. Attempts to Trap Jesus, 22:15–46
15 Then the Pharisees went off and
took counsel so that they might trap him in what he said. 16 And
they send to him their disciples, together with the Herodians,
saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and that you teach the
way of God in truth, and do not care about anyone because you do not
have regard to anyone. 17 Tell us therefore, what do
you think? Is it proper to give poll tax to Caesar or not?” 18 But
Jesus perceived their malice and said, “Why are you testing me, you
hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the poll
tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And he
says to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They
say to him, “Caesar’s.” Then he says to them, “Render
therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the
things that are God’s.” 22 And when they heard
this, they were astonished; so they left him and went away.
23 On that day Sadducees, who say
that there is no resurrection, came to him and questioned him,
24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies
not having children, his brother shall marry his widow and raise up
seed to his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven
brothers with us; and the first married and died. And since he had no
seed, he left his wife to his brother. 26 Likewise
also the second and the third, and so on to the seventh. 27 Last
of all the woman died. 28 In the resurrection
therefore whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.”
29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “You go
astray, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God; 30 for
in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but
they are like angels in heaven. 31 But concerning the
resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by
God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of
Isaac and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of
the living.” 33 And when the crowds heard this,
they were astonished at his teaching.
34 Now when the Pharisees heard that
he had silenced the Sadducees, they were gathered together, 35 and
one of them, a lawyer, asked a question, testing him: 36 “Teacher,
which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 And
he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This
is the first and great commandment. 39 And a second
is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On
these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
41 Now while the Pharisees were
gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 saying, “What
do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They say to him,
“David’s.” 43 He says to them, “How then does
David in the Spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying, 44 ’The
Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand until I put your
enemies under your feet” ’? 45 If therefore
David calls him ‘Lord,’ how is he his son?” 46 And
no one could answer him a word, neither did anyone dare any more to
ask him a question from that day.
Matthew narrates a series of attempts to trap Jesus.
Pharisees and Sadducees came up with trick questions, questions that
they thought would compel answers that would put Jesus in trouble
with his followers or with the Roman authorities.
15. The Pharisees led off the process. Then
may mean that their first attempt followed immediately on Jesus’
telling the parable of the wedding feast, but Matthew’s Then
(see on 2:7) is not always so precise; it may mean no more than
sometime later. If it did follow on from the parable, it was no hasty
question that they put to Jesus. They went off and took counsel
(as they had done on another occasion, 12:14). Clearly they had
learned enough about Jesus to respect him and did not want to make a
half-baked attempt to refute him. So they went off and thought about
it and took advice. They wanted to trap him, and on
this occasion the trap had nothing to do with the way Jesus practiced
his religion but concerned what he said.
16. The leaders do not take part in the process
themselves, but send (Matthew uses the present tense to give
greater vividness) some of their disciples, people who were
learning the Pharisaic way. Students would do very well for this
task. They were joined by the Herodians, a party about which
nothing is known except what can be deduced from the name. The name
assures us that they were people attached to the Herods, and we are
probably right in assuming that when many opposed that dynasty these
people supported it. There will always be time servers who do what
they think will please those in authority, and it would seem that the
Herods were not free from such followers. But Herodians as
such are not mentioned outside the New Testament, and in it only here
and in Mark 3:6; 12:13 (Luke has the incident but does not mention
the Herodians). The delegation began with a little flattery. They
address Jesus with the respectful “Teacher” and go on to
say, “we know that you are true.” The adjective is that
normally used for truthful statements, but we have a problem in
putting it into English because we do not usually speak of people as
being “true.” Translations accordingly have “You are truthful”
(NASB) or the like, or paraphrase with “you are an honest
man” (JB), “a man of integrity” (NIV). The
statement means that Jesus has truth in his very being; he can be
relied upon to say what is right, and he will not bend his statement
to fit it in with what other people would like to hear. Not only is
he “true” in himself, but, they say, “you teach the way of
God in truth.” They recognize that Jesus is a reliable teacher
when he speaks about the things of God: not only does he speak the
truth as he knows it (and from the Pharisaic point of view that might
be very imperfectly), but what he says about the way of God is
true, an interesting concession from those who opposed him. They go
on to say that he does not care about anyone. This does not
mean that he is inconsiderate, but that he is no time server: he
tells the truth regardless of what people think and regardless of
whether what he says pleases them or not. He is no respecter of
persons. The tempters thus manage to say four things about Jesus in
short compass: he was sincere, faithful to the truth, fearless, and
no respecter of persons.28
17. Therefore is important; because Jesus
is the kind of man they have just said he is, because he does not
kowtow to anyone in high place (and they will have in mind more
particularly the Romans), they look to him to give an honest answer.
They proceed to ask, “Is it proper to give poll tax to Caesar or
not?” This is often translated “Is it lawful …?” and if
this is the way the Jews understood it, they were asking whether it
was in accordance with the law of God to pay Roman taxes (GNB
renders, “Is it against our Law to pay taxes to the Roman
Emperor?”). Since some Jews held that the law of God forbade the
payment of taxes to Gentiles (cf. Deut. 17:15), the questioners may
have been sounding Jesus out on his attitude to that question. But
this may give the wrong nuance, for the verb does not have in itself
the significance of “lawful.” The question may refer to what is
proper rather than what is lawful. The questioners proceed to ask
whether they should give poll tax30 to Caesar.
Their verb is not without its interest; they themselves are not
allowing the possibility that the money was really due to Caesar.
Anyone who paid this tax was in their view “giving” money away,
not paying a legitimate impost. Nobody likes paying taxes, but in the
first century poll tax was especially unpopular. Customs
duties were disliked, but at least on paying them one got something,
the right to take goods to their destination. But with the poll tax
there was no such benefit. It was a tax that simply removed money
from the citizen and transferred it to the emperor’s coffers with
no benefit to the citizen. And if it were retorted that it paid the
expenses of government, the answer would surely be that no Jew wanted
Roman government and every Jew would be happy to dispense with it.
