What Does God Really Want from Me? Part 7

Acts 4:1-12.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday February 27, 2022.

We continue looking at this question of what does God really want from me.  We have talked about Connecting to Jesus and his followers, Growing to be like Jesus, and Serving one another like Jesus served us. 

Now, we turn our attention to our final purpose, and that has to do with Sharing Jesus with those who do not know him.  Again, we do so to connect them to Christ, and as an outflow of our living connection to Christ.  It is a part of our spiritual growth when we share the good news about Jesus with others.  Also, we are serving people who are spiritually lost when we do this.  Yet, it is unique enough to deserve its own place as another purpose that God has for us.

We should share Jesus passionately with those who do not know him.  Some of those people barely know anything about Jesus, and they often have misconceptions about him.  Others will say that they are Christian, but they are clueless about what that really means.  This wide range of people who are spiritually lost is very diverse, and the believer needs to be led by the Holy Spirit in sharing Christ with each one.  No one tactic will “work” with them all.

Sharing Jesus involves more than a message, or a downloading of information.  The message of who Jesus is, what he has done, and what he is going to do, has ramifications for every person on this planet.  They really do need to know the information.  However, we are more than people with information.  We have come into relationship with the one who is presently changing us.  Thus, we share a message and the powerful effect of having Jesus in our lives.  In short, we share Jesus himself with them in a spiritual way that they will not understand at first.

Of course, this needs to be a passionate endeavor.  If I am truly in relationship with Christ, then I am will be challenged to connect, grow, serve, and finally share Jesus, by the Spirit of God working within me.  This is the work of God’s Spirit stirring us up to do the good works that God has prepared for us to do!

Let’s look at our passage in Acts 4.

The controversy of proclaiming Jesus

It is understandable that it would be controversial to publicly proclaim that the leaders of Israel had unjustly executed Jesus.  However, Peter and John are not just crying out publicly for justice against an unjust government.  At its core, Christianity is a call for all men everywhere to repent, be they an individual who has a low position within society, or be they part of a criminal cabal that rules a nation (even the whole earth).

Let’s dig a little deeper into the background of our passage.

This event happens about seven weeks after the crucifixion of Jesus.  Peter and John had been preaching under the large portico called Solomon’s Colonnade.  It is sometimes called a porch, but it wasn’t attached to any building.  It was a series of columns with a roof that gave covered access to the courts surrounding the temple.  This preaching was giving a stir itself as many started to believe them.

Acts 3 records an event that shocked the temple crowds.  There was a man who had been lame since birth.  People would bring him to one of the gates at the temple compound so that he could beg for alms.  Of course, this would be a target rich environment because the people are generally coming there for spiritual reasons.  This man would have been a regular fixture that everyone would recognize.  “Oh, that’s that blind man who begs by Gate Beautiful.” 

This man is begging for money when Peter says to him, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”  Peter then took him by the hand and the man was able to stand up, start walking, and even started leaping and running.  This is a miracle on many levels.  It caused such a stir and a crowd that Peter tells the crowd that this is done by the power of Jesus of Nazareth, and that they need to repent and believe on him.  Simultaneously, the commotion draws the attention of those in charge of the temple.  Peter and John are arrested and held overnight.

In a sense, the foundational human authority on this planet begins within each one of us.  You have authority over what you think, say, and do.  Peter had faced the truth about Jesus, and the truth about his own failure to stand with him.  The failure in that moment represented a greater failure of Peter to love God with his whole being.  Only such a person can then call others to face the truth about their own actions in the face of what God has decreed.  Without Christ, we are all rebels against the Creator-King of the Universe.  The Gospel is at once a sword into our heart, and a cure for our sickness.

This message of repentance sends a ripple up through the authority structures of this world, and challenges every authority (not just Israel).  You must bow the knee to Jesus, or perish as his enemy.  Verse twelve is a valuable statement of truth.  “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  This is an unyielding decree of God the Father, and the world chafes at it from the high and mighty to the low and powerless.  The reality of Jesus ruffles everyone!

