I left unresolved last week the final few verses of the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, those verses that included the “subparable”, if you will, of the wedding robe. There is enough there for a whole sermon. I left the last verse on the editing room floor as well: “For many are called, but few are chosen,” which is worth another sermon. So I can either deliver three sermons, and spend an extra 36 minutes standing here at the pulpit – I don’t mind, you know I have the endurance to stand on my feet for days at a time – or just let last week’s lessons simmer in your thoughts. I’m going with the latter, with my apologies to my friends who wanted questions resolved.
Will you pray with me please? “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen”
Have you ever looked at an image and been offended? U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously said, “I know it when I see it” when he admitted he couldn’t fully define obscenity in a case. Art can offend; as in, some art offends some people.
Team logos or mascots can be offensive to some. The Cleveland Indians mascot, Chief Wahoo, was said to show Native Americans in a derogatory light. They are now the Guardians. In the NFL, the former Washington Redskins changed their name and logo to the Commanders, and closer to home, the Miami University Redskins changed their sports nickname to the RedHawks for the same reason.
That’s where the Pharisees are with the coin being used for the tribute tax. They felt it was idolatrous and blasphemous, with its image and inscription, breaking the first two of the Ten Commandments. They knew it when they saw it. They were offended.
And in today’s passage, the Herodians are added. The Herodians liked their position, their status. They had political and economic power that provided them comfort and stability with Rome. And they had a problem with anybody who tried to upset that applecart.
Jesus spent his ministry advocating for the poor, the marginalized, and the exploited. The Herodians were eagerly handing out bootstraps instead of charity. They were relying on Rome’s coercive and economic power to maintain their own status, something they were going to protect from any disruption from the popular Jesus.
The Pharisees and the Herodians had different reasons for opposing Jesus. One group was protecting its religious convictions. The other was protecting its political and economic interests.
And yet, here they were, working together to entrap Jesus.
Which raises an uncomfortable question for us. Like the Pharisees, we have convictions we defend. Like the Herodians, we have comforts we protect. And just being ourselves, we have rights and freedoms we don’t want anybody to take away from us.
What happens when those things get in the way of what God wants from us?
That’s the question behind Jesus’ answer. And it takes us beyond the coin, beyond Caesar, and beyond the question of taxes—to the question of what do we render unto God?
So jumping into today’s passage we can say, “Welcome Herodians! Where have you been?” This is the first time Matthew has mentioned them in his gospel. The group challenging Jesus seems to be getting larger with each story here in Matthew. First, it was the Chief Priests and elders of the people, then the Pharisees joined in a couple parables ago.
Now they bring in their ringer, the Herodians. This is a prime example of “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Yes, the Pharisees and the Herodians didn’t get along. But they were willing to put that aside in order to get Jesus arrested by whatever means necessary, as long as they weren’t blamed for it. They needed Rome to do it.
The Sadducees were on deck, in case things didn’t work out with the Pharisees and the Herodians, which it didn’t. Spoiler alert– it doesn’t work out for the Sadducees either. At least not in the short term.
The Pharisees send their disciples, their B-team, along with the Herodians to entrap Jesus. I’m wondering right away if that is a way for the Pharisees to dis their rivals. But I’m sure the B-team was well-prepared. Jesus’ busy Tuesday continues. They try to flatter him, then they ask him the $64,000 question: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” It’s a yes-or-no question.
A little background about taxes – or these taxes – will help. It’s not simply taxes in general being questioned here, but a particularly onerous tax. This tax is the Imperial Tax, or the annual poll or tribute tax, paid to Rome, and it had to be paid with a coin engraved with the image of Caesar Tiberius and an inscription identifying him as the son of the divine Augustus.” That is why the religiously devout could see using this coin as a violation of the first two Commandments: it bore Caesar’s image and associated him with divine status.
But those put in power by Rome, such as the Herodians, supported the tax and funding the Roman government. Together, these two parties thought they could successfully entrap Jesus with his yes-or-no answer. If Jesus advocated for the tax, his popular standing would be disrupted. If he opposed the tax, he would put himself in jeopardy with Roman authorities. The Pharisees are thinking two moves ahead in this chess match.
But Jesus wasn’t carrying that particular coin, so for his response, he asks to see the coin used to pay the tribute tax. In the KJV, he says, “Show me the tribute money.” I don’t know about you, but my head went to Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire yelling, “Show me the money!” I thought it was a funny connection.
But just as Rod Tidwell, the wide receiver, flips the traditional dynamic with his smooth-talking sports agent and takes control of the interaction, Jesus takes control of the whole encounter when he says, “Show me the tribute money.” He acknowledges the practical reality of civil government while preparing the crowd for who our allegiance ultimately belongs to. //
And this is where Jesus was going with his question, something that is deeper than taxes or tributes or temples.
If the coin bears Caesar’s image, what bears God’s image?//
And we already have the answer. Jean read it to us this morning, from Genesis Chapter 1. “So God created humankind in his image.”
Let that sink in. We were made in the image and likeness of God, and because we bear God’s likeness we are to reflect God’s character. So given this, won’t you wonder with me now?
- How do the ways we spend our money, our time, our energy, our resources, and our gifts reflect the truth that all of us—and all we have—bear the image of God?
- What would it look like to take a personal inventory of your life — starting perhaps with your checking account or your calendar? What might that reveal?
We spend a lot of time recognizing images that offend us, images that make us uncomfortable, images we think ought to change.
Let me ask this question: When people look at us, what image do they see?//
The coin bears Caesar’s image. We bear God’s. Are we reflecting the image of God?
This week, take a look at your calendar or your checking account. Ask yourself: What does the way I’m using my time and resources say about whose image I bear? And is there one thing I could change to reflect God’s character a little more clearly?
Because when our time, our resources, and our choices begin to reflect God’s character, our faith stops being just something we profess and becomes something people can actually see.
By His grace, we belong to God. Our time, our gifts, our energy, our love—none of these is separate from that truth. So let us render unto God not merely what we have, but who we are, shaped by the transformative work of Jesus Christ.
The coin bears Caesar’s image. We bear God’s. Are we reflecting the image of God?
To the Lord our God, Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, be all glory and honor forever.
