Proverbs 8:11-22; Philippians 3:17-21; St Matthew 22:15-22
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? The simple answer is yes. It is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. He is in authority. And there is no authority except that which is put in place by God. All authority that exists have been instituted by God. Even despotic, egomaniacal narcissists who have a god complex. Whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed. And those who resist will incur judgment. Caesar is God’s servant. Fear God, honor those in authority, and pay to him what he is owed (Rm 13:1-2). That’s the simple, direct answer.
But Jesus won’t give a simple, direct answer. Firstly, because He is aware of their malice. They weren’t interested in His answer for the sake of faith and love, but merely to entangle Him in His words; to trap Him. You see this from the Pharisees conspiring with the Herodians. Here is a bit of bi-partisan cooperation against a common enemy. The Pharisees and Herodians couldn’t stand each other, but they both hated Jesus.
The Pharisees hated the Romans. They sought to be free of their overlords and the coin for the tax was a constant reminder that they were not liberated. They were expecting a religio-political Messiah. The Herodians, on the other hand, supported Herod, Caesar’s man in Judea. They were a fiercely political party. If Jesus had answered, “No, don’t pay the tax,” the Herodians would have immediately gone to Pilate and Herod to report Him for insurrection and rebellion. Which, in a twist of irony, is exactly what the Pharisees and Council throw at Him.
But their disdain for one another is set aside as they co-conspire against Someone they hate even more: Jesus. Their flattery and pretense won’t fool Jesus. Aware of their malice, He said, “Why put Me to the test, you hypocrites?” Whoa! A hypocrite?! That’s about the worst thing to be. No one wants to be that. That’s awful. But what exactly is a hypocrite? According to the silly chapel songs with which my kids are entertained, a hypocrite is someone who’s not hip-with-it. So that’s no help. Lesson learned: vapid worship practices aren’t always bad theology, they’re just nothing.
The etymology of the word hypocrite is actually quite interesting. At first it was just one who gave an answer. Then, one who answers in a dialogue, like reading the script of a play, a theatrical production. A hypocrite is an actor. Someone playing a part. One who wears and mask and plays a role. To portray an illusion, something that doesn’t match, isn’t consistent with reality. Jesus calls them actors. Which, given the recent Hollywood scandals, is a pretty bad insult. A hypocrite acts out a lie and puts on a show.
Are you a hypocrite? You want to answer, “No,” but look at yourself. Are you a Christian? or do you just play one while at church? Do you practice the art of illusion, deceiving others - or even yourself - about who you really are?
God’s Word says, The hypocrites in heart store up wrath (Job 36:13). That is, in their hearts they harbor anger, grudges, resentments, but do not deal with offenses and forgiveness the way God’s Word teaches. The Lord Jesus says, You outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Mt 23:28). In hypocrisy words radically contradict thought and deed, disguising malice with an air of religiosity. Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?
Are you a hypocrite? Yes. But have you been baptized? What does that mean? St Peter instructs us as to what out baptism means: So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk of the Word, that by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good (1 Pt 2:1-3). To be baptized, then, leads to sincerity in the deepest, truest sense: in renouncing every form of perversity and evil. In doing as the Old Testament lesson from Proverbs states: hating evil and loving the wisdom of the Lord; rejecting pride and arrogance and embracing prudence and knowledge and discretion.
And this begins to get at what Jesus means when He says, Render to God the things that are God’s. Caesar’s likeness and inscription are on the coin for the tax. He stamped it with his imprimatur. Give it back to him. But what about that which belongs to God? On what has He inscribed His Name and image? Right. Its not just stuff. Not merely First Article gifts or the things meant by daily bread. Its you, your whole person, body and soul. You belong to God. As it is written, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Gen 1:26).
St Augustine said it this way: “We are God’s money. But we are like counts that have wandered away from the treasury. What was once stamped on us has been worn down by our wandering. The One who rest amps His image upon us is the One who first formed us. He Himself seeks His own coin, as Caesar sought his coin. It is in this sense that He says, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s’ to Caesar his coins, to God your very selves.”
We lost that original image and righteousness in the Fall. We became enemies of God, filled with malice. We play the hypocrite.