We can focus on the miraculous healing of the lame man.  However, operating in the power of the Holy Spirit is more than doing miracles of healing.  Peter’s ability to challenge the people and the leaders with the blazing truth of God is itself a miracle.  His public declaration of the truth about Jesus was directly empowered by the Holy Spirit.  This is how we should operate in all that we do for Christ.  Parents must pray that God will empower them to speak and teach their children the truth of God in a powerful and God-led way.

Being responsible for a child can be intimidating in and of itself, but the challenges become greater as we scope out to where Peter finds himself that day, in front of the national leaders of Israel.  For the believer, however, this should be no different.  When you have grown spiritually to depend upon the Holy Spirit for whatever you face, then in that moment, you become like David when he faced Goliath.  He had already faced lions and bears by himself in the field.  God has prepared you for whatever moment you face, but you will still need to rely upon the power and direction of the Holy Spirit.  Whether you witness to a person on the street, or speak before Congress, the Lord will be there to help you in that moment.

The corrupt leaders of Acts 4 want to know by what authority Peter and John are doing what they are doing.  Who gives us the authority and power to call all people everywhere to repent, to call the great powers of the earth to yield and repent?  Yes, it is Jesus, but it is not us using Jesus as a poster child for holding governments accountable, or speaking truth to power.  It is me bowing the knee to the Lord of heaven and earth.  It is me agreeing with God the Father that I am guilty of a capital crime against heaven, and yet also rejoicing that He has given terms of pardon in the person and work of Jesus. 

We are all like that lame man of Acts 3 who suddenly finds that he can walk after 40 years of begging.  He was walking and leaping and praising God!  Who could shut him up?

God the Father has overruled all corrupt authorities, starting with myself.  Jesus is the Anointed King that He has installed over all authorities in heaven and on earth.  All people everywhere are under a death sentence until they flee to Jesus for shelter.  Each Christian is a person who has been set free from death by the grace of Jesus!  How can we keep silent, and who can shut us up?

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The Waiting King

Psalm 110:1; Ephesians 1:19-22; Hebrews 2:5-10.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on December 12, 2021.

We know that we are told to be patient and trust that God is waiting for the right time in order to bring this present age to an end, and to bring in the promised Kingdom Age.  Of course, this is not a waiting of inactivity.  Instead, we live our life in order to glorify God, regardless what we face, and we testify to others about the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Yet, we rarely think about the fact that God has not asked us to do anything that He is not doing Himself.  Today, we are going to look at the reality that our Lord Jesus is also patiently waiting, and yet not inactive.

Let’s get into our first passage.

The now, but not yet, kingdom

Psalm 110 is a Messianic Psalm that prophesies about the coming Kingdom of Messiah.  It is quoted three unique times in the New Testament.  The first is by Jesus himself during the week leading up to the crucifixion (Matthew 22:44, and in the other synoptic Gospels).

On one hand, Jesus is pointing out this psalm to the religious leaders to silence their badgering of him.  The rabbis generally saw this psalm as messianic, but there were some cryptic aspects to it.  The Messiah is of the line of David, the ultimate Son of David who would come and restore the kingdom of God.  However, verse one has David calling the Messiah, “my Lord.”  If the Messiah is David’s offspring, in what way can he be David’s Lord?  Before we jump in with some suggestions, we should understand that the culture in the Near East was not like ours.  This would hit the religious teachers as a difficult puzzle.  There is something about this Son of David that would be so unique that David recognized him as greater than himself.  David literally says, “Yahweh [Jehovah] says to my Lord…”

The Apostle Peter also points to this verse during his sermon at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:34).  There he points out that this is what has happened with Jesus.  He was victorious over the grave, but the Father has decreed that he is to sit at His right hand.  Of course, Peter also points out that Jesus isn’t just sitting there twiddling his thumbs.  He was directly responsible for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon God’s remnant people.

