Matthew 22:18-22..Working

Matthew 22:18-22..Working

22:18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, (i.e. Saw their malice.) said You hypocrites (5273-a stage actor under an assumed character. Pretender, phony,) why are you trying to trap me? (Ensnare, trip-up, corner) 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax. They brought him a denarius (A Roman silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a common laborer. By asking for a coin Jesus exposes their hypocrisy. By having Cesar’s coin on them it was they, not Him, who were complicit in breaking the Commandment against idolatry.-(Ex, 20:1-5) 20 and he asked them, (Expresses to turn the tables on) “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”(A Roman coin from that time had a portrait of “Tiberius Caesar” with the subscription: “Tiberius Caesar Son of the Divine Augustus”. Reverse side: “Pontifex Maximus” meaning “High Priest”.) 21 “Caesar’s” they replied. Then he said to them give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, (Taxes, civil-obedience, honor, respect) and to God what is God’s. (worship, praise, devotion, submission, obedience, soul. Jesus avoids the trap by showing how they were obligated to obey both God and Government.) 22 When they heard this, they were amazed. (dumbfounded at Jesus’ wisdom) So they left him and went away. (Expresses defeat, humiliation, disappointment.)

Continued From Book

“Teaches though believers have obligations to both God and Government, our loyalty & devotion goes to God first” ⇒ By obeying and submitting to the governing authorities were being faithful to God, because He’s the one who puts Government in place, no matter how vile, dictatorial, or autocratic they may be.-(John 19:11, Rom. 13:1-7, Heb. 13:7, 1-Pet. 2:13-17, 1-Tim. 2:1-2, Titus 3:1-2) By doing our duty as citizens we are giving thanks to our loving and generous Father for His gift of civil governance and peace. It’s government that brings protection and civil order. We can live out our faith and still do secular things, whether its entering into politics, or joining the military service, while still giving all the praise and glory to God. As the marine slogan goes; “You can give your heart to Jesus, but your ass belongs to the marine corps.” For the most part there’s usually no conflict between the believer’s duty to “Government” and duty to “God”. Only when the commands of man conflict with the commands of God are we to obey God! (Acts 4:18-20, 5:28-29, Ex. 3:15-20, Dan. 3:13-18, 6:1-21, Josh. 2:1-7) As an example we are to disobey laws that harm others or that are illegal, immoral, and unethical. if the Government says we have to perform weddings that are immoral, we have the right to say no, were not going to do that. We have the right to say No we’re not going to participate or work in institutions that perform abortions. We have the right to participate or not participate in Wars that violate conscience. We find other biblical examples of people who said No to the government as the Hebrew midwives, the parents of Moses. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel, and the apostles. These individuals refused to kill the innocent or to worship idols. They refused to submit when governing authorities commanded them to cease praying to the Lord or preaching in the name of Christ. (Note: We must be careful, to disobey the government only when we have a clear biblical reason. Our personal convenience (for example, meeting in an air-conditioned building rather than outside in the heat) is never a legitimate reason for disobeying the government. Nor are our traditions or rituals worthy grounds for such disobedience. Our protest against government should never be violent or revolutionary, but always through peaceful demonstrations and rallies.)

“Teaches though we live in the world our supreme loyalty belongs to God having been made/stamped in His image” ⇒  We often get our loyalties mixed up. We talk a lot more about governmental issues, political figures, our children, our work, our careers, our sport teams. Than we do of God who deserves all the loyalty. Yes we should be good parents, good spouses, good students, good neighbors, good bosses, loyal employees, good citizens, good church members, and more. But may we never put any of that before our loyalty and devotion to our Lord & King Jesus Christ who is first and foremost! Will you challenge yourself by examining your loyalties. What’s most important in your life? What occupies your time and attention? What are you most vocal about? Do you need to rearrange some things in your life?  We advertise our favorite sports teams. We post about our favorite political party or candidate on social media. We brag about certain accomplishments. But when’s the last time we’ve shared about the most important loyalty in our lives Jesus Christ?

Additional Notes & Applications

Calls for finding our value and worth in God, and not in the things of money, wealth, popularity.

The type of hypocrisy that Jesus exposes here would be the same as if someone was questioning the Surgeon Generals right to put on a pack of cigarettes that “Smoking was dangerous to your health” and then asking them to produce a pack, and they immediately pull one from their pockets!

Some have used this passage to defend the separation of church and state. Some insist that this is another one of Christ’s lessons on the proper place of money in our lives. Some see this as simply Jesus’ wisdom in wiggling out of the trap. Some have cited this passage as proof that Jesus taught that the law is the law, and our duty as Christians is to support the government no matter what. Others say that this story proves that religion is a matter of the heart, and that Jesus doesn’t really care about mundane things like what you do with your money.

If you live in the Untitled States of America and your worried about the coin or bills your carrying in your purse or pocket right now. Take heart even though it has president heads stamped on them, it also has the words “In God we trust”.