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Call to worship
Welcome everyone!
James 4:7-17 “Submit therefore to God.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Do not speak against one another, brethren.
He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.”
Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.”
LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!
“Living Hope”
Words and Music by Hillsong
PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS
Lord, we praise You today for who You are!
“How Great is our God”
Words and Music by Hillsong
“Great are You Lord”
Words and Music by Hillsong
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS
Lord, open our hearts that we may hear You today!
SERMON
Introduction
Our next four messages will all be found in chapter 22 beginning at verse 15
Context
Let’s turn there and get an overview of what we will be studying so we can have a better understanding.
This section is divided by questions directed to Jesus about ethics, morality, and then is concluded by Jesus asking His own question to the Pharisees which is the most important question of all.
Today we will study the first of question which is asking whether we are to obedient to God or the government?
And as we will see today, Jesus does not say either or, but both.
As followers of Jesus we are to live as upright citizens of this nation while also remaining faithful to God.
Turn with me to Matthew 22:15-16
Matthew 22:15-18 “Then the Pharisees went and plotted 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 then, what do You think?
Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?
But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?”
Explanation
The Pharisees hated Jesus.
We have seen this over and over in the Gospel of Matthew
If they could get by with it, they would have just killed Him right then.
But if they did that, they would upset the crowds and cause an uproar
So in this section, they have devised a trap for Him over the issue of paying taxes.
And this is a very relevant passage for us today because we also pay taxes,
We also have a government whom we must answer to, whom we often disagree with
And we also have the tendency to despise them just as the Jewish people did in those days.
In this section Jesus will give some significant teaching about how we as followers of Christ can live in both submission to the government and God.
God has established the government
We struggle with this because not all governments are good
There seems to be a level of corruption in many governing institutions
There is evil that exists in governments
There are governments that are anti-God
But we must remember, sin has corrupted every part of God’s creation
It has corrupted the earth itself
It has corrupted the human race
It has corrupted the government as well
BUT GOD HAS AUTHORITY OVER THE GOVERNMENT
And they are in place primarily to keep peace in this world
And sometimes God uses one government to carry out justice on another government
Sometimes He uses them to bring his will into fulfillment
The key is God owns them all and will use them however He pleases
The question from the Pharisees is this: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?
Who was Caesar?
Caesar was not someone’s name, but a title
Caesar was the emperor over the Roman Empire
And the Roman Empire encapsulated all of Judea and the Jewish people
So they had to pay taxes and submit to the Roman authorities
The question posed by the Pharisees was divisive
Caesar represented the Romans which ruled over God’s people.
And many of the Jews were waiting for the Messiah to bring freedom from this rule and this taxation
So if Jesus said, “no you should not pay taxes to Caesar” he would be breaking the Roman law and thus be subjected to be Arrested.
If Jesus said yes, you should pay taxes to Caesar, He would be siding with the Roman government, which most Jews despised and therefore would be an enemy of the people.
What they were doing was trying to set a trap for Jesus
Either way he answered would make him an enemy of someone, and cause Him problems which is exactly what the Pharisees wanted
And notice they throw in a little flattery here
“we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God”
Now is this true of Jesus?
YES!
But did the Pharisees were really trying to use this to back Him into a corner and get him to respond
Is it a sin to flatter someone?
Yes!
This break the 9th command, “to bear false witness against your neighbor”
Prov 29:5 “A man who flatters his neighbor Is spreading a net for his steps.”
How does Jesus respond?
Matthew 22:18-22 “But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? “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.”
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 were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away.”
“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”
Explanation
The question: “What belongs to Caesar?”
And Jesus determines this by asking, “who’s image is on the coin?”
Caesar’s image is on the coin.
Therefore by them possessing those coins, with Caesar’s image on them, shows that they are citizens of that government.
Since they are citizens of the Roman Empire, they are obligated to the authority of that government.
If that government requires them to pay portion of that money in taxes, then they are obligated to pay it.
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