The writer of Hebrews also points to this verse in Hebrews 1:13. The emphasis there is that God does not minister to angels, or serve them.  Rather, angels minister on His behalf to us.

All of these passages, point out the concept of a kingdom that was initiated in the first century after Christ’s resurrection, and yet had an aspect that wasn’t yet.  These verses picture God the Father having the Messiah sit at His right hand until his enemies are made his footstool. 

The ascension of Jesus was clearly preached as a fulfillment of this prophecy.  Where is Jesus?  He is at the right hand of the Father.  This implies a picture of participation in the rule of the Father.

One should not miss the use of the word “until” in this verse.  This sitting and waiting of the Messiah will not last forever.  This makes the phrase following “until” very important.

The phrase is until “I make your enemies your footstool.” (NKJV and ESV).  This almost sounds like Jesus does nothing and it is the Father who “makes” the enemies of Jesus his footstool.  However, there is more going on with this verb than can be seen in the translation.  I would point out that Revelation 19 does not picture Jesus setting still and the Father subduing his enemies.  Jesus clearly participates in this.  So, what about this phrase?

First, the verb is a continuous thing that is future to its writing.  It points to a time when God will be making the enemies of Christ to be under his feet.  Second of all, the verb can also mean to make in the sense of appointing or decreeing.  As we are going to see, there are ways that the enemies of Christ are already under his feet, and ways that they are not.  These can fit nicely with the sense that there is both a decreeing that happens and an enforcing of the decree.  Thus, there are ways in which this is “now, but not yet.”

There does develop a confusion over just when this “enforced” aspect of the kingdom would occur within the Church.  The early Church understood that they had spiritually joined the Kingdom of God, but that the enforcement of all things under Jesus, would not occur until he returned.  They saw themselves as warning others of a coming kingdom that they could spiritually join ahead of time by faith in Jesus.  It wasn’t until the A.D. 300’s that this began to change.  First of all, the emperor Constantine issued an edict of toleration in A.D. 313.  This gave to Christians the protection of the empire and shut down much of their persecution.  By the time we get to the 390’s, things have changed.  The emperor Theodosius was a Christian and was making paganism and its rituals a capital crime.  Historians often point to this vast change of the Roman empire as a separate kingdom (Byzantine Kingdom).  However, that is somewhat special pleading.

Over the next century, Bishop Augustine and others fueled a reinterpretation of the kingdom to fit with what they saw happening on the ground.  They still held to the believe that Jesus would come back, but now they understood the kingdom to have been handed over to the Church as Christ’s representative.  Jesus would rule over it spiritually from heaven instead of in person on earth.  The Church would march forth and bring all the enemies of Christ under the feet of Jesus in the name of the Father.  We are now at the end of 1600 years of the Church wrestling with how to make that happen. (Note: not all Christian groups adopted this modified view of the Kingdom, nor hold to it today, but it is widely prevalent). 

The patience of our Lord

Just as Christians have been called to be patient, we must see that Christ is being patient too.  We can be guilty of thinking of patience as something only we humans have to do.  God is not just choosing patience.  His nature is patient, where ours is not.  It is God’s patience with a lost world, with sinners, that we must emulate.  Similarly, the Messiah is put in a now, but not yet, situation that calls for patience.  Surely, after Jesus is resurrected, it would be the time to attack and take over the kingdom.  Yet, the Father says, “Sit at my right hand until…”  This is contra our human nature.

Let’s walk through several New Testament passages in order to get a handle on this and perhaps also unravel some of the confusion.

Ephesians 1:19-22 seems to be clear that everything is already under Christ’s feet in the 1^st Century A.D.  Verse 22 says that God “put all things under His feet…”  The Greek word used for “put” is a verb that often means “put” in the sense of appointing.  All things in heaven and on earth have been given a station that is under the feet of Christ.  Clearly not all things are choosing to submit to that “setting,” or appointing by God.

