Proverbs 8:11-22/Philippians 3:17-21/St Matthew 22:15-22
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
It’s early in the week - just a day after Palm Sunday, the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The crowds hail Jesus as their King. All Jerusalem is abuzz. Messiah has come! Now its time, the Pharisees decide, to solve this Jesus problem once and of all. So the Pharisees conspire with their nemesis the Herodians to lay a trap for Jesus.
Now the Herodians were a Jewish political party that was loyal to King Herod. A key part of their platform was submission to Roman rule. They were both political and religious enemies of the Pharisees. They hated one another. But the only thing they hated more was Jesus. The enemy of my enemy is my ally. And so like the unbelieving Jews who stirred up the pagan crowds in Lystra to stone St Paul (Ac 14:19), so the Pharisees and Herodians ignored their disputes to attempt to rid themselves of our Lord Jesus Christ.
They try to put Him in a no-win situation. First they butter Him up with flattery, Teacher, we know that You are sure and teach the way of God truthfully. Their empty platitudes are a false vanity. They care nothing for the Lord and His pure and right doctrine of God. The reading from Proverbs this morning says, The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. And these conniving interlocutors are the exact opposite of this proverb. They hate the Lord and so love evil. They question reveals as much: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
If Jesus answers, “No, do not pay the taxes,” the Herodians will report these words of rebellion and Jesus will be arrested as a traitor. But if He says that people should pay taxes, then the Pharisees will use this to turn His followers against Him, attempting to discredit Him as the Messiah, because - they imagined - the Messiah would come and free them from their Roman overlords.
So they have set their trap. But Jesus cannot be trapped. Aware of their malice, their πονηριαν, their subversive evil, from which we get our English word pornography - evil writing - said to those who would conceal their sin in dark corners and with webs of lies, Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? You play acting phonies! Show Me the coin for the tax. And they brought Him a denarius.
Now a denarius, as you know, was a days wage. It was also the amount needed for a days’ living. In this way Rome has a zero sum economy. You didn’t work, you didn’t eat. And in order to demonstrate upon whom the peasants depended for bread, the coins were stamped with the image of Caesar and an inscription which read, “son of the divine Augustus.” Such is reproduced on your bulletin cover. Really not much different than money printed by modern governments.
And so Jesus asks, Whose likeness and inscription is this? After they acknowledge it is Caesar’s, Jesus tells them, Therefore render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.
The first thing we learn from this is the important teaching of the two realms or two kingdoms: the worldly kingdom of power and the heavenly kingdom of grace. In the one we are called to live as honorable citizens, at peace with one another, giving respect to the government who serve as God’s instruments. You pay taxes, obey laws, vote, and above all, pray for your leaders and those in authority, no matter who they may be, for there is no authority except that which God has established, as St Paul teaches in Romans 13.
Now its very easy to become dissatisfied with our government. We all probably imagine we could do a better job. And today, many Christians are enamored with the idea that we need to help our poor, weak God out by “taking back the country” for Him.
This is not really a new thought. Even in the 16th century, Dr Luther put it this way: “Even real Christians are sometimes tempted [in] this way[:] They see that the world at large, and particularly their own government, is being so poorly managed that they feel like jumping in and taking over. But this is wrong. No one should suppose that God wants to have us govern and rule this way with the law and punishment of the world. The Christians’ way is altogether different. They neither deal with such things nor care about them. They are perfectly content to leave these things to the care of those who are authorized to distribute property, to do business, to punish, and to protect. As Christ teaches: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” For we have been transferred to another and a higher existence, a divine and an eternal kingdom, where the things that belong to the world are unnecessary and where in Christ everyone is a lord for himself over both the devil and the world, as we have said elsewhere” (LW 45:127ff)
It is just as you sang, “What is the world to me with all its vaunted pleasure, when You and You alone, Lord Jesus are my treasure!” (LSB 730:1) Or as you heard St Paul write to the Roman ex-patriots, former military living in Philippi: Our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So whether you voted on Tuesday or not, our goal as Christians is not to take over the government or impose a theocracy. But we do stand up for basic human rights - real, God-given ones - including the most fundamental right, the right to life for every human person whether born or unborn, young or old.
But the Church is not a political action committee. We gather as the people of God under no earthly banner, be it national or synodical. Our standard is the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to us and we to the world. Such that when you despair about the state of the world, the condition of our government, the future of our nation, or when you are tempted to boast in earthly power and glory, to brag about mammon, remember the words of the Proverb: Wisdom is far better than jewels and the confidence of St Paul: our citizenship is in heaven.
