Show Me the Money

Delivered October 16, 2011

Matthew 22:15-22

Ben Franklin is known for his witty sayings. One of them is the well-known quote: “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.” What you might not know is that this famous maxim was written while he was the US ambassador to France, and that it was said in the context of talking about the Constitution of the United States which had been adopted by Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia two years earlier. Franklin was uncertain that the US Constitution would survive. He wrote to a scientist friend in Paris, “Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” Taxes are in the news again, and so is the constitution. The Tea Party is making sure that both topics are on the national agenda during this presidential primary. Everyone is chiming in.

Billionaire Warren Buffet has made news by asking that his Federal Income tax rate be raised; he points out that it is unfair that his tax rate is lower than his secretary who makes $60,000 a year.  Which sort of taxation is fairest? At a business conference in Montpelier, Vermont, the state tax commissioner asked the audience which sort of taxation they thought was best. A white haired man in the back raised his hand. “The poll tax,” he said. “But the poll tax was repealed,” replied the commissioner. “Ay-ah,” declared the man, “that’s what I like best about it.”

Taxes were controversial back in Jesus’ day also; even then they were wrapped up in issues of patriotism, fairness and religion. It is the topic of our text for today in Matthew 22:15-22. I am going to be examining this passage in two parts: the question and the answer. 

First, the Question – verses 15-18. ¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. ¹⁶ And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. ¹⁷ Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?

This scene occurs late in Jesus’ ministry. Palm Sunday happened in the previous chapter, so this interchange happened the next day, during the last week of Jesus’ life. Jesus had made some very powerful enemies, and they were out to get him. On this occasion some of Jesus’ opponents came to him with a trick question. It says “the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle him in his talk.” Another translation says that they tried to “to entrap him in what he said.” Jesus says to them, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites.” I have had similar experiences. People have asked me questions, and they were not honestly looking for an answer. They were not seeking for truth with an open mind. They were testing me. They thought they already had the truth, and were looking to see if my answer lined up with their view of reality. They were looking to see if I agreed with them, whether I was on their side or not, whether I was friend or foe. I have been asked test questions like this from both ends of the theological spectrum – liberals and conservatives. They asked me questions on some hot button theological or ethical issue. It was a test to see if I am acceptable in their eyes.

On this occasion the Pharisees had already decided that Jesus was not on their side. They saw Jesus as the enemy, and they were trying to get other people to oppose him. It is a lot like some questions posed to the presidential candidates in the debates. Some of those questions are very bias. Paying Taxes to Rome was the hot button issue of Jesus’ day. No one liked the Roman taxes, but if you publicly opposed them, you could be charged with treason; this is what the Pharisees were hoping would happen to Jesus. They wanted to get Jesus arrested somehow, and this topic seemed like a good possibility. If he said he was against paying taxes to Rome he could be arrested as a traitor to Rome. If he said he was for the Roman tax, people would think he was a traitor to Israel and the Jewish nationalistic cause of independence. It was a no win question for Jesus. No matter how Jesus answered, he could be in trouble. They were clearly trying to entrap him in his words.

To trap Jesus, first they buttered him up with words of praise. “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.”  They are saying, “We know that you are a man of integrity and will speak the truth regardless of what people think.” They are trying to get him to answer recklessly. Then comes the question, “Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” And by “lawful,” they mean lawful under Jewish interpretation of Biblical law in the Torah. They are asking if it is biblical. Jesus immediately perceives their intent and says, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?”

II. Then comes Jesus answer in verses 19-21.He says, “Show me the money!” Actually he says, “Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius. ²⁰ And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” ²¹ They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Jesus asked for a coin, and they gave him a silver denarius issued during the reign of Tiberius Caesar. It was the tribute coin used to pay the tax to Rome. He asks, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They answered Caesar. Let me be more specific about what they would have seen on this coin. On one side of the coin was an image of the head of Tiberius Caesar with the words in Latin: “Son of the Divine Augustus,” in other words declaring Caesar to be divine. The other side was a picture of his mother Livia seated and the inscription PONTIF MAXIM, an abbreviation of “Pontifex Maximus”, meaning “Chief Priest,” which was another of Tiberius' titles. There was no separation of church and state back then. Caesar was the religious, political and military ruler of the empire.

