:08:40] I think verse 15 in this passage actually represents a very significant shift in the strategy of the religious leaders towards Jesus and how they were dealing with him. The account here in Matthew just says that the Pharisees intended to trap Jesus was some sort of no win question. They were going to pose something to him that would put him in a difficult situation. Luke's account, and there are three accounts in Matthew, Mark and Luke of this exact same encounter, very similar accounts. Luke's account gives us a little more insight into their intention as it says this. And so they watched him closely and sent spies who pretended to be righteous in order that they might catch him in some statements so that they could hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor. Luke's text gives us a very clear picture of the heart of the Pharisees and the Sadducees and Greece and scribes in Jerusalem, and the manner in which they fully intended to deal with Jesus once and for all. Up until now, the interaction between them and Jesus had largely revolved around matters of Jewish law, somewhat focused more on religious practices, how do you deal with the Sabbath, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But over and over, we've seen Jesus demolish their rigid legalisms and their misunderstandings of Scripture. It happens over and over and over again in the accounts in Matthew. I would guess at this point these guys are feeling a little sheepish about. About approaching Jesus on that basis. I imagine they're feeling strongly about the possibility of their credibility in the eyes of the crowds being eroded every time Jesus publicly outsmarts them. And it happens repeatedly. It's been clear for a while that they wish to eliminate Jesus from the public stage entirely, but they haven't been able to discredit him on religious grounds, especially considering the support of the enormous crowds that had been following it and are still following him now that he's in Jerusalem. They've learned the hard way multiple times that they're no match for Jesus in the spiritual and religious sphere. They can't manage it. They can't get him in that way. So if they can't trap him using their own authority, then they're going to need a different one. They're going to need to appeal to something else. And Luke, in that passage I just read, makes it very clear that they intend to turn to the realm of politics and civil law for their next attempt. It's a purposeful and I think a bit of a desperate strategy on their part to try and get Jesus in a way that they haven't been able to up until this point. They probably should know better anyway, but they're going to try it. They're going to try it. So before we dive into the nature of that question that really is the center part of the passage, let's note the description of the people that are involved in this story, because all three of the Gospel writers make mention of this. Matthew and Mark refer to these men as the Pharisees and the Herodians. Luke describes them as spies, quote unquote, sent by the scribes. And the chief priests. The makeup of that group is really curious, actually. And it kind of shows the. The hypocrisy of the religious leaders in Jerusalem because of who allies with them. The Pharisees are a Jewish religious sect, The Herodians, who are basically Jewish political supporters of Herod Antipas. One of the kings, quote unquote, that are ruling at the time, were typically not aligned in any way, shape or form with one another. As a matter of fact, the Pharisees would have seen the Herodians as something of collaborators with the Roman Empire. Since Herod Antipas only ruled with the blessing of the Roman Emperor. [00:12:28] Those groups would not normally have interacted together. But here they become allies. Why? Because they have a common enemy, the religious leaders, because Jesus is challenging their religious authority. Civil leaders, because they see a threat to the status quo. The groups were united apparently only by their hatred for Jesus, seeing him and his followers as a threat to what they considered important, their status, their wealth and their power. So now we're going nuclear. I think that's. I think one of the reasons that this particular passage is, is something of a game changer in this account in Matthew. They're going a different direction. They're going to get Jesus one way or another. Note also not just who these people are, but how the Gospel writers describe them. They're all posers, all right? In other words, they're there with an agenda, but that agenda is totally unstated. They're posing just as common people who are there to ask innocent questions of the teacher. Luke characterizes them as, and I think I read it just a minute ago, pretending to be righteous. Pretending to be righteous. [00:13:38] That's the long form way of basically calling them hypocrites, right? That's what hypocrisy is. It's really telling that there are. [00:13:50] There are 18 occurrences of that word hypocrite or hypocrisy in the New Testament. Seventeen of those 18 are the words of Jesus referring to these very people. As a matter of fact, in the next chapter 23, there are six of those occurrences in all the New Testament. Jesus is not afraid to call out hypocrisy. He has a defined hypocrisy detector. And he is never afraid to note it when those that are in front of him are there with a morally hypocritical agenda. And that's exactly what these guys are. They're