This all makes sense as early Christians were persecuted to the point of being fed to lions for Rome’s pleasure.  They were rejecting the rule of Christ.  Neither Rome nor the majority of the world came under it even in the sense of being forced into that position.  Yet, it is taught and believed in the first century that Jesus has a position that is above all powers and authority.

Now, let’s look at Hebrews 2:5-10.  This passage is a little long, but verse 5 obviously states that the time of subjection to Christ is in the “world to come.”  The Church Age had begun.  Christians were proclaiming this appointment by God the Father of His Son to the place of a cosmic Emperor.  This gave/gives room to people to choose allegiance or not without being forced.  Yet, the “until” would eventually come to an end.  Jesus would not stay in heaven forever.

In fact, verse 8 even recognizes that what is promised, and what we are seeing in this age, are at odds with each other.  “We do not see all things under his feet.”  This reminds us that part of the patience of our Lord begins with the incarnation, his suffering as a man, and now his patient waiting in heaven.  Our Savior Lord ahs not asked us to do anything that he isn’t doing himself.

So, verse 10 ends making the point that it is fitting for a suffering people to have a suffering savior.  No matter how hard you have it, it has always been hard for our Lord Jesus.  He is not absent, but is our fearless captain leading us through the suffering, the waiting, and into the joyful reward that lies on the others side.

Another passage that is important is 1 Corinthians 15:26. All of these passages have Jesus in the heavens waiting.  However, in 1 Corinthians 15:26, we are told that “the last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”  This is actually pictured in Revelation 20:14, “then death and hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire.”  It is not the Church’s job to put death and hades into the Lake of Fire, but that is the path that some have put themselves on.  Notice that at least the completion of the enemies being both appointed and made to be under the feet of Christ is after his second coming.

This brings us back to today.  If God grants repentance to a large number of our society, then our nation will see great political change.  However, there is a tension here.  We can be tempted to see favorable events as a sign from God to “force” the issue of the dominion of Christ.  God help us to become like Him, patient and yet quick to glorify God in what we do and speak, rather than trying to force the world into subjection to Christ.  That day is coming, but it is not this day.

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The Great Commission

John 20:21-22; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:18-20.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty on January 24, 2021.

Last week, we talked about the importance of making the good confession to the world around us.  In short, it is a declaration of our faith in Jesus and his teachings.  We stand with him.

Today, we are going to recognize that this confession and testimony that we should give about Jesus is part of a larger task, or commission, that Christ has given us.

Let’s look at our passage.

John’s Gospel

We will look at each of the Gospel’s version of the Great Commission.  They all highlight various things.  Ultimately, Jesus had been crucified and resurrected.  Over the course of 40 days, he appeared to them in order to prove the reality of the resurrection before he ascended into heaven, and to leave the apostles and his Church, that they would help build, with a task, a mission.  Thus, we speak of Christ commissioning his Church and call it the Great Commission.

John emphasizes sending.  We have been sent by Jesus as he was sent by God the Father.  We are sent for a purpose, to do what he tells us to do.  This is not a cultural thing.  Jesus is not trying to spread first century AD Israelite culture all around the world, much less white culture.  It is beyond culture.  In fact, if we must use the term, it is the spread of heaven’s culture.  All cultures are found wanting in the face of the Gospel and its obligation upon us all.  Christians must never confuse the Gospel with their own native culture.  Yes, some cultures have been impacted by Christianity more than others, but still, we are not representing our country, but rather Jesus and The Father.

John also shows Jesus breathing on his disciples and telling them to receive the Holy Spirit.  The receiving is emphasized, but it is not explained why.  We will save this for later.