In this situation it would have seemed to the
questioners that Jesus could not win. The question is framed in such
a way that the answer is expected to be “Yes” or “No.” If
Jesus said “Yes,” presumably the Herodians would agree, but he
would alienate many religious Jews who saw support for the Romans as
intolerable. If he said “No,” he would satisfy the Pharisees, but
be in trouble with the Roman authorities. Either way the situation in
which he was growing in popularity among the populace and was left
unhindered by the Romans would be changed, to their way of thinking,
for the better.
18. Jesus was not deceived for one moment by
their flattery; he perceived that their question was actuated by
malice and that they were not seeking for information but
testing him. And in view of all this it is not surprising that
he addressed them as hypocrites (see on 6:2). They are not
genuinely seeking an opinion from Jesus; they speak flattering words
to him and proceed to ask a question aimed at destroying him. That is
not the action of honest men but of hypocrites.
19. Jesus asks them for the coin used in paying
the poll tax, the Roman denarius (Knox, “Shew me the coinage in
which the tribute is paid”). This was a silver coin and was the
amount a laborer would be paid for a day’s work. The poll tax was
paid with this coin, which for the Jews added insult to injury. They
did not care to use a coin that carried a human likeness and would
have avoided anything to do with it if they could. It is quite in
keeping with this attitude that when Jesus asked them to produce the
coin they evidently had to send away for it (they brought it).
A Jew would not be likely to carry such a coin with him when he came
to the temple.
20–21. With the coin before them, Jesus asked,
“Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They
say (the continuing use of the present tense makes for a vivid
narrative), “Caesar’s.” With a Roman coin that was not a
difficult question to answer. But Jesus’ comment on what they said
is a classic.
First, let us notice that he said render, whereas
they had said “give” (v. 17); we might translate it “pay.”
But however we translate, the important point is that it has a
meaning like “pay what is owing”; the word acknowledges that
there are some things that are due to Caesar37 and what is
rightfully due should be paid by all citizens. The coin before them
belonged to Jesus’ questioners, and the fact that they used
Caesar’s coins (however unwillingly) was in itself an admission
that they owed certain duties to Caesar. “No man should think he is
giving less service to the one God when he obeys human laws, pays
tax, or bows his head to accept any other burden” (Calvin, III, p.
26). Since Jesus said quite plainly that they should pay Caesar what
they owed to Caesar, there was no possibility of an accusation before
the Romans. Whatever is due to the emperor must be paid. But Jesus
did not say only that. He reminded his hearers that in addition to
their obligations to the state they had obligations to God, and
those, too, must be rendered. We are at one and the same time
citizens of some earthly state and citizens of heaven; the
obligations of neither may be neglected. And as we reflect on what
Jesus said, we are made to realize that there are limitations to the
things that are Caesar’s. People must never allow their
obligations to the civil state to encroach on their payment of the
things that are God’s. For serious-minded people this is an
important limitation on the rights of the state. The most significant
part of life is that which belongs to God; rendering to God what is
God’s is accordingly the most important duty we have. We should be
clear, too, that Jesus is not saying that we can divide life into
separate compartments so that God has nothing to do with that section
which belongs to Caesar. The obligation to God covers all of life; we
must serve Caesar in a way that is honoring to God.
- The hearers were astonished. They had evidently come to this interview with high hopes. They had a good question, and they saw no way that Jesus could answer it without alienating somebody. And if he refused to answer, that, too, would give them a satisfying victory, for they would be able to accuse him of avoiding difficult issues that they had to face. But Jesus had answered their question, and he had answered it in such a way that neither the palace nor the temple could say that he had short-changed them. It was an astonishing answer, and therefore they were amazed. There was nothing for them to do but to leave him and go away.1
The
Messiah Himself divides here the theocracy, which was both Church
and State, into Church and State as two distinct parts: He consigns
the kingdom of this world to Caesar, while He limits and conditions
it by the kingdom of God.2
The
presentation of the King continues, and we move from the relation of
grace to His relation to earthly powers. Matthew moves from the
political to the theological (Resurrection), then to the pragmatic
(the Law and love), and finally to the eschatological messianic
expectation. The conclusion of this section will introduce the fifth
of the so-called “five books” of Matthew dealing with
eschatological perspectives.
This chapter is not a series of unrelated questions.
There is movement toward the climax of messianic identity and
authority. There is contrast between Jesus’ emphasis on love and
the power play of the leaders. They understood the intent of Jesus’
teaching in the temple, and took deliberate counsel as to how to trap
Him. Having decided on the best trap, they sent their disciples with
the Herodians. The latter were Herod’s men and representative of
Rome, sent to make the trap more effective with both parties present.
The two parties had different views on the issue. What strange
bedfellows antagonists make when they have a common enemy! They
introduced the question with ingratiating words of flattery, words
true in themselves, that Jesus was an honest teacher of the ways of
God without respect of persons. Their question was held to admit only
a yes or a no answer. “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or
not?” Their question, “What do you think?” may have
been mockery, as this was a phrase often used by Jesus. But Jesus
perceived their purpose, and said bluntly, “You hypocrites, why
do you test Me?”
Persons who want a yes or no answer should be aware that
many things are not that simple. A Mennonite church leader was once
asked for a yes or no answer, which he said he would give if the
questioner would answer his question with yes or no. Upon
acquiescence he asked, “Have you stopped beating your wife?”
Either answer would incriminate.
Jesus shrewdly asked them to show Him the tax money.
They brought Him the denarius. When He asked about the image on the
coin, He was told that it was Caesar’s. As the rabbis said,
“Wherever any king’s money is current, there that king is lord.”