For now you live as citizen of two realms, two kingdoms, two worlds: the earthly and the heavenly. And so it is not wrong to pay taxes. Neither is it wrong, but can even be honorable, to go to court, to serve as a soldier, to hold public office. God has established these worldly offices, too, to protect us and to help us serve our neighbor. In fact, as our Large Catechism teaches, these public offices are actually built upon the high and noble vocation given by God: the vocation of parent, of father and mother.
And this brings us to the second thing we may learn from Jesus’ words to the Pharisees: Render unto God the things that are God’s. Implied here is that the coin which bears Caesar’s image and inscription belongs to Caesar and is given to him; so in the same way that which bears God’s image and inscription belongs to Him and ought to be given to Him. The natural question is: what bears the image of God? What belongs to Him? Is it not written, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Gn 1:27)?
Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were created in the image and likeness of God, possessing perfect righteousness according to His Law, without sin or corruption. And while the original righteousness of man was lost in the Fall, each and every individual person, believer and unbeliever, still, in some way, bears the image of God. All life is sacred to the Lord our God, the Lord of life. What belongs to Him? Everything.
Even more so you who are baptized. For the imagine was renewed and God placed His inscription upon you in Holy Baptism. When the pastor traces the sign of the cross on the baptized he says, “Receive the sign of the holy cross on both your forehead and your heart, to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.” Or as you heard last Sunday, All Saints’ Day, those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life have the name of God inscribed on their foreheads.
So the name of the government is written on our money and thus we render to the government its due, even so is the Name of the Blessed Holy Trinity written on us, and we offer to God what is His, what belongs to Him, that is everything we are, in both body and soul, everything we have, everything of which He has made you stewards, used for the proclamation of the Gospel and the support of the Church and her pastors, and used for the care and welfare of your neighbor.
Your citizenship is indeed in heaven, as St Paul says, but you live here on earth, you live among family and friends, neighbors and enemies. You live among great need and poverty, among those who require support and aide. Your spouse and children, roommate and friend, your significant other. The Christian lives in the world, but not of the world. In the world, owing honor and respect, revenue and taxes to those in rightful authority as God’s instruments.
But not of the world, not living for oneself, for one’s own selfish gain and interests, with pride and love for mammon, but rather being caught up to Christ in heaven by faith and sunk down deep to earth for the neighbor in need in love. The child who need the diaper change. The elderly mother who needs care. The friend who needs cheering up. The spouse who needs support. These are the things rendered unto God which do belong to Him. These are the vocations in which He has placed you that you may serve Him by serving your neighbor. For you who trust in Christ Jesus are recreated in His image, after His likeness, bearing the very inscription of the most High God, imprinted upon you in your Holy Baptism, such that you may render do thanks and praise, service and charity toward those whom God has placed into your path and care. For He does not need your good works but your neighbor certainly does.
Now you may be wondering, where is the Gospel in all this? In Jesus’ words today? The Good News is where it always is: in Jesus Christ Himself, who is, as the Epistle to the Hebrews says, The radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He uphold the universe by the Word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb 1:3-4) And elsewhere St Paul says, Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created. And He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the Body, the Church. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His Cross (Col 1:15, 16, 17-18, 19-20).
What does all this mean? It means that in seeking to trap Jesus and eventually to kill Him, the Pharisees and Herodians unknowingly rendered to God the things that are God’s. For the Son of God took on your human flesh so that as a man, bearing the very image and inscription of God, He could render Himself, give Himself up to the Father, for you. He paid the ultimate tax that you owe - death itself - canceling the record of debt that stood against you by nailing to the Cross.
The result of His obedience under the Law is this great promise - these words from today’s Epistle that we always read at the graveside of a Christian, as earth is poured on the coffin in the shape of a cross: “We now commit [this person’s] body to the ground: earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly bodies that they may be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subdue all things to Himself.” That is the funeral sermon in brief: man returns to dust, as God declared to our first father Adam after he rebelled; but by the resurrection of Jesus, God will raise us up from the same dust to a new and glorified body.
Until then you live in the two realms, abiding in the kingdom of grace by our Lord’s bountiful goodness and the gift and strengthening of faith. Here the forgiveness of sins, mercy and compassion rule. You also reside in the worldly kingdom of power, called to your particular stations and vocations, to serve your neighbor in fervent love, trusting that all that is done according to the Word of God is sanctified and blessed by the obedience of Christ Jesus and the gift of faith.