Jesus also says that they, and we, will be a conduit to the forgiveness of sins for others.  This statement sounds like the apostles can keep some people from being forgiven, but that is a misreading.  Only Jesus can forgive sins, and thereby also refuse to forgive sins.  However, we are sent by Jesus as his ambassadors with his words.  We will be the representative of Jesus to those that we meet.  We don’t create forgiveness or deny it to those who desire it.  Rather, we announce it according to God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit’s wisdom.  Like the prophets of old, we can speak to people because of the authority of the Word of Jesus.  We can confidently tell people how to be forgiven of their sins, and how they cannot be forgiven.  The emphasis is not on their inherent ability, but in the function, they serve in being sent by Christ.

Mark’s Gospel

Mark focuses on our proclaiming the Gospel, or good news.  The NKJV uses the word “preach,” but the connotations of this word would be better translated as proclaim.  It is not about standing behind a pulpit in a church, but about sharing the Good News with anyone anywhere.  Mark’s gospel also emphasizes the scope of this mission, “all the world.”

A second aspect that we see here is the fact that powerful signs would follow Christ’s representatives.  Jesus doesn’t command them to do powerful signs.  Rather, the signs would follow them, and the signs listed are not an exhaustive list.  As God’s people commit themselves to this task of proclaiming the Gospel, signs would follow them.  Signs are not the focus, nor our job to make happen.  Our job is to be faithful to the task of sharing the Good News with people.

I will take a moment to clear up the passage about taking up serpents, due to the fact that some Christians believe they should prove their faith in Jesus by handling poisonous snakes.  Jesus is not talking about a means of proving your faith to onlookers, and neither is he talking about a test that all believers must do.  The best example of what Jesus is talking about happened to the Apostle Paul on the Island of Malta in Acts 28.  He was a prisoner on a ship going to Rome.  The ship was wrecked by a storm and they all jumped ship and swam to nearby Malta.  The natives met them on the shore and people began foraging for wood along the shore to build a fire and warm up the soaked men.  While gathering a bundle of sticks to throw on the fire, the apostle Paul was bitten by a viper on the hand and he shook it off into the fire.  The Bible tells us that the natives saw the viper hanging from Paul’s hand and figured that he would die, and that it was a punishment for some evil that he had done.  Over time, it became clear that Paul was not harmed by the poison.  This opened the people up greatly to hearing the Gospel.  The point is not invulnerability of believers to poison, but that these kinds of signs would follow them as a whole as they took the Gospel to the nations.  We too should expect that amazing things will happen from time to time as we are faithful to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Luke’s Gospel

In Luke, we have some of the content of the Gospel described.  First, Jesus had to do all of the things that he did.  They had been prophesied in Scripture, and they were functionally important for the saving of people.  Jesus lived a perfect life, and perfectly revealed the Father’s love by dying in our place, and being resurrected as proof that his sacrifice on our behalf was accepted.  It is also proof that he has the power to resurrect us at the last day.

For those who believe the message about who Jesus is and what he has done for us, repentance from sin is in order.  Those who believe and repent of their sins will have their sins remitted from them.  Luke also records that this is for all nations, not just one people group.

Lastly, Luke also records that they were to wait for the Promise from the Father to come upon them and empower them before going out to accomplish this commission.  The Promise from the Father is talking about the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon all of God’s people, instead of just a select few.  This is a task that is not intended to be done only by our power, strength, and abilities.  God Himself will work through us and assist us by His Holy Spirit.  Thus, we are not to hang back in fear, nor are we to rush forward in self-confidence.  We are to be a people who are led by the Holy Spirit, and empowered by Him.

This should remind us of Acts chapter 1 verse 8.  The book of Acts is technically Luke’s second volume.  It is not a second Gospel, but rather describes the apostles doing what Jesus told them to do.  We could think of Luke’s Gospel as the good news of what Jesus did, and his second volume as the good news that the apostles faithfully walked in his footsteps.  Another way to look at these to books is to see Luke as the acts of Jesus and the book of Acts as the acts of his apostles. 

