15
JESUS OR CAESAR?
(WITH SOME CONTEMPORARY IMPLICATIONS)
Matthew 22:15-22; Romans 15:1-6
Rev. Paul Wrightman 8/4/24
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE TEXT
SHOWS US JESUS BEING CHALLENGED
BY TWO VERY UNLIKELY ALLIES:
THE PHARISEES AND THE HERODIANS.
THESE TWO IMPROBABLE CONFEDERATES
HAD ALREADY JOINED FORCES AGAINST JESUS
NEAR THE BEGINNING OF MARK'S GOSPEL,
WHEN JESUS HAD PERFORMED
A PUBLIC HEALING ON THE SABBATH
IN A SYNAGOGUE.
INFURIATED, WE ARE TOLD IN MARK 3:6 THAT
"THE PHARISEES WENT OUT AND IMMEDIATELY
CONSPIRED WITH THE HERODIANS AGAINST HIM,
HOW TO DESTROY HIM."
WE KNOW WHO THE PHARISEES ARE --
A GROUP STRIVING TO REVIVE ISRAEL
THROUGH THE STRICT OBSERVANCE
OF THOUSANDS OF ORAL REGULATIONS
IN ADDITION TO THE 613 WRITTEN COMMANDMENTS
FOUND IN THE TORAH,
THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS
OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES.
BUT WHO WERE THE HERODIANS?
THEIR NAME BETRAYS THEIR IDENTITY.
THEY WERE SUPPORTERS
OF THE VARIOUS DYNASTIES
ASSOCIATED WITH KING HEROD THE GREAT.
AFTER HEROD'S DEATH, HIS KINGDOM
WAS DIVIDED AMONG THREE OF HIS SONS.
THE HERODIANS WERE WEALTHY ARISTOCRATS,
PART OF THE "ONE PER CENT" OF THEIR DAY,
WHO LIVED IN JERUSALEM,
AND WHO COLLABORATED WITH ROME
IN ORDER TO KEEP THEIR PRIVILEGED
PLACE IN SOCIETY.
UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES,
THE PHARISEES DESPISED THE HERODIANS,
BECAUSE THEY, THE PHARISEES, WERE "SPIRITUAL,"
AND LOOKED FOR THE INDEPENDENCE OF ISRAEL,
WHILE THE HERODIANS
WERE CRASSLY MATERIALISTIC,
AND WANTED ISRAEL TO REMAIN
A ROMAN PROVINCE INDEFINITELY.
SO WHAT WE SEE HAPPENING HERE
IS THAT TWO GROUPS THAT ARE NORMALLY
EXTREMELY HOSTILE TOWARD EACH OTHER,
JOIN FORCES AGAINST JESUS,
WHOM BOTH GROUPS PERCEIVE
AS MUCH WORSE THAN THEIR “USUAL” ENEMY.
JESUS WAS USHERING IN A KINGDOM --
A KINGDOM OF GOD, NO LESS --
THAT NEITHER THE PHARISEES
NOR THE HERODIANS WANTED.
FOR THE PHARISEES, JESUS WAS A MORTAL THREAT
TO THEIR THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS
OF RULES AND REGULATIONS;
FOR THE HERODIANS,
JESUS WAS A MORTAL THREAT
TO THEIR PRIVILEGED WAY OF LIFE.
FOR BOTH THESE GROUPS, THEN,
JESUS MUST BE STOPPED AT ALL COSTS.
WE KNOW FROM THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXT
OF OUR SCRIPTURE READING THAT THE "THEY"
WHO IS SENDING
THE PHARISEES AND HERODIANS
TO QUESTION JESUS
IS THE "THEY" OF THE CHIEF PRIESTS,
SCRIBES (LOOSELY EQUIVALENT
TO OUR LAWYERS),
AND ELDERS (LOOSELY EQUIVALENT
TO OUR SUPREME COURT JUSTICES).
THE DAY BEFORE,
JESUS HAD STORMED THROUGH THE TEMPLE,
OVERTURNING THE TABLES
OF THE MONEY-CHANGERS,
AND STAMPEDING THE SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS
THAT WERE FOR SALE
IN THE COURT OF THE GENTILES.
THIS JESUS HAD TO BE TAKEN OUT,
SO THE CHIEF PRIESTS, LEAD LAWYERS,
AND HIGHEST JUDGES OF THE LAND
JOINED FORCES AGAINST HIM.
THEY HAD CONCOCTED A BRILLIANT
"YES" OR "NO" QUESTION WHICH THEY FELT WAS
ABSOLUTELY SURE TO TRAP HIM
NO MATTER WHICH WAY HE ANSWERED.