But Christ Jesus, in whose image you were first created, came and sought you out. He is the Son of God and the Second Adam in whom there was no hypocrisy, no guile. He did not play a man, but truly became Man for us and for our salvation. The image of Caesar was stamped on the coin. In his arrogance and blasphemy he had it inscribed to read: “Caesar Augustus, Son of the Divine Augustus.” But it is Jesus who is the proper Son of the Divine of whom it is written, He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature (Heb 1:3). Jesus is the Image of God in a way that even Adam before the Fall was not. For man was created in the image of God. The Man Jesus is God! And as a Man Jesus rendered back to God the Father the things that belonged to Him.
And what did man owe to God? Obedience, where Adam the first man was disobedient. Sacrifice, to take away sin. Righteousness, where we have been unrighteous. Jesus alone, as true Man, rendered to God what we could not. And by the obedience of Jesus, by His perfect life, by His atoning death, taxes are paid, so to speak. Debts are remitted. Sins are forgiven. That is, your tax, your debt, your sin.
And this is all given you as free gift in Holy Baptism. Not just tax free, but utterly, completely, truly free. Christ has made the good deposit. He laid down His life freely, under punishment of the State and rejection by the Church, of whom He is Lord and Head of both. Still, He pours out His priceless Blood by which He ransoms and redeems a people for Him, bought not with gold or silver coins, but with His own Blood, the very Blood of God. Do you marvel at this? Indeed so! But do not thereby leave Him and go away.
Rather, come to Him, without guile or malice or hypocrisy or deceit. Receive anew that baptismal inscription; that imprimatur of Christ’s own absolution and forgiveness: the sign of His Cross inscribed upon your forehead and heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified. You belong to God. He made you for Himself. Even when you fell away, He redeemed you in love. He has deposited His Spirit within you. This is true wisdom. The kingdoms of Caesar have nothing to offer you. “What is the world to me?!” It is nothing. Loss. Rubbish. For the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
This changes everything. Gives you a whole new outlook and worldview. What you do with your stuff is free. Free to use in service to God and for the good of your neighbor in love. Not free to horde and amass and say, “Look at me. Envy me. I have it all.” But free to support the Church and the proclamation of the Gospel. Free to care for your family and neighbors. Free to be a cheerful giver, as you have decided in your own heart. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil. He will support you in body and soul all the days of your life.
For you are marked with the inscription and likeness of the true King, dear ones, and your true and everlasting citizenship is in heaven, from whence we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform your lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself. May God grant it for Jesus’ sake.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? The simple answer is yes. It is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. He is in authority. And there is no authority except that which is put in place by God. All authority that exists have been instituted by God. Even despotic, egomaniacal narcissists who have a god complex. Whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed. And those who resist will incur judgment. Caesar is God’s servant. Fear God, honor those in authority, and pay to him what he is owed (Rm 13:1-2). That’s the simple, direct answer.
But Jesus won’t give a simple, direct answer. Firstly, because He is aware of their malice. They weren’t interested in His answer for the sake of faith and love, but merely to entangle Him in His words; to trap Him. You see this from the Pharisees conspiring with the Herodians. Here is a bit of bi-partisan cooperation against a common enemy. The Pharisees and Herodians couldn’t stand each other, but they both hated Jesus.
The Pharisees hated the Romans. They sought to be free of their overlords and the coin for the tax was a constant reminder that they were not liberated. They were expecting a religio-political Messiah. The Herodians, on the other hand, supported Herod, Caesar’s man in Judea. They were a fiercely political party. If Jesus had answered, “No, don’t pay the tax,” the Herodians would have immediately gone to Pilate and Herod to report Him for insurrection and rebellion. Which, in a twist of irony, is exactly what the Pharisees and Council throw at Him.
But their disdain for one another is set aside as they co-conspire against Someone they hate even more: Jesus. Their flattery and pretense won’t fool Jesus. Aware of their malice, He said, “Why put Me to the test, you hypocrites?” Whoa! A hypocrite?! That’s about the worst thing to be. No one wants to be that. That’s awful. But what exactly is a hypocrite? According to the silly chapel songs with which my kids are entertained, a hypocrite is someone who’s not hip-with-it. So that’s no help. Lesson learned: vapid worship practices aren’t always bad theology, they’re just nothing.
The etymology of the word hypocrite is actually quite interesting. At first it was just one who gave an answer. Then, one who answers in a dialogue, like reading the script of a play, a theatrical production. A hypocrite is an actor. Someone playing a part. One who wears and mask and plays a role. To portray an illusion, something that doesn’t match, isn’t consistent with reality. Jesus calls them actors. Which, given the recent Hollywood scandals, is a pretty bad insult. A hypocrite acts out a lie and puts on a show.