Jesus convicted them by the simple fact that they were using it. His
answer was not to “give” tribute to Caesar, but to “give back”
to Caesar what belongs to him and at the same time to give to God
what belongs to Him! To pay taxes for the benefits received from
earthly powers should be a reminder of greater dues owed to God.
Jesus’ answer emphasized the positive, “to God the things
which are God’s.” He rejected the Zealot’s revolutionary
position against Rome, but rejected as well any surrender of man’s
primary relation to God, man’s greater obligation.
The early church faced this issue in the crucial demands
of emperor worship. They met these demands by declaring, “Caesar is
not Lord; Jesus is Lord.” Consequently, many were martyred, as was
Polycarp, disciple and successor of John the beloved, who said,
“Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He has done me no
wrong; how then can I deny my King and my God?” The issue of what
is Caesar’s and what is God’s has continued to confront the
church. Clearly our first loyalty is to God. In the passage we do not
give taxes, we pay them, or in Jesus’ words, we “give back to
Caesar what is Caesar’s.” But we must ask, How does knowing
what is God’s determine our response to Caesar when Caesar asks for
our lives in military participation against the will of God, or when
Caesar imposes a specific military tax to destroy our fellow man? Can
one abdicate his moral responsibility and assign it to the State? Who
will answer to God, the State, or each one of us who shall “give
account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12)?
Taxes are of
major importance in any developed society, and without them
government could not function. They are also a perennial point of
contention for those citizens who wonder why their taxes are so high
and why they are not spent more wisely.
From time to time certain Christian groups raise an
organized protest against a given tax or a particular use of tax
money they feel is contrary to biblical principles and the
constitution. An outcry was raised some years ago when the United
States government ordered churches and other religious organizations
to withhold Social Security taxes from the payrolls of all employees
except pastors. Some Christians vociferously argued that the law
required the church to take money donated to the Lord’s work and
use it to pay the government.
It is with the ever-present issue of paying taxes that
Jesus deals in the present passage.
It was still Wednesday of Passover week, and Jesus was
teaching in the Temple, which He had violently cleansed the day
before. He had just finished telling and explaining three judgment
parables against unbelieving Israel, particularly directed against
the Temple rulers who had challenged His authority (21:23). After the
second parable the chief priests and Pharisees were so enraged that
they would have had Him arrested on the spot had they not feared the
multitudes (21:46). It was bad enough that He had devastated the
physical domain of their concession booths in the Temple. Now He also
devastated their religious domain, exposing their unbelief and
ungodliness before all Israel.
The religious leaders resented Jesus because He exposed
their pride, hypocrisy, and self-righteousness. They envied His great
popularity with the people, especially in light of the fact that He
had never sought or received official Sanhedrin certification as a
rabbi. Most of all, they were incensed at His claim to be the Messiah
and the Son of God, a claim which in their eyes was blatant blasphemy
He even dared to publicly humiliate them in the Temple, the one place
where they thought their honor was sacrosanct and their authority
incontestable. Now, after the third scathing parable, they were all
the more determined to find a means of doing away with Him.
Following Jesus’ series of three judgment parables
against them, those religionists responded by confronting Him with a
series of three questions, all designed to maneuver Him into
condemning Himself either politically or religiously. The first
question was devised by the Pharisees but asked of Jesus
surreptitiously by their disciples (22:15–22), the second was asked
by the Sadducees (vv. 23–33), and the third by the Pharisees
directly (vv. 34–40). Instead of taking Jesus’ warnings to heart
and asking Him how they might avoid the judgment and receive mercy
from God, the only word they wanted from Him was that which would
bring about His own destruction.
The Attack
Then
the Pharisees went and counseled together how they might trap Him in
what He said. And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the
Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and
teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not
partial to any. Tell us therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to
give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?” (22:15–17)
The Pharisees had always been Jesus’ most vocal
and vehement enemies, and at this moment, in response to His
powerfully intimidating parables, they now went and counseled
together how they might trap Jesus in what He said. While
Jesus continued to teach the crowds in the Court of the Gentiles, the
Pharisees gathered privately in another part of the Temple to
plan their next move in private. Because they were still afraid to
take action against Him directly, they cleverly planned to trap
Him into making a subversive statement against Rome that would insure
His arrest and execution as an insurrectionist. They wanted to “catch
Him in some statement, so as to deliver Him up to the rule and the
authority of the governor” (Luke 20:20), who at that time was
Pilate. That way they would have Him out of the way without getting
their own hands sullied or arousing the anger of the people.
Probably because the Pharisees were easily distinguished
by their dress and many of them were known to Jesus by sight, they
decided to send their disciples to Him. The Pharisees were
Jesus’ harshest critics and He theirs, and for them to flatter Him
directly would have been ludicrous and self-defeating. Presumably
their disciples would not be recognized as such and they could
pretend simply to be a group of sincere admirers who wanted Jesus’
advice about a question that burned in the minds of most Jews of that
day. They hoped He would be caught off guard and entrap Himself
before He realized what was happening.
The Herodians were not normal allies of the
Pharisees. In fact, the two groups were usually at great odds with
each other. Not much is known about the Herodians besides what
can be inferred from their name. The Herod family was not Jewish but
Idumean, descendants of Israel’s ancient enemies the Edomites.
Beginning with Herod the Great, they had received favors from Rome in
the form of various high political appointments, including rulerships
over parts of Palestine.
The Herodians had no love for Jesus and may even
have been instructed by Herod Antipas to try to instigate His death
or at least imprisonment. It was that tetrarch who had imprisoned and
eventually beheaded Jesus’ forerunner and friend, John the Baptist,
and when Herod heard of Jesus’ miraculous works, he was afraid that
He was John risen from the dead. But he was also curious to see Jesus
in order to witness His miracle-working power (Luke 9:7; cf. 23:8).