deceivers. They're there for a reason. They're not stating they're there to get Jesus. Jesus knows It I don't know if anybody else does, but their intent is clear. I think it's a pretty good assumption that Jesus hates hypocrisy. [00:14:44] He sees right through it again and again all over the Gospels. And he reserves his most vocal condemnations for those who outwardly play the part of righteous lovers of God, but inwardly seek to deceive either others or themselves. In the Greek, hypocrite is the same word that's rendered as actor, right? It's the same. It's the same context. Someone playing a role, presenting themselves as somebody that they're not. We all know from our own experiences the spiritual danger of that kind of hypocrisy. It's so often accompanied by profound self delusion. And hypocrisy condemns people to eternal judgment. That's one of the reasons Jesus calls it out. The danger of hypocrisy to them and to us is ever present. [00:15:34] Notice also that these hypocrites are also consummate flatterers. They come to Jesus trying to ingratiate themselves to him with words of praise and affirmation, more than likely directed towards the crowds who will hear it than to Jesus himself. They say, teacher, we know that you are truthful and we know that you truth and teach truthfully the way of God. You don't care what anybody thinks, nor do you show partiality. Tell us then what you think. Well, that would be disarming if Jesus wasn't the perfect hypocrisy detector. [00:16:11] We unfortunately are not. Most of us fall all too easily from time to time to flattery. Sometimes I fear we offer it up ourselves. [00:16:21] Avoiding flattery is the better part of wisdom. Its only purpose is to disarm, to deflect and to deceive Jesus. Opponents in this case, in this text are a case study in hypocritical flattery. And the text makes it clear. It's where it starts out. Okay, so given who we know or what we know of the audience, what about the question at hand? What question has the religious leadership come up with to trap Jesus and why this specific question, Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? [00:16:59] Simple question, simple question. So taxes. This should be an easy one. [00:17:05] Not. [00:17:08] I can think of at least four reasons why Jesus enemies thought this was a good question. [00:17:13] Number one, it was guaranteed to grab everyone's attention, right? Everyone's talking about taxes, particularly in this historical context. Number two, Jews, including those in Jesus crowds, despised the taxation of the Romans. They hated it. And we're going to and we're going to launch into a description of that in just a minute. Number three, and a curious one that occurred to me. Some of Jesus own followers were sharply divided on this particular topic. Right. Who is Matthew? [00:17:41] He was a publican, he was a tax collector. Right. His job was to go out and collect the taxes by hooker, by crook, for the Roman Empire. [00:17:51] Who else was one of Jesus disciples? Simon the Zealot. Sound familiar? You know what a zealot is? The Zealots were an interest group that advocated the violence, opposition and overthrow of the Roman Empire. Tax collectors were their mortal sworn enemies. They were traitors, they were collaborators. They were morally reprehensible to the Zealots. It's interesting, I think, that Jesus picks those two guys to be two of his disciples. You couldn't have picked people at more opposite ends of the political spectrum than Simon the Zealot and Matthew. It'd be kind of like, it'd be kind of like trying to build a team with JD Vance and Bernie Sanders. [00:18:43] It just, it's not going to work. [00:18:46] Right. [00:18:48] And my, my suspicion is, is that these guys knew that, that, that there potentially was an opportunity to drive a wedge even between Jesus disciples on this specific topic because it was hated so much. Number four, the other, the fourth reason is the viability. The Roman Empire was dependent on, on the taxes that they're talking about. Thus it's a critical issue to the Roman authorities in that day. Taxation was important. It's how the Empire supported itself. And any threat to the viability of that taxation was something that was of deep and great interest to the Roman authorities. So let's talk about the taxes just a little. There were a number of direct taxes that were levied by the Roman government in the provinces of the Roman Empire during the first century. There was a land tax, we know all about those, that was based on the value of owned property or its agricultural productivity. That tax was levied annually and it was usually levied in kind. So people brought the fruits of their labors and paid the taxes that way. Since most of it was agricultural, it was paid in kind, not in cash. [00:19:53] There was a 5% tax on inheritances that was levied, also usually paid in kind as part of the estate. Those taxes, while burdensome, didn't impact the typical subsistence farmer or the day laborer in the city. Usually that impacted the landed gentry, the commercial interests or the well to do, just like today. [00:20:19] There was however, a third very common tax that was called the poll tax. That I believe is the one that's being referred to here. That poll tax was levied on every individual who'd been registered in the most recent Roman census, with a few exceptions for the young and the old. [00:20:37] It was levied on every provincial resident that wasn't a citizen