SO AFTER A DOUBLE-DOSE OF FLATTERY,
"TEACHER, WE KNOW THAT YOU ARE SINCERE,
AND SHOW DEFERENCE TO NO ONE;
FOR YOU DO NOT REGARD PEOPLE
WITH PARTIALITY, BUT TEACH THE WAY OF GOD
IN ACCORDANCE WITH TRUTH," (V.14)
WHICH IS NOTHING BUT MOCK-PRAISE TO THEM,
BUT, IRONICALLY, IS A BEAUTIFUL DESCRIPTION
OF THE WAY THINGS ACTUALLY ARE WITH JESUS;
SO AFTER A DOUBLE-DOSE OF FLATTERY,
THEY PRESENT THEIR DEADLY QUESTION TO JESUS:
"IS IT LAWFUL TO PAY TAXES TO CAESAR,
OR NOT?"
THEY CONSIDER THEIR QUESTION DEADLY
BECAUSE JESUS DRAMATICALLY LOSES
EITHER WAY HE ANSWERS.
IF HE ANSWERS "YES, IT IS LAWFUL
TO PAY TAXES TO CAESAR,"
THEN HE WILL IMMEDIATELY
LOSE THE SUPPORT OF THE MASSES
OF "COMMON PEOPLE" WHO FOLLOW HIM,
AND CONSIDER HIM TO BE
ANTI-ALL-ESTABLISHMENTS:
THE CORRUPT TEMPLE PRIESTHOOD,
THE CORRUPT SCRIBES AND PHARISEES,
THE CORRUPT SADDUCEES AND HERODIANS --
AND THE CORRUPT RULE OF ROME ITSELF.
IF JESUS ANSWERS "NO, IT IS NOT LAWFUL
TO PAY TAXES TO CAESAR,”
THEN THE JEWISH ESTABLISHMENT
HAS ALL THE WITNESSES IT NEEDS
TO ACCUSE HIM OF SEDITION AGAINST
THE AUTHORITY OF ROME --
AGAINST THE AUTHORITY
OF THE GREAT CAESAR HIMSELF --
AND ALL THE WITNESSES IT NEEDS
TO BRING HIM BEFORE
THE ROMAN GOVERNOR PILATE,
AND MAKE THE CHARGES STICK.
EITHER WAY, IT LOOKS LIKE JESUS IS DONE FOR:
EITHER HE WILL LOSE HIS POPULAR SUPPORT,
OR HE WILL LOSE HIS LIFE FOR OPPOSING CAESAR.
IMAGINE THAT THE PHARISEES AND HERODIANS
HAVE JUST ASKED JESUS THIS QUESTION.
THERE IS PALPABLE SILENCE
AS THE CROWD SURROUNDING JESUS
HOLDS ITS BREATH
WONDERING WHAT HE WILL ANSWER;
IMAGINE THE IMPATIENT, ANTICIPATORY SILENCE
FROM THOSE WHO POSED THE QUESTION,
HARDLY ABLE TO CONTAIN THEMSELVES
IN THEIR EAGERNESS TO HEAR
WHICH OF THE TWO ANSWERS
JESUS WOULD IMPALE HIMSELF ON.
AS IS OFTEN THE CASE
WHEN JESUS APPEARS TO BE TRAPPED,
HE DOES SOMETHING SURPRISING
THAT CATCHES HIS OPPOSITION OFF-GUARD.
IN THIS CASE HE ASKS FOR A DENARIUS,
THE SMALL SILVER COIN
WHICH WAS THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE
FORM OF PAYMENT
FOR THIS PARTICULAR ROMAN TAX.
SCRIPTURE SCHOLAR N.T. WRIGHT STATES:
"I HAVE ON MY DESK
ONE OF THE TRIBUTE-PENNIES
FROM THE REIGN OF TIBERIUS CAESAR.
IT IS ALMOST CERTAINLY THE TYPE
THAT FEATURES IN THIS STORY.
IT ABOUT THE SIZE OF MY THUMBNAIL,
BUT YOU CAN MAKE OUT
THE WRITING QUITE CLEARLY --
AND THE IMPERIAL HEAD OF TIBERIUS.
YOU DON'T HAVE TOO LOOK AT IT FOR TOO LONG
TO SEE THAT THIS CONVERSATION
WASN'T SIMPLY ABOUT TAXATION POLICY."
WRIGHT GOES ON TO DESCRIBE THE COIN:
ON ONE SIDE, THE IMAGE OF EMPEROR TIBERIUS,
STARING COLDLY OUT AT THE WORLD.