Some time later, certain Pharisees who were friendly to Jesus warned
Him to flee Perea because “Herod wants to kill you” (Luke 13:31).
Consequently, during the latter part of His ministry Jesus had
avoided the territory of Herod because of the hostility toward Him
there, “for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of
Jerusalem” (13:33).
Any Herodians, even if they were Jews as these
men were, would have had strong allegiance to Rome, and it was
doubtlessly for that reason that the Pharisees asked some of them to
accompany their disciples as they confronted Jesus. Should Jesus fall
into their trap and make the expected objection to paying Roman
taxes, the Herodian Roman sympathizers would serve as credible
witnesses. Although the Pharisees despised the Herodians as
irreligious traitors, it well suited their purpose to enlist these
men’s help in entrapping Jesus.
Just as the Pharisees’s praise of Jesus would not have
been taken seriously, neither would anything they said in support of
Rome. The Pharisees were highly religious and fiercely nationalistic,
and some of them probably were Zealots. But they perhaps despised the
Romans more for their paganism than for their military oppression. In
any case, their hatred of Rome was no secret, and were they to report
a seditious statement or activity to the governor, they would
themselves have become suspect. The Herodians were therefore
useful, even if dishonorable, co-conspirators, and they would make
perfect pro-Roman witnesses against Jesus. Although the Pharisees and
Herodians violently disagreed about religion and politics, they
wholeheartedly agreed about Jesus and were not loath to make common
cause against Him.
With the Herodians supporting them, the disciples of the
Pharisees, whom Luke describes as “spies who pretended to be
righteous” (Luke 20:20), flatteringly said to Jesus, “Teacher,
we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and
defer to no one: for You are not partial to any.” To address a
Jewish man as Teacher was a high form of honor, reserved for
rabbis who had distinguished themselves as astute students and
interpreters of Jewish law and tradition. The Talmud said, “The one
who teaches the law shall gain a seat in the academy on high.”
The men outwardly praised Jesus’ personal and
doctrinal integrity by declaring that He was truthful and
taught the way of God in truth. He was God’s Man teaching
God’s truth, they affirmed. Neither did He defer to or
become partial to any, they added. He would not be swayed by
threats or opposition but was known for standing His ground with
courage and conviction.
What those men said of Jesus could not have been more
accurate, but they did not believe a word of it. Although flattery
often involves lying, it is most deceptive and despicable when it
employs the truth to achieve its wicked purposes.
Assuming that Jesus was inwardly reveling in their
flattery, the men sprang their trap question: “Tell us
therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to
Caesar, or not?” One of the highest forms of praise is to ask a
persons advice on an important issue. Therefore, after Jesus’ ego
was, as they supposed, stimulated by the previous compliments, the
questioners were certain that, like most men, He would be eager to
display the wisdom for which He had just been praised. In doing so He
would blurt out an unguarded answer that would become His death
warrant.
Poll-tax translates kēnsos, taken from
the Latin (i.e., Roman) censeµre, from which is derived the
English census. Of the many taxes the Romans exacted from
occupied territories, none was more onerous to Jews than the
poll-tax, a tax payable yearly by every individual and
therefore sometimes called the head tax. Among other things, it was
for the purpose of collecting the poll-tax that Rome took a
periodic census, such as the one that had required Joseph and Mary to
travel to Bethlehem just before Jesus was born (Luke 2:1–4).
Paying for the support of the occupying forces and
providing the many beneficial services for which Rome was famous
required an enormous amount of money, necessarily supplied by
taxation. Consequently, a land tax of one tenth of the grain and one
fifth of the wine and oil produced was assessed annually, as was a
one percent income tax on wage earners. Customs taxes on merchandise
were collected at all ports and major crossroads.
The Romans offered many services to conquered peoples,
not the least beneficial of which was the Pax Romana, or Roman peace.
Because of their strategic military and commercial locations, many
countries of the Near East had had little respite from war for
centuries. They fought one invader after another and were ruled by
one conqueror after another. At least under Roman protection they
were free from war and could travel in relative safety anywhere in
the empire. The Romans also provided valuable roads and aqueducts,
many ruins of which still exist today.
Although the poll-tax may not have been the most
costly tax for most people, it was the most resented by Jews. Perhaps
it was because they considered themselves as personally belonging to
God rather than to Caesar. It was the census tax that incited the
insurrection of Judas of Galilee in a.d. 6 that was instrumental in
the deposing of Herod Archelaus and his replacement by a Roman
governor. Judas’s rallying cry was that, because God was their only
God and Lord, the census tax would not be paid to Rome. As Gamaliel
reminded the Sanhedrin when Peter and the other apostles were being
questioned in Jerusalem, the rebel Judas “perished, and all those
who followed him were scattered” (Acts 5:37). It was the
nationalistic, anti-Roman sentiment of Judas on which the Zealot
movement was built and that was behind the rebellion of a.d. 66 that
eventuated in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple four
years later.
It was therefore not by accident that the Pharisees had
instructed their disciples to induce Jesus to make a statement about
the poll-tax. If He gave an answer favorable to the tax, He
would become despised by the Jewish multitudes who until then highly
admired Him. In that case, the Jewish leaders would then be free to
arrest and have Him executed without interference from the populace.
But they presumed He would answer otherwise and openly declare that
the tax was both unjust and ungodly and should not be paid to the
oppressive, pagan Caesar, thus incurring the wrath of Rome as
an insurrectionist.
The Accusation
But
Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me,
you hypocrites? (22:18)
But by His divine discernment Jesus perceived
their malice. It was not possible to blind-side Jesus, because
“He Himself knew what was in man” (John 2:25). He omnisciently
knew the question they would ask and the reason for asking it even
before it came to the minds of the Pharisees who concocted it. He
knew the men who posed the question were not the ones who devised it,
and that the words of praise they had just showered on Him were not
motivated by admiration but malice. He knew their flattering
tongues were tipped with poison. He also knew exactly the right
answer.