of Rome. And it was the tax that was used to fund the regional and local Roman administration and also worse than that, to pay for the Roman military presence that depended, that defended the imperial interests in that particular province. So it was a local tax levied against local people to pay for the things that produced local oppression, essentially, is what it was. That poll tax, in contrast to the other ones, was always payable in cash. You had to pay in cash and always in Roman currency. It had to be transacted in Roman coin. It was often leveled, levied without any warning. [00:21:22] It wasn't necessarily periodic. It was done whenever the Roehn administration in that area needed cash. And so there was an arbitrariness to it that was hated. It was the tax that was collected most often by tax farmers, or as we would call them, publicans. And those people, that's an interesting part of the economy, actually, if you look at it. They were typically entrepreneurs that the Roman government allowed to bid competitively for the privilege of collecting those taxes on behalf of the government. The government supported and endorsed their activities in its collection. Obviously, they were often large business entities that did this as their business and it was consisted of, it consisted of a large group of people that was very hierarchical. So this company would bid for the contract particular for a particular geographic area to collect the taxes in that area. They would agree with the Roman government as to how much tax they expect expected to collect, and then they would hire a bunch of people, a very hierarchical structure, and push the responsibility for collecting those taxes downward. [00:22:31] As you can imagine, that system caused no end of grift and corruption, since the monies that collected not only had to meet the demands of the Roman government, what they were expecting, but it also had to be sufficient to grease the palms of every layer of, of that collection structure that touched that money. Matthew, as we've said, the author of the book, who we're studying today, was the member of just such an organization. That's what he did for a living. Now, you can probably imagine the reasons why that poll tax was despised by the Jews. It was arbitrary. It was inflated massively by corruption in its collection. The people that were collecting it weren't Romans. They were typically local and regional citizens who thusly were viewed as collaborators and traitors to their fellow citizens, particularly in Israel, since their national identity prior to the Roman Empire had been firmly established. Finally, they knew that that tax directly enabled the very repression that enslaved them to Rome. This tax was despised by all of the people that we're listening to Jesus in this account in Matthew. [00:23:43] Just as an aside to highlight the oppressive nature of that Roman system after the Jewish revolt against Rome in 66-70 AD and the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, the annual Jewish temple tax, which obviously was no longer needed, was converted. The Romans converted it into a poll tax called the Fiscus Judaicus that was levied against every Jew in the Roman Empire. They did this as a punishment and a humiliation. And the three. The reason it was that is because those funds were now exclusively earmarked for the upkeep and support of the Temple of Jupiter in Rome as a humiliating punishment of the Jews for their rebellion against Rome. That's how egregious and burdensome the Roman Empire was, particularly to the people of Israel. There's no question that there was a passionate hatred for this tax amongst the people who were listening to Jesus. There wasn't a single Jew in Jerusalem who didn't despise it. And the authority that imposed it. To be indifferent to that was absolutely unheard of. It was not a category. You had an opinion about the poll tax. You were either a Roman administration official and a publican, or a publican who loved it or everybody else who despised it and everything that it represented. The Pharisees and the scribes knew that. Right? They knew it. And quite logically in their minds, they saw it as a wedge issue to trap Jesus. And so that's what they did. Notice how they did it. They posed the question this way. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Awful. [00:25:20] Well, lawful by the law of Moses or the Torah. Why that specific wording? There's a slide, I think that you have that. That's an image, Barb, if you can put that up, there it is right there. [00:25:35] The common coinage of the Roman empire in the 1st century in Israel was this Tiberian denarius. This is what, what drove the Roman economy, if you will. And it was the coinage that, that Jewish worshipers exchanged in the Temple courts for coinage that would be allow temple. It's what they paid their poll taxes with. It's what business was done in. In a large context. It represented the day's wage, typically for. For the typical labor today, it'd be worth about 50 bucks. I went online and looked for these. You can actually buy these they cost somewhere between five and fifteen hundred dollars to get one, but they actually still do exist. [00:26:20] So that's the coin that Jesus was talking about. Notice on the front side of it, on the left, if you look just to the upper right of the forehead, you'll see the letters. And this is Latin, so pardon my illiteracy, but the letters D, I, V, I kind of backwards to