The Gospel Of Matthew Chapter 22 Part 4 Pay Your Taxes And Live For God's Glory

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Matthew 22:15  Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. 

Pharisees were the strictest sect of the Jews when it came to imposing man made traditions upon the people.

A good word to describe the heart attitude of the Pharisees is the word "hubris."

Pride and arrogance manifested itself because Pharisees thought that keeping man made rules made them right with God.

In doing this, they added works to salvation by elevating traditions of men higher than "Thus saith the LORD."

Depraved hearts lead to depraved actions and the Pharisees were no exception to this rule.

After Jesus spoke three parables aimed right at their evil hearts, the Pharisees, priests and scibes were filled with rage and hate.

Therefore, they sought to entrap Jesus in His words and partially fulfilled the words of King David, the sweet Psalmist of Israel.

Psalm 2:1-4  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 

Pharisees joined with Herodians and took counsel on how they might entrap Jesus so that they could lay hands on Him (See Matthew 21:46).

This event was prophesied by David hundreds of years before Christ was born.

Heathen raging and nations implementing foolish plans against God, corresponds with Pharisees plotting to trap Jesus in His words.

It is worth noting that two groups that did not care for each other joined together and plotted against Christ.

Jesus' words and works threatened their grip on the people and in their hearts they wanted to break the bands of Jesus so that they could continue living in sin.

It is God who had the last laugh then and who will have the last laugh at judgment day.

It is God who sees their feeble plots with a holy scorn.

No man can override what God has decreed in His Word, for it shall endure forever (See Psalm 102:12; 119:89; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 5:18).

Matthew 22:16-17  And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. 17  Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 

Normally, Pharisees kept to themselves but they teamed up with the Herodians.

There is debate about who the Herodians were but it seems that they supported King Herod's policies and were satisfied with Roman rule.

Therefore, the Pharisees sent a group of their own disciples along with members of the Herodian sect to speak with Jesus.

Their goal was to trap Jesus into saying something that they could turn against Him.

Isaiah the prophet spoke about this kind of subtle malicious entrapment.

Isaiah 29:20-21  For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: 21  That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought. 

Isaiah describes how Satan works against those who preach and teach the gospel.

He tries to take one of our words or phrases out of context and make it offensive to others, just as the Pharisees and Herodians sought to do to Jesus.

They laid snares by asking devious questions that they believed Jesus would fail to answer correctly.

By calling Jesus "Master" they at least acknowledged how the people viewed Him as a good teacher.

There were two ways the enemies of Christ might get rid of Him; either by law or by force. 

Roman law did not permit any Jews to use capital punishment. That power was reserved for the state.

To invoke capital punishment meant proving that Jesus was a threat to Rome.

John 18:31  Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death: 

At the trial of Christ, the Jews told Pilate that it was illegal for them to put Jesus to death.

Acts 18:14-15  And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: 15  But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. 

Roman powers were not apt to concern themselves about questions about Jewish laws or customs.

Gallio was a Roman ruler when the same Jewish religious leaders sought to kill Paul.

Like most of those in authority serving Rome, Gallio had little time for hearing Jewish disputes so he had Roman soldiers forcibly remove the Jews.

Matthew 22:16-17  And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. 17  Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 

We see that Jesus's accusers confessed what was known to be true of Him.

He is the way, the life and the truth.

Jesus always spoke truth because it is impossible for God to life.

They admitted Jesus taught the right ways of God accurately.

They also admitted that Jesus was an impartial judge and would not take bribes, or be swayed by someone's status.

Here is their question. "Is it legal for the Jews to pay taxes to Rome or not?"

Most Jews hated paying taxes to Rome and hated the publicans who collected them.

Matthew 22:18  But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? 

While Matthew spoke of their wickedness, Luke said "their craftiness", and Mark said "knowing their hypocrisy." 

Like the Devil who motivated them, the religious leaders scheme was a mixture of malice, hypocrisy, and deceit.

This text proves that Jesus is God manifest in the flesh, for only God can see our heart. 

Only God knows our thoughts and words before we speak them.

Thus, Christ being omniscient, saw through their deceit and rebuked them for shameless hypocrisy.

Matthew 22:19  Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. 

Jesus commanded them to show Him the tribute money.

Tribute was usually paid with Roman money, and they brought Jesus a penny as a sample.

Matthew 22:20-21  And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? 21  They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. 

Jesus then turned things around and asked the Herodians and Pharisees whose image was stamped on the coin.

They answered correctly and said Caesar.

Jesus gave a masterful reply that completely obliterated their evil scheme to entrap Him.

"Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesars, and render unto God the things that are God's."

What a perfect answer to their devious question.

Had Jesus said that they did not need to pay taxes to Rome, the Jews could have lodged a civil complaint against Christ with the Roman governor.

If that had been the case, Rome would have dealt harshly with Jesus.

Instead, Jesus commanded the Pharisees and Herodians to pay their taxes to Rome and to pay the tribute God required for maintaining His Temple (See Exodus 30:13-16; 2 Chronicles 24:4-6; Nehemiah 10:32-33).

Romans 13:7  Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. 

In addition, Jesus lived by this same rule since He paid tribute as Rome demanded (See Matthew 17:24-27).

This section of Matthew's gospel teaches us about the devious nature of our enemy, the Devil.

He seeks to cause division and sow discord among Christians in each local assembly.

He always seeks to twist the words of God into a lie, just as he did when tempting Eve.

Christ, speaking through His apostle Paul, tells us that we are to give respect to civil authorities to whom respect is to be given.

We are to pay our taxes as citizens.

This is strongly correlated with Jesus' answer to Pharisees and Herodians.

Jesus' answer is full of consummate wisdom. 

It establishes the limits, regulates the rights, and distinguishes the jurisdiction of the two empires of heaven and earth. 

The image of Caesar stamped on Roman coins shows that temporal things belong to human government. 

The image of God stamped on the soul of man, shows that all our being belongs to God, and should be employed in His service.

Thus, our Christian duty is made clear by Christ.

We are to pay our taxes and obey rulers as long as such laws do not bring us into conflict with God's law.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 

All the regenerated, adopted children of God must remember, we are bought with a price and we now belong to a new Master, Jesus Christ.

Therefore we are commanded to glorify God with our thoughts, words and actions.

In this manner, God will cause our light to shine into a sin darkened world so that people see the difference Christ makes in us.

In like manner, by being obedient citizens, we act as salt against the riotous behavior of unbelievers.

Bob