Before answering their question, He threw a question of
His own in their faces: “Why are you testing Me, you
hypocrites?” He let them know that their wicked scheme was
transparent to Him, that He knew their purpose was to test Him, not
to seek His wisdom, and that He was hereby exposing them as the
hypocrites they were. Although He had never seen them before,
He knew they were emissaries of the Pharisees as surely as if He had
overheard the plot. That demonstration of omniscience was in itself
another marvelous testimony to His deity.
Not only the Old Testament but rabbinic tradition
strongly condemned flattery and hypocrisy. Rabbi Eleazar had written
in the Talmud, “Any community in which is flattery will finally go
into exile. It is written [Job 15:34], ‘For the community of
flatterers is [barren]’ ” (Sotah 42a). Rabbi
Jeremiah ben Abba had declared that four types of people do not
deserve to be blessed by God: scorners, liars, tale-bearers, and
hypocrites (Sanhedrin 103a).
The Analogy
Show
Me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a
denarius. And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is
this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s?” (22:19–21a)
Jesus then said, “Show Me the coin used for the
poll-tax.” Disregarding Jesus’ harsh accusations against
them, the men readily brought Him a denarius, being more than
glad to help Him fall into their snare. The specific coin used for
the poll-tax was the denarius, which amounted to the daily
wage for a soldier or common laborer in Palestine.
Although several coinages, including Greek and Hebrew,
were used in Israel at the time, and exchange from one to the other
was easy, only the Roman denarius could be used to pay the
poll-tax. It was a silver coin, minted expressly by the
emperor, who alone had the authority to issue coins in silver or
gold. All such coins, including the denarius, bore an
engraving of the emperor on one side and an identifying inscription
on the other.
That fact made the coins especially offensive to Jews
for several reasons. For one thing, the emperor’s picture was a
reminder of Roman oppression, and for another; the Mosaic law
specifically forbade the making of images (Ex. 20:4). In modern
Israel, certain extremely orthodox Jews strictly forbid the taking of
their photographs, because the resulting picture is considered a
graven image.
If the particular coin in Jesus’ hand was minted by
Tiberius, one side bore an engraving of his face and the reverse an
engraving of him sitting on his throne in priestly robes, with an
inscription designating him as the high priest. Several emperors,
including Julius Caesar, had even accepted appellations of deity for
themselves, thereby demanding religious as well as political homage.
At the appearance of an unusual star in 17 b.c., Augustus Caesar had
proclaimed a twelve-day celebration, at which the Roman college of
priests, of which he was chief, granted mass absolution from sin for
all the people of the empire. During that same year coins were minted
claiming Augustus as the Son of God. And the idea of a divine emperor
was inconceivably repulsive to Jews.
Although any child would have known the answer to His
question, Jesus held up the coin and asked, “Whose likeness and
inscription is this?” Thinking that He was at last about to
speak the fatal words against Rome, the men eagerly replied, perhaps
in unison, Caesar’s. Because Jesus had claimed deity,
calling Himself God’s Son, the disciples of the Pharisees
confidently expected Him to denounce as a false god and blasphemer
the caesar whose likeness and inscription He was holding up
before them.
The Answer And The Aftermath
Then
He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” And hearing
this, they marveled, and leaving Him, they went away. (22:21b-22)
But instead, Jesus said to them, “Then render to
Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are
God’s.” The profundity of that statement is often missed
because of its simplicity. Apodidōmi (render) means to
pay or give back, implying a debt. It carries the idea of obligation
and responsibility for something that is not optional. Jesus’
answer to the original question (v. 17) was therefore, “Yes, it is
entirely lawful and right to pay the poll-tax to Caesar, because that
tax is Caesar’s, belonging to the things in his
domain.”
Jesus did not use the word give, as had the
disciples of the Pharisees in asking the question. For them, as for
most Jews, paying any tax to Rome was not considered a legitimate
duty and was done only with the greatest reluctance. Now Jesus
declared that the payment not only was perfectly legal but morally
obligatory.
Jesus here declared the divinely-ordained obligation of
citizens to pay taxes to whatever government is over them. Paying
taxes is a legitimate duty of every person, but is specially binding
on believers because they are specially bound to God’s Word. Jesus
made no qualifying exemptions or exceptions, even under rulers such
as the blasphemous, pagan, idolatrous government that in a few days
would nail Him to the cross. The government that executed the Son of
God was to be paid taxes by God’s people. The state has the divine
right to assess taxes that are within its sphere of responsibility,
and its citizens have the divine obligation to pay them.
Giving a universal command, but in the context of living
under that same pagan Roman system, Paul wrote, “Let every person
be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no
authority except from God, and those which exist are established by
God. … Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only
because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of
this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting
themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to
whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to
whom honor” (Rom. 13:1, 5–7). We are not only to respect and
submit to such rulers and leaders but also to pray for them. “I
urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be
made on behalf of all men,” Paul wrote to Timothy, “for kings and
all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and
quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Savior” (1 Tim. 2:1–3).
Teaching the same principle, Peter wrote, “Submit
yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether
to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for
the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do fight. For
such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the
ignorance of foolish men” (1 Pet. 2:13–15).
By God’s own sovereign decree, presidents, kings,
prime ministers, governors, mayors, police, and all other
governmental authorities stand in His place, as it were, for the
preservation of society To resist government is therefore to resist
God. To refuse to pay taxes is to disobey God’s command. By God’s
own declaration, to pay taxes to Caesar honors God.
