Devotion 10.17.26

Matthew 22

Paying Taxes to Caesar

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar's.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away

Christ speaks of the right- and left-hand kingdom of God answering a question meant to trap him.

How many of you have seen Monty Python's "Holy Grail?" If you have, then you remember the scene in which the knights of the roundtable send in a giant wooden rabbit (as a spoof on the Trojan horse). The only problem is they didn't get in the large wooden rabbit, so as the king asks, "Okay, they've taken the rabbit, what happens next?" You can imagine the looks on the faces as the knight who hatches the idea states that they'll sneak out of the rabbit (unoccupied) and surprise them in an attack. John Cleese, the most famous of the Python group, has a classic look that goes from thought as he's tracking the explanation of "tonight, we will get out of the rabbit and surprise them" to disgust realizing they aren't in the rabbit. The look on Cleese's face is hilarious.

The knights foiled their own plot.

The teachers of the law, tracking Christ's every move, lay a trap for him, and he foils their trap more quickly than the time it took to think it up.

His answer tells us several things. First, you cannot fool God. Christ is still fully God and man in one being, but even as a full man, he sees straight through their ploy. As God, he knows what is on their (and our) hearts. Second, it speaks to the two kingdoms - heavenly and earthly. God's relationship with us is the heavenly realm (the vertical kingdom), and government is ordained by God (Romans 13) to keep peace and rule on earth (the horizontal kingdom).

The lesson for us, as readers, is clear. We follow God the Triune God) alone, but we pay heed and obey earthly authority's laws, rules and decisions. Christ will be obedient to the Father's Will all the way through a sham trial and horrendous execution, which is literally just around the corner as this lesson today points out. As citizens in a modern western culture, we have rights to use and exercise that government cannot violate. Paul exercised his rights as a Roman citizen too. Yet we respect the government's ultimate decisions. Christ notes that in his wise answer to the plot laid before him.

Pray with me: Gracious God, Forgive me for the very sins that walked Christ to the cross to bear the weight of the world's sins unjustly. Give me wisdom to exercise my own rights as a citizen in a country that has granted me rights, but help me to ultimately know that my love for you and the cross of Christ is my daily focus. I give thanks to you for the civil government that keeps peace and order. I pray you give wisdom to our earthly leaders that their decisions are just, right, and orderly. In Christ's name. Amen