the upper right across from his forehead. Those letters are indicative of the divine attributes of the Roman Empire. It was essentially declaring Tiberius as, as the divine right. It declared Tiberius as God in, in the, in the Roman religion, if you will. If you look at the reverse side, you see an image of a priestess with the words Pontiff Maxon. What does that mean? Well, that means highest priest. Right. [00:27:13] Are you getting the picture of why they would bring up this coin? [00:27:18] Exodus 20, verse 4. Familiar to everybody. Don't make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. [00:27:31] That's why the Roman coinage wasn't allowed in the temple area. As Sam mentioned, I think a couple of weeks ago, the idol idols were anathema in Jewish culture. We all know that. And in religious practice, to allow them into the temple was an act of blasphemy because of what they represented, because of what they were. That's the primary reason for the existence of the money changes in the temple courts. People came with Roman coinage. That perhaps was all they had. They couldn't bring that anywhere close to the temple areas where sacrifices were done. They had to change their money for Jewish coinage so that they would not become idolaters and blasphemers in the temple courts. I suspect considering Jesus reaction to those money changers days before that had just happened. Everybody remembered it. They expected him to condemn the use of Roman coinage as idolatry and hence forbidden by the law. [00:28:23] They suspected that there was no way that he couldn't go that direction. [00:28:28] So the answer the Pharisees and the scribes are expecting from that question from Jesus is no, it's not lawful, it's idolatrous to pay taxes to Caesar with this coin. [00:28:42] That answer, as Luke describes it's very helpful. Luke's text is very helpful because it talks to motive. That answer would have immediately resulted in those men handing Jesus over to the Roman governor as an existential threat to Rome's authority. That was their intent. Problem solved, right? If they get the answer they expect, the problem of Jesus is over. He now becomes a threat to the Roman Authorities, the Roman authorities have a power to address those threats quickly and with great prejudice. [00:29:12] And the Pharisees and the scribes and the religious leaders can go back to their status quo, which benefits them greatly in all kinds of ways as a consolation prize, even if he avoids that danger and answers in the positive, in other words, yes, it's lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. The seeds of disaffection are sown in the crowds in no uncertain terms because of their opinion of the poll tax. Given their undisguised hatred of Roman authority in their minds, the minds of the religious leaders, this is totally a win win question. If he says no, it's unlawful, the Romans are going to take care of him. If he says yes, the crowds are going to start to disperse because what are they most interested about? Jesus. As we've seen many, many times, they're interested in Jesus as a political messiah. They're interested in him as a, as a counterweight to Roman influence. [00:30:01] If he disabuses them of that notion, much of the motivation that they have for following him goes away. So let's unpack Jesus answer and this is a beautiful and a fearful thing, and I think this is where it really speaks to application to us today. [00:30:18] He already perceives their hypocrisy, right? We talked about that. And he's branded them as hypocrites. In prelude to his answer, he's already told them what he thinks of them. He never misses an opportunity, as I said before, to judge hypocrisy. And then he asked them for a Tiberian denarius, as we've just seen, and they produce one. He didn't have one. [00:30:40] Jesus highlights that, that display by asking whose image the coin bears, just as we've talked about. And naturally they answer, well, that's Caesar's image, that's Tiberius image. And I'm kind of, that's where in my mind, the story kind of pauses, right? And I'm wondering, I'm asking myself, what are his questioners thinking at that exact moment? It's actually the climax of this particular story. It's kind of the fulcrum that the whole account balances on. Everyone in the crowd is listening intently, wondering how Jesus is going to answer, how he's going to get out of this little dilemma that he's been presented. If you close your eyes and imagine it like I do, maybe you'll let me indulge in just a modicum of speculation here. [00:31:32] I try and picture how would this look in a movie? I don't Know why I think that? But I like to make these kinds of things real. They were real people interacting in real ways here. And here's how in my mind it looks. Jesus answers the question, but the question is answered. In contrast, I. I suspect that what he did was he took this coin and he kind of tossed it back to the guys that had given it to him. He shrugged his shoulders and he said, then pay to Caesar what belongs to Susan. Let's pay it. [00:32:06] I think he discounts the question. [00:32:09] And then he's. There's a pregnant pause after that, and in a much firmer, louder and more assertive tone, maybe with the pointing of a finger, then he says directly to them, but give to God that which is God's. [00:32:24] Give to God that which is God's. See what he's doing? [00:32:29] The weightiness and the impact of that statement is it's in the contrast between the two kings and the two kingdoms. With a shrug of his shoulders, he dismisses the gravity and importance of Roman oppression to God's people. He dismisses it. He says, just pay the tax. Just pay the tax. Go ahead and pay it. It doesn't really matter that much. It's only temporary, and it will one day end. Well, then what does matter if that doesn't matter that much? [00:33:05] Well, what matters is the king you ought never to reject. [00:33:10] Give to God that which is God's. To the Jew, what belongs to God? [00:33:17] Well, everything. [00:33:20] Everyone belongs to God. Everything about a man belongs to the God of Israel. What does Jesus say is the greatest commandment in Scripture when he's asked that question? Well, he quotes Deuteronomy, chapter 6. I'll read it to you. Listen. Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates. When the Lord your God brings you into the land. He swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that he would give you a land with large and beautiful cities, that you did not build houses full of every good thing, that you did not fill them with cisterns that you did not dig, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant. And when you eat and are satisfied. Be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. [00:34:41] Fear the Lord your God. Worship him and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you. For the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise the Lord your God will become angry with you and obliterate you from the face of the earth. [00:35:05] Give to God that which is God's. [00:35:10] Go ahead and pay Caesar's little tax for his little kingdom. [00:35:15] The God of the universe, the Creator of heaven and earth, is indifferent to such trivial matters. What matters far more is never forgetting whom you really serve, the one you owe a far greater obligation and duty to. [00:35:32] I see a bit of foreshadowing there. Foreshadowing to a couple of days later, when Jesus is before Pilate. And Pilate's also concerned that Jesus might be the focal point of a Jewish rebellion against Rome with Jesus as its king. And so how does Jesus respond to that accusation? What does he say? My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I wouldn't be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here, my friends, just like the Jews 2,000 years ago, we live as citizens of two kingdoms. [00:36:17] One's temporal, the other is spiritual. [00:36:21] Our temporal citizenship is before us 24 hours a day. [00:36:26] We're bombarded with it in the media, in our conversations, in our politics. [00:36:32] Our temporary hopes and dreams are so invested in what we perceive as its future that we craft either enraptured visions of its prosperity or apocalyptic predictions of its collapse. Depending on the outcome of an election, we ultimately worry anxiously or dream fantastically, depending on who occupies an office 1,000 miles away. [00:36:55] And as we moralize about which side is more righteous and just, more free and safe, we argue about it at the expense of unity in Jesus kingdom. [00:37:08] Listen to what Jesus says to offer perspective on our living in two kingdoms. What does he say? [00:37:19] What's he saying? Give to Caesar that which is Caesar's right. Give to Caesar what belongs to him, but give to God what belongs to God. [00:37:34] The worship team could come up as we close this passage was greatly convicting to me personally. [00:37:48] Temporal matters of state interest me greatly. Enjoy reading about those. [00:37:54] We all have a duty in some respect or other to be responsible citizens to a temporal kingdom that we are members of. [00:38:04] But when we examine the weight of our thoughts, the nature of them, the time that we spend thinking about this kingdom and not the kingdom of God. [00:38:19] When we look at our passions, where do we get our dander up? Where do our emotions run hot? Where do our opinions become dogmatic? [00:38:30] All too often I let myself and my answers fall on the wrong side of that equation. [00:38:38] Things matter that don't really matter that much. What matters supremely is the God who called me and the God who called you to a kingdom that will outlast this one, to a kingdom that will live eternal long after all others are God. [00:38:58] Go ahead and give to Caesar what Caesar's Go ahead, it's not a big deal. [00:39:04] Don't forget to give God what belongs to him, your everything, because he gave you everything. Frame. [00:39:12] Let's pray, Father. We admit that and confess that the affairs of the temporal world consume us on to offer. [00:39:27] It takes the word of God to set us right to see that there are things unseen that outweigh in import, in gravity, the things that are seen. [00:39:39] Lord, give us the faith to see your word for what it is. Give us the understanding of what Jesus teaches in this passage to see that we're citizens of a far greater kingdom and recipients of far greater marshes there than we could ever hope to have here. Lord, help us to hold loosely to the blessings that were given on this earth and kitely to the ones that you grant me us with grace, sir. [00:40:09] We ask, Lord, that you would do this not for our prosperity, but for your glory. So as people see us living lives that are allied to your kingdom, they would see a testament and choose difficult or help us to do that with your strength and in the power of your spirit. We ask it for your sake. Sake.