Testing Jesus - Matthew 22:15-33
There are only two things that are certain in life… death and taxes. Maybe you’ve heard that joke before. Interestingly, our passage this morning deals with both of those subjects: taxes and the afterlife. Both of those topics remain every bit as controversial now as they were then.
But really there is more going on in this passage. Taxes and death are the pretext. He’s simply using those topics to discuss something much deeper.
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You probably noticed that both conversations are attempts to challenge Jesus. They are attempts to trap Jesus Christ and discredit him.
Jesus is challenged twice in one day, but he stands up to the challenges and corrects the views of those testing him.
Jesus had the unique ability to use the attacks of others against them. In the attempts to discredit Jesus they actually end up discrediting themselves.
This passage reveals two things: that testing Jesus reveals where you place your hope and reveals your view of the afterlife.
Look at verses 15-22 with me.
Testing Jesus Reveals Where You Place Your Hope
From the start of our passage, it’s clear that everyone was out to discredit Jesus. The Pharisees gang up with the Herodians in order to team up on Jesus. But first they butter Jesus up. They get their set-up just right.
They really want their question to appear sincere. Look at what they say right before they lay their trap. Look at what they say in verse 16. They call Jesus “teacher” and say, “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.”
What they said is true about Jesus, but you can hear the sarcasm. They didn’t believe it. They didn’t really think that Jesus was true or taught the way of God. What they really wanted was to expose him. They wanted to ruin his reputation. They wanted to destroy him.
And then they ask him what appears to be an innocent question: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?
There were two competing Jewish sects watching to see how Jesus would answer their question. The Pharisees, along with the majority of the Jewish people, hated being under the authority of the Romans.
And they believed that the Messiah would be a man who would deliver them from the Romans. They were on the lookout for a political revolutionary. They thought the Messiah was going to be a George Washington figure. They hated paying taxes to Caesar.
But the Herodians on the other hand were sympathetic to Caesar and the Roman Empire. They were loyal to King Herod who was established by the Romans. You can think of the Herodians as the establishment and the Pharisees were anti-establishment. Ironically, the Pharisees and the Herodians hated each other, but they both hated Jesus more.
If Jesus says, no, the Jewish people do not need to pay taxes to Caesar, well the Herodians would turn him in to the Roman authorities to have him arrested.
But if Jesus simply says pay taxes to Caesar, well, he’d be turning his back on the Jewish people. It’d look as if he’s capitulating to those in power because he’s interested in protecting himself.
The whole question was designed to trap Jesus. It was a catch-22. It was supposed to be a no-win situation. Matthew even points out that malice was the intent of the question. They meant the question for evil. But Jesus answered their question anyway.
Jesus knew exactly what was going on. He knew what they were trying to do. That’s why he said, Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?
But he decided to play their game and expose them instead. So Jesus asks for a Denarius which had the inscription of Caesar’s face on it. He not only was the ruler of the Roman Empire, but claimed his kingdom was a spiritual one.
So Jesus says, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”
It’s an amazing statement. It’s amazing because on the one hand he says pay taxes to Caesar, and yet at the same time denies any spiritual authority he claimed to have.
He acknowledged the authority of the civil government over their citizens but denied their claim to any spiritual authority. God is the ultimate authority. He reigns over the geo-political world and the spiritual world. The believer submits to the government but is ruled and governed by the Lord God Almighty.
This distinction and nuance really disappointed the Pharisees and Herodians because they had nothing to latch on to.
Jesus’s answer calls into question their assumption that you couldn’t be loyal to the government and to God.
But really, a Christian’s hope is in something greater than the civil government. The Pharisees and Herodians hope was in the government. That was it. Their hope was dependent upon who was in charge.
How relevant is that message for us today? We live in a country that is highly political and deeply divided along party lines. The amount of anger and rage that is a result of American politics is unreal. People are so angry.
I recently read an article from US News and World Report about the relationship between stress and politics. Here are some of the responses they recorded in their survey.
More than one in 10 people felt politics had adversely affected their physical health.
Nearly one-third said they'd been driven crazy by media outlets that promote views contrary to their personal beliefs.