Come forward then, dear ones, and receive the deposit rendered to you: the very Body and Blood of Christ Jesus our Lord, given and shed for your for the forgiveness of sins, for the strengthening of faith and the increase of love.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
It’s early in the week - just a day after Palm Sunday, the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The crowds hail Jesus as their King. All Jerusalem is abuzz. Messiah has come! Now its time, the Pharisees decide, to solve this Jesus problem once and of all. So the Pharisees conspire with their nemesis the Herodians to lay a trap for Jesus.
Now the Herodians were a Jewish political party that was loyal to King Herod. A key part of their platform was submission to Roman rule. They were both political and religious enemies of the Pharisees. They hated one another. But the only thing they hated more was Jesus. The enemy of my enemy is my ally. And so like the unbelieving Jews who stirred up the pagan crowds in Lystra to stone St Paul (Ac 14:19), so the Pharisees and Herodians ignored their disputes to attempt to rid themselves of our Lord Jesus Christ.
They try to put Him in a no-win situation. First they butter Him up with flattery, Teacher, we know that You are sure and teach the way of God truthfully. Their empty platitudes are a false vanity. They care nothing for the Lord and His pure and right doctrine of God. The reading from Proverbs this morning says, The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. And these conniving interlocutors are the exact opposite of this proverb. They hate the Lord and so love evil. They question reveals as much: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
If Jesus answers, “No, do not pay the taxes,” the Herodians will report these words of rebellion and Jesus will be arrested as a traitor. But if He says that people should pay taxes, then the Pharisees will use this to turn His followers against Him, attempting to discredit Him as the Messiah, because - they imagined - the Messiah would come and free them from their Roman overlords.
So they have set their trap. But Jesus cannot be trapped. Aware of their malice, their πονηριαν, their subversive evil, from which we get our English word pornography - evil writing - said to those who would conceal their sin in dark corners and with webs of lies, Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? You play acting phonies! Show Me the coin for the tax. And they brought Him a denarius.
Now a denarius, as you know, was a days wage. It was also the amount needed for a days’ living. In this way Rome has a zero sum economy. You didn’t work, you didn’t eat. And in order to demonstrate upon whom the peasants depended for bread, the coins were stamped with the image of Caesar and an inscription which read, “son of the divine Augustus.” Such is reproduced on your bulletin cover. Really not much different than money printed by modern governments.
And so Jesus asks, Whose likeness and inscription is this? After they acknowledge it is Caesar’s, Jesus tells them, Therefore render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.
The first thing we learn from this is the important teaching of the two realms or two kingdoms: the worldly kingdom of power and the heavenly kingdom of grace. In the one we are called to live as honorable citizens, at peace with one another, giving respect to the government who serve as God’s instruments. You pay taxes, obey laws, vote, and above all, pray for your leaders and those in authority, no matter who they may be, for there is no authority except that which God has established, as St Paul teaches in Romans 13.
Now its very easy to become dissatisfied with our government. We all probably imagine we could do a better job. And today, many Christians are enamored with the idea that we need to help our poor, weak God out by “taking back the country” for Him.
This is not really a new thought. Even in the 16th century, Dr Luther put it this way: “Even real Christians are sometimes tempted [in] this way[:] They see that the world at large, and particularly their own government, is being so poorly managed that they feel like jumping in and taking over. But this is wrong. No one should suppose that God wants to have us govern and rule this way with the law and punishment of the world. The Christians’ way is altogether different. They neither deal with such things nor care about them. They are perfectly content to leave these things to the care of those who are authorized to distribute property, to do business, to punish, and to protect. As Christ teaches: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” For we have been transferred to another and a higher existence, a divine and an eternal kingdom, where the things that belong to the world are unnecessary and where in Christ everyone is a lord for himself over both the devil and the world, as we have said elsewhere” (LW 45:127ff)
It is just as you sang, “What is the world to me with all its vaunted pleasure, when You and You alone, Lord Jesus are my treasure!” (LSB 730:1) Or as you heard St Paul write to the Roman ex-patriots, former military living in Philippi: Our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So whether you voted on Tuesday or not, our goal as Christians is not to take over the government or impose a theocracy. But we do stand up for basic human rights - real, God-given ones - including the most fundamental right, the right to life for every human person whether born or unborn, young or old.
But the Church is not a political action committee. We gather as the people of God under no earthly banner, be it national or synodical. Our standard is the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to us and we to the world. Such that when you despair about the state of the world, the condition of our government, the future of our nation, or when you are tempted to boast in earthly power and glory, to brag about mammon, remember the words of the Proverb: Wisdom is far better than jewels and the confidence of St Paul: our citizenship is in heaven.