Are you a hypocrite? You want to answer, “No,” but look at yourself. Are you a Christian? or do you just play one while at church? Do you practice the art of illusion, deceiving others - or even yourself - about who you really are?
God’s Word says, The hypocrites in heart store up wrath (Job 36:13). That is, in their hearts they harbor anger, grudges, resentments, but do not deal with offenses and forgiveness the way God’s Word teaches. The Lord Jesus says, You outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Mt 23:28). In hypocrisy words radically contradict thought and deed, disguising malice with an air of religiosity. Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?
Are you a hypocrite? Yes. But have you been baptized? What does that mean? St Peter instructs us as to what out baptism means: So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk of the Word, that by it you may grow up into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good (1 Pt 2:1-3). To be baptized, then, leads to sincerity in the deepest, truest sense: in renouncing every form of perversity and evil. In doing as the Old Testament lesson from Proverbs states: hating evil and loving the wisdom of the Lord; rejecting pride and arrogance and embracing prudence and knowledge and discretion.
And this begins to get at what Jesus means when He says, Render to God the things that are God’s. Caesar’s likeness and inscription are on the coin for the tax. He stamped it with his imprimatur. Give it back to him. But what about that which belongs to God? On what has He inscribed His Name and image? Right. Its not just stuff. Not merely First Article gifts or the things meant by daily bread. Its you, your whole person, body and soul. You belong to God. As it is written, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Gen 1:26).
St Augustine said it this way: “We are God’s money. But we are like counts that have wandered away from the treasury. What was once stamped on us has been worn down by our wandering. The One who rest amps His image upon us is the One who first formed us. He Himself seeks His own coin, as Caesar sought his coin. It is in this sense that He says, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s’ to Caesar his coins, to God your very selves.”
We lost that original image and righteousness in the Fall. We became enemies of God, filled with malice. We play the hypocrite.
But Christ Jesus, in whose image you were first created, came and sought you out. He is the Son of God and the Second Adam in whom there was no hypocrisy, no guile. He did not play a man, but truly became Man for us and for our salvation. The image of Caesar was stamped on the coin. In his arrogance and blasphemy he had it inscribed to read: “Caesar Augustus, Son of the Divine Augustus.” But it is Jesus who is the proper Son of the Divine of whom it is written, He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature (Heb 1:3). Jesus is the Image of God in a way that even Adam before the Fall was not. For man was created in the image of God. The Man Jesus is God! And as a Man Jesus rendered back to God the Father the things that belonged to Him.
And what did man owe to God? Obedience, where Adam the first man was disobedient. Sacrifice, to take away sin. Righteousness, where we have been unrighteous. Jesus alone, as true Man, rendered to God what we could not. And by the obedience of Jesus, by His perfect life, by His atoning death, taxes are paid, so to speak. Debts are remitted. Sins are forgiven. That is, your tax, your debt, your sin.
And this is all given you as free gift in Holy Baptism. Not just tax free, but utterly, completely, truly free. Christ has made the good deposit. He laid down His life freely, under punishment of the State and rejection by the Church, of whom He is Lord and Head of both. Still, He pours out His priceless Blood by which He ransoms and redeems a people for Him, bought not with gold or silver coins, but with His own Blood, the very Blood of God. Do you marvel at this? Indeed so! But do not thereby leave Him and go away.
Rather, come to Him, without guile or malice or hypocrisy or deceit. Receive anew that baptismal inscription; that imprimatur of Christ’s own absolution and forgiveness: the sign of His Cross inscribed upon your forehead and heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified. You belong to God. He made you for Himself. Even when you fell away, He redeemed you in love. He has deposited His Spirit within you. This is true wisdom. The kingdoms of Caesar have nothing to offer you. “What is the world to me?!” It is nothing. Loss. Rubbish. For the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
This changes everything. Gives you a whole new outlook and worldview. What you do with your stuff is free. Free to use in service to God and for the good of your neighbor in love. Not free to horde and amass and say, “Look at me. Envy me. I have it all.” But free to support the Church and the proclamation of the Gospel. Free to care for your family and neighbors. Free to be a cheerful giver, as you have decided in your own heart. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil. He will support you in body and soul all the days of your life.
For you are marked with the inscription and likeness of the true King, dear ones, and your true and everlasting citizenship is in heaven, from whence we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform your lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself. May God grant it for Jesus’ sake.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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