Three in 10 Americans said they'd lost their temper over politics.
A quarter of people said that politics has led them to hate some people, and to think seriously about moving away from their community.
About 22% said they care too much about who wins and who loses.
About 15% said they wish they would have restrained themselves more in political conversations or have posted things online that they later regretted.
Listen to how they suggest overcoming political stress.
Dr. Michelle Riba, said:
“People driven to distraction by politics can undertake some proven methods of stress relief like exercise, eating right, getting good sleep, and enjoying time with family and friends.”
Now I’m not a doctor but that sounds like your basic run of the mill advice. Isn’t that applicable to everyone going through anything? Eat right, get plenty of sleep?
To me it seems like many of us have put our hope in politics. We think that the government is going to bring us the happiness we deeply long for. Here’s a great litmus test: Are you more stressed about the 2020 election than someone dying and going to hell?
My point is really simple: Is your hope dependent upon the government? Don’t get me wrong, I’m informed. I follow politics closely. There’s a fine line between caring, being informed, putting your hope in political leaders.
I was recently convicted by what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33. He says, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
What would your life look if you took those words seriously? What would happen if you sought the kingdom of God first in your life?
When you seek first the kingdom of God, the things of this world grow strangely dim as the hymn writer put it. There’s a clarity that comes to seeking God’s kingdom. What would happen to you consumed more Scripture than news media?
You know, most of us have at some point let something other than Christ consume our lives. We’ve let this person, that job, a relationship sit on the throne of our hearts. If you’re like me you’ve probably let politics, your marriage, your future take control of your life. Every decision you make is related to it.
What would happen if Jesus sat on the throne of your heart? None of us are getting any younger and I promise you none of us will be on our deathbed wishing we would have cast a vote differently!
The Christian’s allegiance is never to the government. The Christian’s allegiance is to the Lord God Almighty.
Interestingly, the word “render” can also be translated as “return.” Return to God the thing that is God’s. You know what that is? It’s not your tax dollars. It’s your life. Your life is not your own. You were created to worship God. Will you do it? What do you have to lose?
Testing Jesus Reveals Your View of the Afterlife
It seems that Jesus barely had time to catch his breath when here comes the Sadducees. It was the Pharisees and Herodians first, and now it’s the Sadducees turn. Matthew tells us that all of this happened in the same day.
You need to know a little bit about the Sadducees in order to really understand what’s going on here.
The Sadducees thought only the first 5 books of Moses were the Bible. They didn’t believe any of the books that come after Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy were the inspired word of God.
Because they only thought the first five books were Scripture they didn’t think the Scriptures taught a bodily resurrection. In fact, they didn’t believe in an afterlife at all. As you can probably imagine, the Sadducees were Jews that were very worldly.
So the Sadducees approach Jesus in order to prove him wrong about the afterlife. They create this wild scenario based off of Deuteronomy 25:5-6 involving levirate marriage as their springboard into another trap question for Jesus. Levirate marriage was the idea that it was the responsibility of a man to marry his deceased brother’s wife. Remember, women at this time were essentially destitute if unmarried. The levirate law was given to protect women.
So the Sadducees take this law to make their point that the bodily resurrection was thoroughly ridiculous.
They ask Jesus about a scenario that they had invented. A woman has been married to seven brothers following the levirate law, who will she be married to in the resurrection?
The idea was that she was married so many times that it was impossible to know whose wife she was and polygamy was unacceptable the whole concept of a bodily resurrection would be impossible.
Look at how Jesus responds. He says, You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. If they actually knew the Scriptures they would have realized there was nothing in Deuteronomy where the levirate law is given suggests it will continue into the afterlife. And if they knew of the power of God they would know He can raise the dead.
Jesus continues by saying, For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
The Sadducees had a flaw in their logic. The flaw was they assumed marriage would be a part of the afterlife.
According to Jesus, marriage will be a thing of the past. In the heavenlies, we will neither marry nor be given in marriage and in this one respect, we will be like the angels. But Jesus goes one step further to prove the resurrection and he quotes Scripture from Exodus. Scripture that the Sadducees acknowledged and supposedly knew.