If in an age of pagan despotism and open persecution of
the church believers were obligated to pay taxes, how much more
obligated are modern Christians who live in free and democratic
societies? Regardless of the seemingly spiritual reasons that may be
proposed for resisting the payment of taxes, there are none that the
Lord recognizes. To argue that paying taxes to a worldly, humanistic
government is ungodly and unjustified is spurious and contradicts
what God Himself says on the subject. His own Word commands
unequivocally that taxes are to be paid because, by His divine
ordination, they are a part of the things that are Caesar’s.
All things belong to God, but He has decreed that a certain amount of
that which He entrusts to each person is to be paid to human
governments as taxes.
But even more importantly, Jesus went on to say, men
must render to God the things that are God’s. He was not
separating secular human society from religion, saying, in effect,
that one owes allegiance to human government in regard to material
things and allegiance to God in regard to the spiritual. Scripture
never makes such a dichotomy, because all things and every area of
life belong to God. Jesus was still talking about Caesar, saying that
the things that are God’s do not belong to Caesar and
should never be offered to him, but only to God.
As a representative of human government, Caesar had the
right to assess taxes, but as a representative of human religion, as
emperors frequently were, they had no right to command worship. Men
are to pay taxes to the head of a government as a human ruler but
never homage to him as a god. His realm is social and economic, and
to the extent that he steps outside that realm, his authority ceases
and men’s obligation to him ceases. When the Sanhedrin, which had
political as well religious authority in Jerusalem, gave the apostles
“strict orders not to continue teaching in [Jesus’] name,”
Peter replied for all of them, saying, “We must obey God rather
than men” (Acts 5:28–29).
The church in the Soviet Union and other communist
countries is persecuted today because it refuses to give total
allegiance to the state. Although the majority of Christians in those
lands are good citizens in every way, including in the payment of
taxes, they will not surrender their souls or the souls of their
children to the government, because such homage is solely the
prerogative of God.
Upon hearing Jesus’ response, the disciples of
the Pharisees were utterly astonished at His wisdom. They
marveled, and leaving Him, they went away. They had nothing to
say, and had the presence of mind to leave before exposing still more
of their ignorance and wickedne4
The Pharisees and the Herodians were enemies; but their
common foe brought them together. The Pharisees opposed the Roman
poll tax for several reasons: (1) They did not want to submit to a
Gentile power; (2) Caesar was revered as a god; and (3) they had
better uses for the money than to give it to Rome. Since the
Herodians were the party supporting Herod, they were in favor of the
tax. After all, Herod’s authority was given to him by Caesar; and
Herod would have had a difficult time staying in power without Rome’s
support.
Palestine was an occupied nation, and the Jews had no
special love for their conquerors. Every tax the poor people had to
pay was another reminder that they were not free. The Zealots, an
“underground” organization of fanatical Jews, often staged
protests against Rome. They would oppose any Roman tax.
It is easy to see why the Pharisees and Herodians chose
the poll tax as the bait for their trap. It appeared that no matter
which side Jesus took, He would create problems for Himself and His
ministry. If He opposed the tax, He would be in trouble with Rome. If
He approved the tax, He would be in trouble with the Jews.
Jesus immediately saw through their scheme. He knew that
their real purpose was not to get an answer to a question, but to try
to trap Him. They were only acting a part, and this made them
hypocrites. On this basis alone, He could have refused to answer
them. But He knew the people around Him would not understand. Here
was an opportunity for Him to silence His enemies and, at the same
time, teach the people an important spiritual truth.
Each ruler minted his own coins and put his own image on
them. The “penny” (denarius) had Caesar’s image on it, so it
belonged to Caesar. “Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar,”
was His reply. “And give back to God what belongs to God.” In
this simple, but profound reply, Jesus taught several important
truths.
Christians must honor and obey rulers.
This is taught elsewhere in the New Testament (Rom. 13; 1 Peter
2:13–17; 1 Tim. 2:1ff). Christians have a dual citizenship, in
heaven (Phil. 3:20) and on earth. We must respect our earthly rulers
(or elected leaders), obey the law, pay taxes, and pray for all who
are in authority.
Christians must honor and obey God.
Caesar was not God. While governments cannot enforce religion (Acts
5:29), neither should they restrict freedom of worship. The best
citizen honors his country because he worships God.
Man bears God’s image and owes God his all.
Caesar’s image was on the coin; God’s image is on man (Gen.
1:26–27). Sin has marred that image, but through Jesus Christ, it
can be restored (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10).
The relationship between religion and government is
personal and individual. It is right for the people of God to serve
in government (remember Daniel and Joseph). But it is wrong for
government to control the church, or for the church to control
government.5
From the time of His triumphal entry
to Jerusalem, Jesus took on the religious leaders of the Jewish
people. He cleansed the temple of the commerce they had allowed to
take place there. He sparred with them over the source of His
authority (21:23–27). Most of all, He delivered teaching that was
directed at them, exposing their hypocrisy. Matthew has told us that
“when the chief priests and Pharisees heard his parables, they
perceived that He was speaking of them” (v. 45). They could not lay
hands on Him because He was popular with the people (v. 46).
Therefore, as we see in the passage we are examining in this chapter,
they began discussing ways to cause trouble for Him.
Matthew writes, Then the Pharisees went and plotted
how they might entangle Him in His talk (v. 15). When I read this
introductory sentence, I am tempted to laugh, as I find it amusing
that these religious leaders, men who obviously were educated beyond
their intelligence, tried to come up with a way to trap Jesus.
Clearly they did not understand whom they were dealing with. This was
the only Man to walk the earth whose brain had not been clouded by
the effects of sin. The God-man was the most brilliant genius who
ever visited this planet, but these men thought they could trap him.
It was their hope to impale Jesus on the horns of a dilemma, to
confront Him with a question that would land Him in trouble with
someone no matter how He answered it.