Regardless, verse 8 emphasizes why we are to wait for the Holy Spirit and what the Holy Spirit would help us do.  The Holy Spirit would fill their whole being and enable them to be witnesses of Christ everywhere.  They would be empowered by God Himself.  A person cannot believe the Gospel without the influence of the Holy Spirit in their life.  He is the one who convicts us of the judgment that hangs over our head.  The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit takes up residence or dwells inside of those who believe on Jesus and repent of their sins.  However, we are to also open up our hearts and minds to Him through prayer so that He can fill our whole inner being.  This is not a one-time thing, but a daily empowering experience that we can have to help us in our battle against sin, and our task to proclaim the Gospel.

Matthew’s Gospel

John emphasized our being sent, but in Matthew we are shown why that is so important.  Jesus has authorized us to go to all nations and call them to repentance and faith in him.  What gives Christians the right to tell Romans that the idols they serve are lies and they need to repent?  We could ask the same question today.  Multiculturalism has some good to it.  It reminds us that we should not look down upon styles of life simply because they are different from our own.  However, Christianity is not supposed to be a cultural oppression. 

The Spirit of God started with Israel and challenged the sin in their culture.  It then moved to all other cultures.  We are authorized by the God who made and loves all people.  All of our cultures were, and still are, full of sin and ignorance.  Satan wants to make people feel that they are doing something wrong when they tell people that God commands all people everywhere to repent of their sins and believe on Jesus.  We must not give into this persuasion.

Next, we are to disciple those who believe by teaching them the commands of Jesus.  The disciple is a student who is learning to become like their master teacher.  Another image that is used in the Bible is that we are children of God.  God’s people are a family that baby Christians are born into.  We help the spiritually young to grow up and become more like our heavenly Father, which has been perfectly imaged to us by Jesus.

Lastly, Jesus tells us that he will be with us even to the end of the age.  How important it is to know that Jesus is still with us through the Spirit of God that is within us.  He hasn’t forgotten us no matter how difficult it may get at times.  We must hold onto this promise.

The Conclusion

When we put all of these things together, we end up with a lot of powerful concepts, so I have broken this up into two statements.

First, we have been authorized and sent by Jesus to proclaim the Gospel to all nations that only He can forgive and remove their sins because of his life, death, and resurrection.

Second, we are to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, which will have powerful signs as we teach people the commands of Jesus.

All of this emphasizes the task and purpose that Jesus has given us, and so it is missing an important component found elsewhere.  God so loved the world that He sent His One and Only Son that whoever believes on him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  God’s love for you, for me, and for those lost in this world, could not sit by as we destroyed ourselves through sin.  The love of God and the demonstration of its depth by Jesus on the cross are the foundation of a relationship that we can have with our Lord and invite others to join.  This is the Great Commission.

Great Comm audio

Trapping Jesus-Taxes

Mark 12:13-17.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 09, 2020.

Today, we are going to wrestle with the issue of paying taxes.  Of course, nobody enjoys paying taxes.  This was one of the central issues in the founding of the United States of America.  It was considered unfair to have taxation without true representation. 

The issue in our passage today is not really about paying taxes per se, but rather, about the legality of paying taxes to a foreign country that has taken over your country.  Thankfully, we have never been in that situation and we have not had to wrestle with the emotions and decisions that go along with it.  However, many people throughout history have had to wrestle with this issue. 

In those cases, people quickly fall into several categories.  You have the pragmatic compromisers who quickly recognize that they can’t change it, so they might as well make the best of the new situation.  Sometimes such are called collaborators.  On the other extreme, there is the idealistic rebel who shouts out death to tyrants and would rather die than yield in anything, much less taxes.  The majority of people fall somewhere in between the vice.  They don’t like it, but cannot see a way out.  They will do the very least that they must do in order not to be drug off to jail or execution. 