He says, And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?”
He quotes Exodus 3:6, where God speaks to Moses and says “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Remember, Moses came many years after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had all died. But when God speaks to Moses he indicates that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all with him in heaven. Everything rests on one little word,“am.”
Jesus argument hinges on the present tense of the verb “to be.” God was, is, and continues to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Think about it. If God had said, I was (past tense) the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - well, the Sadducees may have had a point. Or at least a leg to stand on. Jesus shows us that the language - the word choice of God in Exodus chapter 3 proves the existence of a heavenly afterlife.
He concludes by stating his clear point, He is not God of the dead, but of the living. As Genesis 2 states, we are made with bodies and souls. The implication that Jesus draws is that the souls of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are alive in heaven and awaiting a glorious bodily resurrection. Jesus did it and so will we. That’s what happens when someone passes away. Their soul lives on and they await a bodily resurrection.
Many today are functioning Sadducees. They don’t believe in an afterlife. They don’t expect there to be anything on the other side of death. This world is marred by sin, pain, suffering, which all of us have experienced to varying degrees and yet, many genuinely think that this is as good as it gets. Deep down, I don’t think anyone wants to believe that this is as good as it gets. Ecclesiastes tells us that eternity has been placed into all of our hearts.
There has to be something more! This can’t be it! There has to be something greater waiting for us on the other side death! Not because I want it to be true, but because Jesus promised it!
You know what else is depressing? Many professing believers have a profoundly small view of heaven. We think that heaven is going to be like getting picked up by your family at the airport. Everyone is going to be slapping each other's backs and giving high fives. It’s going to be a giant family reunion. You know what’s wrong with that? It’s selling heaven short. It’s the place where creatures are flying and covering their face while singing holy, holy, holy!
The problem with most of our view of heaven is we think it’s going to be slightly better than what we experience here on earth. We expect heaven to be a mild improvement. The truth is we can’t comprehend the beauty of the riches of heaven. You’ll be in the presence of the Lord God Almighty! It’s not going to be a slight upgrade. It’s going to be infinitely better than what we know here on earth.
When you read what Jesus says about marriage, you can’t help but think, but Jesus, I love my spouse. Or I’d like to see my spouse in heaven.
Perhaps we’re still doing it. Maybe our view of heaven is still too small. Maybe Jesus was indicating there’ll be something even more glorious than the marriage relationship. It’ll be so much better we wouldn’t recognize it. We wouldn’t understand it.
We need to capture a greater vision of heaven. It’ll be better than you could ever imagine. It’s eternity with Christ.
You know both of our passages deal with various groups of people attempting to discredit Jesus. They wanted to be able to dismiss him. They wanted him to go away. It was true then, and it’s still true today.
Why else do people rejoice over supposed contradictions in the Bible or excited about a shred of evidence that supposedly disproves the existence of God? People have always been looking for reasons to discredit and cast doubt of Jesus Christ. To put Him to the test.
Do you wonder why people do it? Because if you can discredit Jesus Christ you don’t have to take what he says seriously. If he’s discredited, then his words have no bearing on your life.
The claims of Jesus Christ require something from you and me. He requires repentance, faith, and to walk in obedience after him.
This was the stumbling block to the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Sadducees. None of them were willing to repent and trust Jesus.
They didn’t want to give up the way they were living. They had too much status. Their influence was too great to give up. The cost was too high.
What about you? Is the cost too high? Your life is a reflection of what you believe and if you take the words of Jesus Christ seriously, your life should reflect that.
You see if you’re putting your hope in elections, your life will reflect that reality. You’ll be more evangelical for political candidates than you will be for Jesus Christ. If you believe this world is as good as it gets, your life will reflect that belief. You’ll chase whatever you believe will make you happy with complete disregard for the truth.
C.S. Lewis famously said, “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
Maybe 2020 should be the year you stop ignoring Jesus Christ and putting him off and actually take him seriously. All you have to do is give up your life. But if you lose your life for his sake - you’ll find it.
Let’s pray together.