CIRCLING AROUND THE HEAD
ARE THE LATIN WORDS:
"AUGUSTUS TIBERIUS,
SON OF THE DIVINE AUGUSTUS."
ON THE OTHER SIDE ARE THE WORDS,
AGAIN DESCRIBING THE EMPEROR:
"SON ON GOD;" "HIGH PRIEST."
JEWISH PEOPLE WERE FORBIDDEN
TO MAKE IMAGES OF GOD,
MUCH LESS CARRY ON THEIR PERSON
AN IMAGE OF A PAGAN GOD.
JESUS OBVIOUSLY CARRIES ON HIMSELF
NO SUCH COIN.
THE FACT THAT HIS OPPONENTS
ARE QUICK TO PRODUCE ONE
-- UNDOUBTEDLY CARRIED
BY ONE OF THE HERODIANS,
WHO WERE IN LEAGUE WITH ROME --
MUST HAVE TRIGGERED RAUCOUS LAUGHTER
ON THE PART OF THE CROWD OF SUPPORTERS
SURROUNDING JESUS.
HIS OPPONENTS WERE FOUND OUT
IN THEIR HYPOCRISY.
IT WAS OBVIOUS FROM THEIR
CARRYING THE COIN
THAT THEY ALREADY INTENDED TO PAY THE TAX.
THEIR QUESTION TO JEUS WAS SHOWN UP
FOR WHAT IT WAS -- MERELY A TRICK QUESTION
TO TRY TO GET JESUS IN TROUBLE.
NEVERTHELESS JESUS WAS
STILL FACED WITH THE QUESTION,
"IS IT LAWFUL TO PAY TAXES TO CAESAR
OR NOT?"
HE ASKS THEM:
"WHOSE HEAD IS THIS, AND WHOSE TITLE?"
HIS OPPONENTS ARE FORCED TO ANSWER:
“CAESAR’S.”
JESUS THEN GIVES HIS FAMOUS ANSWER:
"GIVE TO CAESAR
THE THINGS THAT ARE THE CAESAR’S
AND TO GOD THE THINGS THAT ARE GOD'S."
NOTICE THAT JESUS IS NOT SETTING UP
A COMPLEMENTARITY, OR PARALLEL,
BETWEEN CAESAR,
WHOM JESUS WOULD CONSIDER TO BE A FALSE GOD,
AND BETWEEN THE TRUE GOD.
HIS SAYING "GIVE TO CAESAR
THE THINGS THAT ARE CAESAR’S”
IS JESUS' WAY OF SAYING
"SEND THIS IDOLATROUS PIECE OF COINAGE
BACK TO WHERE IT CAME FROM;"
OR AS WRIGHT SAYS IN HIS COMMENTARY,
LINKING JESUS' RESPONSE TO A GAME OF TENNIS:
"HE IS HITTING THE BALL BACK OVER THE NET
AT TWICE THE SPEED IT CAME."
JESUS IS CLEARLY SETTING UP AN OPPOSITION
BETWEEN THE FALSE GOD
OF THE ROMAN EMPEROR,
AND THE TRUE GOD OF ISRAEL.
HE IS CHALLENGING THOSE
WHO ASKED THE QUESTION,
THE CROWD THAT OVERHEARS THE QUESTION
AND HIS ANSWER --
A CROWD WHICH INCLUDES OURSELVES --
TO STATE WHERE THEIR, AND OUR,
TRUE ALLEGIANCE LIES:
WITH CAESAR OR WITH GOD?
THIS SCRIPTURE TEXT HAS OFTEN BEEN ABUSED.
AND IT SHOULD BE NOTED
THAT IT CAN BE ONLY BE ABUSED
BY TAKING JESUS OUT OF HIS JEWISH CONTEXT,
A CONTEXT WHICH IS OF CRUCIAL IMPORTANCE
FOR ANY TRUE UNDERSTANDING OF HIM.
IT IS OBVIOUS HOW ANY DEVOUT JEWISH PERSON
WOULD REACT TO THIS ROMAN COIN
PROCLAIMING CAESAR TO BE DIVINE
AND SON OF GOD:
ANY DEVOUT JEWISH PERSON
WOULD HAVE SHIELDED HIS OR HER EYES
FROM EVEN LOOKING AT SUCH A COIN.
CAESAR AND GOD ARE UNALTERABLY OPPOSED.
HOW TRAGIC, THEN,
THAT THIS WAS ONE OF THE MAIN TEXTS
USED BY THE LUTHERAN REFORMATION
TO SET UP A THEOLOGY OF "TWO KINGDOMS."