The Roman coin itself was considered blasphemous and idolatrous by Jews. Some very strict Jews refused to even to handle it. It could not be used as an offering in the Jewish temple Jerusalem. If you wanted to give an offering to the temple, these Roman coins had to be exchanged for religiously acceptable Jewish coinage minted by the temple authorities. These coins did not have the graven image of a divine emperor on it with blasphemous titles. To make this currency exchange was the job of the notorious money-changers in the temple courts, the ones Jesus had made angry the day before on Palm Sunday when turned over their tables and drove them out of the temple courts.  Jesus held up the Roman coin and “He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” ²¹ They said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

This saying is one of the most badly misunderstood and misinterpreted sayings of Jesus in all of scripture. It is often used to promote the separation of church and state. I am a Baptist, and Baptists have historically been champions of religious liberty and the separation of church and state. It is one of the founding principles of our nation and was lobbied for heavily by the early Baptists during those formative years of our nation. It insures religious freedom in our country.

I think it has been taken too far and has been used in a way that was never intended - to ban religion from public ceremonies. For example, on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks last month, NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg prohibited religious leaders from being a part of the official ceremony at Ground Zero. The argument was the separation of church and state. That is a misunderstanding of the concept. I think he was just trying to avoid controversy by having to make the tough decisions about whether or not to include Muslim leaders in an inter-faith ceremony. He saw that as too controversial, so he excluded all religious leaders, and got himself into another controversy.

Lee Rouner wrote a book in 1991 entitled, “To Be at Home: Christianity, Civil Religion and World Community.” He gave me a signed copy of it, and we had some conversations on the topic. He believed that civil religion is a healthy part of the American public life – that it did not threaten democracy, diversity or religious freedom. I also believe that there is a place for civil religion, as long as it is not imposing one particular religion. Public prayer and acknowledgement of God in state settings doesn’t violate the separation of church and state. That is why I like praying at town meeting and school board meetings, and I like baccalaureate services for public high schools. I think the trend is going too far in getting rid of such things and trying to ban all mention of God and prayer.  Prayer is a form of free speech and needs to be protected. The original intent of the separation of church and state was to protect religion from the power of state and ensure religious liberty by outlawing state religion. It was not intended to ban all religious expressions in government settings.

Anyway, I believe in the separation of church and state when properly understood. But Jesus’ words, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” are not a first century declaration of the separation of church and state. That is a 17^th and 18^th century idea. Such an thought would have been entirely foreign to both Jewish and Roman people back then. Such an idea never would have occurred to Jesus. To read that into Jesus’ words is to put our own values into his mouth. Then what does this saying mean?

First, it means that the money belongs to Caesar. It was issued by his government with his image, name and titles on it. The money belongs to Caesar, so let him have it. Render to Caesar the tings that are Caesar’s. In other words, Jesus is saying that it is okay to pay taxes. Christians have historically paid taxes to worldly governments. The apostle Paul says the same thing in Romans 13 in a chapter that instructs Christians to be subject to governing authorities. He says in verse 7 “Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.” Jesus advocated the payment of taxes. So, I’m sorry, you can’t get out of paying taxes on religious grounds. Our coins and dollar bills might say, “In God we trust” on them, but it also says “The United States of America” with the image of our nation’s presidents and leaders on them. We might say we trust in God, but the money belongs to the state.

Second, it means that we belong to God. Render to God the things that are God’s. The money and taxes might belong to the state, but we don’t. We belong to God. The coin might be stamped with the image of Caesar, making it Caesar’s, but we are stamped with the image of God. The creation story of Genesis makes it clear. “Then God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness…. So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Back then images were not only stamped on coins, they were stamped on all sorts of things. Instead of signing your names with a signature, you signed it with a signet ring of a signet stamp, which had your name on it. It was pressed into clay or wax to seal documents. We are sealed with the image and inscription of God. Jesus asked, “Whose image and inscription is on the coin?” and the answer was Caesar’s. The implication is that whatever is stamped with a person’s image and name belongs to that person. We are stamped with the image and name of God. In the Book of revelation the followers of the Antichrist are marked with the number of the name of the Antichrist, meaning they belong to him. The followers of Christ are symbolically stamped and sealed with the number of the mark of the Lamb (Christ.) We belong to God.

But there is even more here in these words. Jesus asks whose inscription is on the coin. On one side it declared Tiberius Caesar as the son of the divine Augustus, in other words the son of God. The common and official title of Augustus Caesar in Greek documents was “Emperor Caesar Augustus, son of god.” It was Caesar’s claim to divinity. On the other side was his title of High Priest. It would not be lost on the gospel writer Matthew - or Mark or Luke who also record this story - that these are the titles that belong properly to Jesus Christ.  He is the only begotten Son of God. He is our High Priest. We belong to him.

You belong to him. The most important question then becomes, not taxes and what you will do with a coin, but a question of what we will do with your life. Give Caesar his money back when he asks for it. We are to give our lives to God when he asks for it. We are to give our lives to God when he asks for it. And that is what he is asking for here: “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”