This is the situation of the people of Israel in the days of Jesus, and in fact, it had been for some time.  Whether the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, or Romans, Israel had been in a similar situation for the better part of 500 years.  When would the Messiah show up to set them free from this horrible and humiliating situation?

Let’s look at our passage.

Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

The question put to Jesus in this section was a controversial issue among the people of Israel.  It was even more so for the people of Samaria and Judea (Jerusalem) because their taxes were going directly into the Roman treasury.  Whereas, Galilee paid taxes to Herod Antipas, who was from Israel, and those taxes by and large were used in the area.

Mark makes a note of the ones who deliver this question to Jesus.  We are told that “they sent to him some of the Pharisees and Herodians.”  The “they” here are clearly the elders and chief priests of Jerusalem.  The group they send is a mixed group that does not get along typically.  Herodians were a political group who supported the legitimacy of the Herodian dynasty.  Whereas, the Pharisees were loyal to the Law of Moses and saw Herod and his offspring as illegitimate rulers (they were not from the line of David).  This signals the reality that they are trying to trap Jesus with his answer.  If he says “no” then the Herodians would stir up the Roman Governor Pilate against Jesus.  If he says “yes” then the Pharisees could use it to stir up the common people against Jesus.  It seems to be a no-win situation.

We should note the fair sounding compliments that they give to Jesus.  They say that he is true, does not regard any person, and teaches the way of God in truth.  These are all very good things that any teacher or leader should aspire to be.  However, they do not believe this to be true of Jesus.  Rather, they know that it is the expected description of a true teacher.  This is bald-faced flattery and is part of the trap that they are setting.  Will Jesus look like he is worried about what the people of Israel will say, or is he worried about what the Romans will say?  It is important to note that we can pay someone a compliment without it being flattery.  It is only flattery if you do not really believe it, or are using it to lull the person into a false sense of security so that they don’t see the knife in your other hand.

This question of paying taxes to Caesar is first a question of legality.  For Israel, this is talking about the Law of Moses.  Are we breaking the Law of Moses when we pay Caesar taxes?  In our terminology, we would ask, “Is this constitutional?”  Am I breaking God’s laws by paying this tax and only making Him more upset with me, and by extension the whole nation?  Thus, this is an important question for the average Israelite.

It is secondly a question of practicality.  We are not in the optimal conditions that God has envisioned for us.  So, how does he expect us to proceed under the current conditions?

We are told that Jesus knows they are asking this question hypocritically.  In Matthew 22:18 (a parallel passage), it refers to their “wickedness,” and in Luke 20:23, it refers to their “craftiness.”  These three descriptors give us quite a picture of these conflicts that Jesus faced: hypocrites and crafty in wickedness.  They are not actually seeking the true answer to the question, but rather, ammunition to use against him.  Of course, Jesus let’s them know that he is on to their game by asking them why they are testing him.  They are seeking to make him look wrong in the eyes of Rome, or in the eyes of the people.

The answer of Jesus

At this point, Jesus asks them to bring a denarius to him, which was a silver Roman coin that represented a day’s wage for a common laborer.  It also happened to be the coin that one would use to pay the annual poll tax, or head tax.  When the coin is brought, Jesus asks whose image is on it and what is its inscription.  The common day to day commerce of Israel was dominated by the Romans.  It was Roman currency that was used and it had Caesar’s image on it.  The inscription on the denarius is known from existing coins.  “Tiberius Caesar, the divine son of Augustus, Pontifex Maximus.”  Of course, it is in Latin and employs abbreviations.

There is a dynamic here that we should note.  Jesus knows that it will be the Roman power that will execute him shortly.  Yet, he still tells the people that they should pay taxes to Rome.  Jesus gives an answer that is not slanted to one side or the other.  Taxes are not their problem, but sin.  Jesus is not a poor persecuted victim in Israel trying to fight back against a beast of a system.  Rather, this is the Son of God who has come to save both Jews and Romans from the judgment of God that hung over them both.  Yes, you may or may not be a victim, but be careful that you are not trapped by your own venom.  Your anger at the sin of another can cause you to be blind to your own sin and the fate that awaits you both at the judgment seat of Christ.

