Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19970302.htm

MATTHEW: JESUS AS ISRAEL'S MESSIAH AND HIS MESSIANIC KINGDOM
Part XI. The Crisis Of The Messiah's Offer Of The Kingdom
D. Discerning The Believer's Role In Interacting With A Godless Government
(Matthew 22:15-22)
  1. Introduction
    1. The Christian finds himself cornered in a dilemma in relating to his secular government: (1) on the one hand, he wants to obey 1 Peter 2:13 and submit to every ordinance for the Lord's sake; (2) however, on the other hand, when h e sees his secular government doing something wrong like using his tax payments to fund abortion clinics or support a vicious third world dictator for purely financial reasons, he feels like protesting rather than paying his tax money. The question is: How can a godly Christian conscientiously live as in submission to his government when its laws or practices are so corrupt?
    2. In seeking to corner Jesus for malicious purposes, the Pharisees and Herodians came to Jesus with a question designed to put Jesus on the horns of a dilemma regarding personal godliness versus submission to ungodliness with the secular government. Christ's response is instructive for us as follows:
  2. Discerning The Believer's Role In Interacting With A Godless Government, Matthew 22:15-46.
    1. The question to Jesus of whether or not one should pay his taxes to Caesar was an entrapment, 22:15-17.
      1. The parties bringing the question were normally sharp political and ideological opponents, 22:15-16.
        1. The Pharisees were the religious conservatives of Christ's day, intent on opposing Rome's intrusion into Jewish ways of life, Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 71.
        2. On the other hand, the Herodians favored the rule of Herod the Great and following the dictates of his overseer, the rule of Rome by way of Caesar, Ibid.
        3. Thus, these sharply opposing parties joined ranks to question Jesus, an effort of entrapment.
      2. Their question was thus meant to corner Jesus between either obeying a Gentile ruler or honoring God:
        1. Rome required every Jew to pay a head tax with use of its denarius to Caesar, Ibid., p. 161-162.
        2. However, the denarius had the visage of the emperor on it along with an idolatrous inscription that read as follows: "Tiberius Caesar Augustus, Son of the Divine Augustus," Ibid, p. 162.
        3. The Pharisees felt that by paying this coin to Caesar, one was dishonoring God by promoting or at least tacitly condoning flagrant idolatry; the Herodians felt one was merely heeding the rightful law of the land as a law-abiding citize n by paying the tax with this coin.
        4. In essence, had Jesus answered that one should not pay the tax out of honor to God, the Herodians could have turned Him in to the Roman authorities as an insurrectionist; however, had He condoned paying the tax, the Pharisees sought to discredit Jesus' claim to promote the Kingdom of God as the Messiah whom they felt would never submit to a Gentile, pagan, idolatrous emperor.
    2. Jesus response shows us that God distinguishes between a believer's will to submit to secular authorities and his allegiance to their evil ideals and deed s, allowing him room to coexist with God and government:
      1. Jesus asked for a denarius used to pay the poll tax as an object lesson, the denarius which had Caesar's visage and despised idolatrous inscription on it, Mtt. 22:18-19.
      2. When they had produced one, Christ pointed to the coin and asked, "Whose is this image and superscription?" In doing so, He clearly explained that God was fully aware that the Jews did not agree with t he coin's idolatrous inscription, that God knew it was Caesar's belief -- not their belief, 22:20.
      3. They appropriately responded that it was Caesar's visage and inscription, Mtt. 22:21a.
      4. Well, the coin was used by the Jews regardless of its idolatrous inscription for purchasing goods and services, so this use made these Jews liable to Caesar's poll tax as dues for benefits received while using this Roman coin. Jesus thus ordered them to pay the tax as just dues for those benefits, Mtt. 22:21b.
      5. However, this payment did not mean they were to agree with the coin's idolatrous inscription; rather, they were to ascribe to God rather than Caesar their devotion as Lord of their lives, Mtt. 22:21c-22.
Lesson: God distinguishes between the believer's submissive attitude toward his secular government and what evil that government promotes. Thus, God expects Christians to obey those secular laws that themselves do not make them sin, but gi ve their hearts to God to obey His Word on the personal level. The only time we must NOT obey government is when doing so causes us to disobey God, Acts 5:28-29.