It is interesting to me that the Pharisees took the lead
in this effort to trap Jesus. Since the triumphal entry, He had
interacted with “the chief priests and scribes” (21:15), “the
chief priests and the elders” (21:23), and “the chief priests and
Pharisees” (21:45). It is possible some of these descriptions were
interchangeable, but as we read the Gospels, it seems that the
Pharisees usually were the leaders in the opposition to Jesus. That
seems to have been the case here.
Matthew goes on: 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” (v. 16). Once the
Pharisees had their question ready for Jesus, they sent their
disciples to Him along with the Herodians, a small party of people
who supported the rule of the Herods (and who usually were at odds
with the Pharisees). They came to Jesus with lips dripping with
praise, heaping flattery upon Him. They called Him “Teacher,”
even though they had questioned His authority only days before. They
said He was true, which was not how they felt about Him at all; they
really believed He was false. In a similar vein, they said that He
taught the way of God in truth, but, of course, they had challenged
His teaching again and again throughout His ministry. They then said,
“nor do You care about anyone.” They were not saying He had no
compassion or affection for people. Instead, they were professing to
believe He was not biased or prejudiced in His teaching and treatment
of people. Finally, they said He did not “regard the person of
men.” The Greek used here literally means Jesus was not a “face
looker.” In other words, He did not spin His words according to the
reactions of His audience.
This final bit of flattery touches on one of the banes
of preachers. Like all preachers, when I stand in the pulpit, I see
every yawn, every hostile look, every smirk. When I see these kinds
of responses from the audience, I sometimes think I had better soften
my message a little bit so they won’t throw tomatoes at me. But
Jesus was not like that. He spoke the truth. He never wavered from
it, even for a moment.
So, even though the Pharisees did not actually believe
what their disciples said about Jesus, it was all true. They wanted
to flatter Him, but to do so they had to say things that were true of
Him. They should have admired these qualities in Him instead of
seeking to destroy Him.
A Question about Taxes
Finally, the Pharisees’ disciples and the Herodians
got to the point: “Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it
lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (v. 17). Basically,
they were asking, “Is it right, according to the Mosaic Law, to pay
taxes to foreign rulers?” The Bible makes it very clear that it is
lawful to pay taxes. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are to render
taxes to whom taxes are due (Rom. 13:7). So, it is clearly the will
of God that we should pay our taxes. Thus, these men were not really
asking whether it is lawful to pay taxes. They were asking, “Is it
appropriate?” The Jews of first-century Palestine were one of the
most heavily taxed people in the history of the world. When the
Romans conquered them, they exacted all kinds of taxes. Of course,
the Jews were not happy to pay taxes to the ones who had taken away
their freedom. They did not want to support the Roman regime. Plus,
they wanted to bring their tithes and offerings to God, and the heavy
taxes made it difficult to do that. So, the Roman taxes were deeply
resented. We see, then, that the disciples of the Pharisees and the
Herodians were asking Jesus, “Is this something that we should do,
given that the taxes that are being imposed here are exploitive,
confiscatory, oppressive, and unjust?”
So, the trap was set. If Jesus said that the Jews should
pay taxes to Caesar, the common people would react negatively, for
they hated the taxes. But if He replied that the Jews should not
pay taxes to Caesar, the Pharisees would immediately denounce Him to
the Romans as one who was fomenting rebellion against Roman rule.
However, Matthew tells us: Jesus perceived their
wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me
the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius (vv. 18–19).
Jesus saw right through the trap. Of course, in His divine nature, He
was omniscient. He also had deep insights into human nature. However,
He really did not need to use His divine powers to detect this trap.
Since when had the Pharisees genuinely sought out His opinion on any
subject? The fact that these disciples of the Pharisees and Herodians
came to Him with mouths filled with flattery and a supposedly serious
question was enough to tip Him off. So, He rebuked them for their
hypocrisy in testing Him.
Of course, seeing the trap and evading it were two
different things. Jesus still had to give an answer to what was
basically a yes-or-no question. How could He avoid offending the
people or the authorities? Since this was the Son of God, He did not
have to fumble around for a safe answer. He knew what was right in
God’s eyes, so He immediately asked someone to show Him the coin
that was used to pay the tax, and someone produced a denarius.
Matthew then tells us: And He said to them, “Whose
image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s”
(vv. 20–21a). The denarius was a small silver coin that was minted
in Rome. The image on the denarius at that time was that of the
Emperor Tiberius, who reigned after Augustus, from AD 14 to 37. Along
with his image, an inscription was pressed on the surface of the
coin: “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus.” On the other
side was the inscription, “High Priest.” The emperor was given
this title because he was not only the supreme political ruler of the
Roman Empire but the supreme religious leader, as well. He was
regarded as a god. The Jews knew well who was depicted on the coin,
because they hated the fact that Tiberius was regarded as divine. In
their eyes, the fact that the coin bore the image of someone who was
declared to be God made the denarius a pagan idol, a violation of the
second commandment.
Caesar’s status made for great difficulties and trials
for the believers of the early church. Every Christian was required
to swear a loyalty oath, saying, “Caesar is lord.” The penalty
for refusal was death. Even so, many, when asked to say, “Caesar is
lord,” responded instead by saying, “Jesus is Lord,” and that
affirmation because the first confession of the early church. Those
believers said: “Caesar, we’ll pray for you. We’ll honor you.
We’ll pay our taxes. We’ll be good citizens. But you are not
lord. Jesus is Lord. We will not worship you.”
Two Divinely Ordained Spheres
When Jesus received their answer to His question, He
said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are
Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (v. 21b).
The coin bore the image of Caesar, so it belonged to Caesar. As the
ruler who had been raised up by God, he had the right to ask the
people under his rule to render to him that which belonged to him.