PAINTED IN BROAD BRUSH STROKES,
THE TWO KINGDOMS WERE
THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM, OR KINGDOM OF GOD,
AND THE EARTHLY KINGDOM,
OR THE KINGDOM OF THE STATE.
ACCORDING TO TWO KINGDOM THEOLOGY,
AS A MEMBER OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD,
ONE IS OBLIGED TO OBEY GOD
IN ALL THINGS SPIRITUAL;
AS A MEMBER OF THE KINGDOM OF THE STATE,
ONE IS OBLIGATED TO OBEY THE STATE
IN ALL THINGS PERTAINING TO THE GOVERNANCE
OF HUMAN LIFE ON EARTH.
THESE TWO KINGDOMS ARE PRECISELY THAT,
TWO SEPARATE AND INDEPENDENT KINGDOMS,
EACH HAVING SOVEREIGN RULE,
BUT SOVEREIGN RULE LIMITED TO ITS OWN SPHERE.
TO BE SURE, GOD IS SAID TO HAVE
INVESTED THE KINGDOM OF THE STATE
WITH ITS AUTHORITY,
BUT MUCH LIKE THE WATCHMAKER GOD
OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY DEISM
WHO WOUND UP THE WORLD
AND THEN LEFT IT TO RUN ON ITS OWN,
IN TWO KINGDOM THEOLOGY,
GOD ALLOWS THE KINGDOM OF THE STATE
TO RUN ON ITS OWN AS WELL.
TWO KINGDOM THEOLOGY
PROVED ITS BANKRUPTCY
IN THE DEBACLE OF GERMAN NAZISM,
WHERE THE LACK OF ANY SUBSTANTIVE CRITIQUE
OF THE STATE BY THE CHURCH
ENCOURAGED THE RISE OF THE DEADLIEST
AND MOST GOD-FORSAKEN REGIME
THAT EVER WALKED THE FACE OF THE EARTH.
JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY AT THEIR BEST
HAVE ALWAYS SEEN GOD AS SOVEREIGN
OVER EVERYTHING --
THAT "EVERYTHING" VERY MUCH INCLUDING
THE STATE.
TO BE SURE, ALL PEOPLE OF FAITH
HAVE AN OBLIGATION
TO BE RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS,
BUT IF THERE IS EVER A CONFLICT
BETWEEN THE DEMANDS OF THE STATE
AND THE LAW OF GOD,
THE LAW OF GOD ALWAYS TAKES PRIORITY.
JUST AS POTENTIALLY DESTRUCTIVE
AS “TWO KINGDOM” THEOLOGY
IS THE CURRENT MOVEMENT IN OUR COUNTRY
TO COLLAPSE THE LONG HELD PRECEDENT
OF THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.
THIS MOVEMENT IS LED
BY FUNDAMENTALIST PROTESTANTS
AND CATHOLICS WHO WOULD LIKE TO SEE
THE ENTIRE POWER OF BOTH CHURCH AND STATE
VESTED IN A PRESIDENT WHOM MANY OF THEM
DESCRIBE AS “GOD’S ANOINTED” AND “SAVIOR.”
IT SHOULD BE CLEAR FROM TODAY’S
SCRIPTURE TEXT THAT JESUS HIMSELF
WOULD HAVE BEEN HIGHLY REPULSED
BY SUCH A MOVE.
IT IS EXACTLY PARALLEL TO THE ROMAN EMPIRE’S
REGARDING THEIR EMPEROR AS “SON OF GOD,”
AND GIVING HIM ABSOLUTE POWER
IN EVERY SPHERE OF LIFE.
WE MIGHT AS WELL HAVE OUR COINS STAMPED
WITH THE PICTURE OF THIS PRESIDENT
AND THE WORDS “IN GOD WE TRUST”
ENCIRCLING HIM.
THIS USED TO BE CONSIDERED THE
GREATEST TREACHERY THAT CHRISTIANS
COULD COMMIT – GIVING THEIR ULTIMATE
ALLEGIANCE TO A POLITICAL “SAVIOR”
INSTEAD OF TO JESUS.
GOD’S POSITION ON THIS ISSUE, AS EXPRESSED
BY JESUS IN TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING,
HAS NOT CHANGED,
AND THAT POSITION IS THAT OUR PRIMARY
ALLEGIANCE IS TO GOD, AND ONLY SECONDARILY
TO ANY POLITICAL FIGURE OR POLITICAL PARTY.
IF ANY POLITICAL PARTY OR POLITICAL LEADER
DEMANDS MORE, OUR DUTY AS FOLLOWERS
OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL AND JESUS OF NAZARETH
IS TO PUT GOD FIRST, NO MATTER THE CONSEQUENCES.
AMEN.