For now you live as citizen of two realms, two kingdoms, two worlds: the earthly and the heavenly. And so it is not wrong to pay taxes. Neither is it wrong, but can even be honorable, to go to court, to serve as a soldier, to hold public office. God has established these worldly offices, too, to protect us and to help us serve our neighbor. In fact, as our Large Catechism teaches, these public offices are actually built upon the high and noble vocation given by God: the vocation of parent, of father and mother.
And this brings us to the second thing we may learn from Jesus’ words to the Pharisees: Render unto God the things that are God’s. Implied here is that the coin which bears Caesar’s image and inscription belongs to Caesar and is given to him; so in the same way that which bears God’s image and inscription belongs to Him and ought to be given to Him. The natural question is: what bears the image of God? What belongs to Him? Is it not written, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Gn 1:27)?
Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were created in the image and likeness of God, possessing perfect righteousness according to His Law, without sin or corruption. And while the original righteousness of man was lost in the Fall, each and every individual person, believer and unbeliever, still, in some way, bears the image of God. All life is sacred to the Lord our God, the Lord of life. What belongs to Him? Everything.
Even more so you who are baptized. For the imagine was renewed and God placed His inscription upon you in Holy Baptism. When the pastor traces the sign of the cross on the baptized he says, “Receive the sign of the holy cross on both your forehead and your heart, to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.” Or as you heard last Sunday, All Saints’ Day, those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life have the name of God inscribed on their foreheads.
So the name of the government is written on our money and thus we render to the government its due, even so is the Name of the Blessed Holy Trinity written on us, and we offer to God what is His, what belongs to Him, that is everything we are, in both body and soul, everything we have, everything of which He has made you stewards, used for the proclamation of the Gospel and the support of the Church and her pastors, and used for the care and welfare of your neighbor.
Your citizenship is indeed in heaven, as St Paul says, but you live here on earth, you live among family and friends, neighbors and enemies. You live among great need and poverty, among those who require support and aide. Your spouse and children, roommate and friend, your significant other. The Christian lives in the world, but not of the world. In the world, owing honor and respect, revenue and taxes to those in rightful authority as God’s instruments.
But not of the world, not living for oneself, for one’s own selfish gain and interests, with pride and love for mammon, but rather being caught up to Christ in heaven by faith and sunk down deep to earth for the neighbor in need in love. The child who need the diaper change. The elderly mother who needs care. The friend who needs cheering up. The spouse who needs support. These are the things rendered unto God which do belong to Him. These are the vocations in which He has placed you that you may serve Him by serving your neighbor. For you who trust in Christ Jesus are recreated in His image, after His likeness, bearing the very inscription of the most High God, imprinted upon you in your Holy Baptism, such that you may render do thanks and praise, service and charity toward those whom God has placed into your path and care. For He does not need your good works but your neighbor certainly does.
Now you may be wondering, where is the Gospel in all this? In Jesus’ words today? The Good News is where it always is: in Jesus Christ Himself, who is, as the Epistle to the Hebrews says, The radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He uphold the universe by the Word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb 1:3-4) And elsewhere St Paul says, Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created. And He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the Body, the Church. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His Cross (Col 1:15, 16, 17-18, 19-20).
What does all this mean? It means that in seeking to trap Jesus and eventually to kill Him, the Pharisees and Herodians unknowingly rendered to God the things that are God’s. For the Son of God took on your human flesh so that as a man, bearing the very image and inscription of God, He could render Himself, give Himself up to the Father, for you. He paid the ultimate tax that you owe - death itself - canceling the record of debt that stood against you by nailing to the Cross.
The result of His obedience under the Law is this great promise - these words from today’s Epistle that we always read at the graveside of a Christian, as earth is poured on the coffin in the shape of a cross: “We now commit [this person’s] body to the ground: earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly bodies that they may be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subdue all things to Himself.” That is the funeral sermon in brief: man returns to dust, as God declared to our first father Adam after he rebelled; but by the resurrection of Jesus, God will raise us up from the same dust to a new and glorified body.
Until then you live in the two realms, abiding in the kingdom of grace by our Lord’s bountiful goodness and the gift and strengthening of faith. Here the forgiveness of sins, mercy and compassion rule. You also reside in the worldly kingdom of power, called to your particular stations and vocations, to serve your neighbor in fervent love, trusting that all that is done according to the Word of God is sanctified and blessed by the obedience of Christ Jesus and the gift of faith.
Come forward then, dear ones, and receive the deposit rendered to you: the very Body and Blood of Christ Jesus our Lord, given and shed for your for the forgiveness of sins, for the strengthening of faith and the increase of love.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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