So, Jesus was saying it was the obligation of the Jews, as much as
they despised Caesar and his regime, to pay their taxes. At the same
time, however, they were to give God those things that were His: the
tithe and obedience in all areas. So, whereas the Pharisees set up an
either/or question for Jesus, He gave a both/and answer.
This command is for us, too, of course. As we have seen,
the entire Bible supports the payment of taxes. We may not like the
taxes, but we need to pay them. We are not to defraud the government.
And, of course, we always must remember to fulfill our biblical
obligations to God. The New Testament sees a distinction between two
spheres, the church and the civil magistrate, or the state. The
church has been given her task to perform and the state has been
given its task to perform. Christians are supposed to support both of
those institutions as being ordained of God.
We all know that there are stiff penalties for failure
to pay our taxes. If we do not pay, a government auditor is likely to
show up. We understand that the obligation to pay our taxes is backed
up by the full force of the government. However, the situation is
usually different in the church. I know of a few churches that audit
the giving of their members, and if they find that some members are
not tithing, they discipline them or they publish their findings and
embarrass the non-tithers. But most churches do not do that. In most
cases, the matter of the tithe is strictly between individual
believers and God. It is left to the conscience. However, the tithe
is no less important than taxes. Both need to be rendered.
But our obligation to God goes far beyond the tithe.
Jesus told the Pharisees and Herodians to render to Caesar the things
that are Caesar’s, which, in that instance, meant the tax, for it
was Caesar’s face on the denarius. But whose image is on us? Whose
image do we bear? Whose image is stamped on our souls? We are
image-bearers of God. We belong to Him. We owe Him not only our
tithes but our lives.
At the end of his account of this episode, Matthew
writes, When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left
Him and went their way (v. 22). The disciples of the Pharisees
and the Herodians were shocked because they had spent so much time
coming up with what seemed to be a very clever question, but Jesus
evaded the trap with ease. With their clever plans foiled, they
quickly slipped away. Matthew tells us that they “left Him and went
their way,” not God’s way. We need to search our hearts
and make sure we are going God’s way, not just in paying our taxes
and our tithes, but in all things.6
Church and State
22:21. In
distinguishing obedience to God from obedience to Caesar, Jesus
identified the underlying principle of two different kingdoms: church
and state. Both are divinely ordained institutions, but ought to
remain separate, since they have two distinct purposes. When church
and state are united, the integrity of each institution is often
called into question. This separation does not prohibit the
involvement of Christians in areas of social responsibility. A
government of the people, by the people, and for the people is an
anarchy unless governed by eternal, self-evident principles, which
are reflected in Scripture. Illustration:
Jesus taught us not only to “render unto God” but also to “render
unto Caesar.” Christians are therefore responsible for obeying
laws, paying taxes, praying for those in authority, and actively
speaking out and standing for God and His laws in government.
Application: The example of
Christians involved in the political system demonstrates how God uses
them to be both salt and light to the world (Matt. 5:13, 14). (First
Reference, Dan. 6:2; Primary Reference, Matt. 22:21; cf. Eph. 5:32.)7
civil government
It
is the task of the church to preach the gospel, administer the
sacraments, nurture the souls of its members, etc. These are not the
tasks of the state. It is the state’s responsibility to order
society, raise taxes, govern business and society, maintain a
standing army, protect life and property, etc. These are not the
tasks of the church. The state is given the power of the sword, the
church is not. The apostle Paul declares:
Let every person be
subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority
except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has
appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are
not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of
the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will
receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if
you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For
he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on
the wrongdoer (Romans 13:1–4).
In Paul’s view,
civil government is authorized by God. When a civil ruler is invested
with power he is, in a sense, thereby “ordained” as a minister of
God. His rule is not independent of God. The Westminster divines
wrote:
God, the supreme Lord
and King of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates, to be,
under him, over the people, for his own glory, and the public good:
and to this end, hath armed them with the power of the sword, for the
defense and encouragement of them that are good, and for the
punishment of evil doers.… Civil magistrates may not assume to
themselves the administration of the Word and sacraments; or the
power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven; or, in the least,
interfere on matters of faith. (Westminster Confession of Faith 23:1,
3)
In our day, the
concept of separation of church and state has been widely
reinterpreted (and misinterpreted) to mean the separation of state
and God. More and more, civil government seeks to be out from “under”
God. It seeks autonomous power and authority. When the church cries
“foul” the church is criticized for intruding into the domain of
the state. The church, however, is not trying to be the state. The
church, in offering prophetic criticism, is calling the state to be
the state as God ordained it and rules over it.
There is one sense in
which the gospel is unabashedly political. It declares that Jesus is
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He sits in the seat of ultimate
authority. All lesser magistrates are ultimately accountable to Him
for how they exercise their rule.
The civil magistrate
is given the power of the sword. The state is authorized to use force
to insure justice and to defend its borders. Governments do not rule
by request or suggestion. They rule by law, which is enforced by
legal coercion. Although the government with the power of the sword
is authorized to exert capital punishment and wage just war, its use
of the sword is always accountable to God.
The Bible urges
Christians to be models of civil obedience wherever possible. We
honor Christ by praying for those in authority over us and for being
submissive and obedient to their rule. We are to bend over backwards
in our civil obedience. We must obey the magistrates unless they
command us to do that which God forbids, or keep us from doing that
which God commands. In both of these cases, we not only may, but we
must disobey those in authority.8
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1
Morris, L. (1992). The
Gospel according to Matthew (pp. 553–558).
Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity
Press.
2
Lange, J. P., & Schaff, P. (2008). A
commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Matthew (p.
397). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
5
Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The
Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 80).
Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
7
King
James Version study Bible . (1997). (electronic
ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
8
Sproul, R. C. (Ed.). (2015). The
Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition)
(p. 2004). Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust.
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