Jesus neutralizes the question by giving a principle that is put in command form, rather than answering with yes, or no.  It is funny to see interviewers, who are supposed to be journalists getting to the truth, purposefully ask a question in yes-or-no form and then shut down the person answering when they try to give more context.  Such situations clearly demonstrate that the interviewer is trying to trap the person and achieve a sound bite that they can use against them. 

The word “render” in the NKJV or “give in other translations is a compound word that means you are giving something that you owe or are obligated to give.  His answer did not put God and Caesar in opposition to each other, even though Caesars were worshipped as gods and did not see Israel’s God as anything special.  Jesus basically shows them that the obligations that they have to Caesar should be fulfilled, and the obligations that they have to God they should also fulfill.  He is telling them to pay the tax, and yet, also making it clear that they are still to obey God.  God had never told Israel, “Thou shalt not pay taxes to a foreign government that conquers you.”  In fact, He had warned them through Moses that their disobedience to His commands would lead to their subjection to foreign powers.  They were undergoing discipline because of their disobedience.

All nations and people should keep in mind that God could allow them to be subjected by others as a discipline.  And, when that happens, it is our job to seek Him in order to learn our lessons.  Not all problems come from foreign nations.  I would say that much of the social and political problems that we are experiencing in the United States of America are the results of our own sin, and are a discipline from God.

Of course, the Pharisees and Herodians realize that Jesus has marvelously bested them, so they leave.

There are several things that we should note based upon this command of Jesus.  First, the duties that we have in life, at any level, are not based upon the righteous status of the other person.  Too often, we use the failures of the other person to justify why we do not fulfill our obligations to them.  This is wrong.  If a business is greedy and overcharges, it does not make it right for me to try and cheat them or steal from them.  I have an obligation before God to act righteously even among the unrighteous.

Second, had Israel given God His due, Rome would not have been ruling over them.  Like Adam and Eve after the curse, they couldn’t go back.  The effects of our sins cannot be made to vanish.  We must carry our burden or discipline forward and learn the lesson.  It teaches us humility and the importance of doing the right thing in a tough situation.  No matter how much our culture tries to avoid the consequences of sinful choices, the effects of those choices will always come around to bite us in the end.  We can either double down on fighting the truth of God and the judgments that He gives, or we can accept them and learn from Him by faith.

Third, Christianity is not a call to sedition, but to serving Christ.  It is not, “Rebels for Jesus unite!”  Rather, it is “Pick up your cross and follow me!”  Living for Jesus is radically different than this world can imagine.  On one hand, we are not living for the materialistic things and pleasures of this world.  Yet, on the other hand, we are not creating anarchy so that we can tear the system down.  Both sides see the true Christian as an odd-ball that is not in step with the program.

We must beware the sirens of our culture that sing to us a beautiful and bewitching song.  They are only pied pipers that lead us to destruction.  Only Christ leads us to truly please the Father, and only Christ leads us to true freedom.

Lastly, Caesar’s power, or (insert your government here), is limited by God’s commands.  It is not unlimited.  Government is not God, and only foolish people try to give it god-like powers.  It has a legitimate function in this world because we are sinful people.  Yet, it is sinful too because it is run by sinful people.  Even if we try to circumvent this by creating Artificial Intelligence, the AI will be coded by sinful people.  Sure, it may reach the point where it evolves beyond our ability to affect its code.  Yet, then we would be worshipping a false god, and surrendering our life to it, instead of the One True God.

Whose image is on our money is one question, but it also begs the greater question.  Whose image is stamped upon you?  Do I bear the image of Jesus or do I bear the image of the Devil?  In Jesus, the image of God can be restored in our life, which brings us into relationship with the author of life!

Trapping Jesus Audio