Kid’s Takeaway of the day: Jesus Answers

Prophets speak for God to His people, Kings rule with justice, and priests help make us right before God

Verses of the day: Matthew 22:21

Matthew 22:21 ESV

21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Main idea of the day: Jesus passed the tests and is qualified to be the central figure of the Kingdom of Heaven and our lives.

Introduction: Have you tried LLM (large language model) or machine learning, or a so called ai like chat gpt yet? We could talk all day about the potential harms and benefits of ai, but I just have one question, how do you know what it answers is accurate? Ever used WebMD to try to find answers to medical problems? How do you know that what it tells your is accurate? Ok, I have one more! Have you ever watched a news channel where someone is explaining world events or politics, and you want to ask the question, how do I know if you’re telling me the truth? Each one of these questions bring up things to consider, but the answer to each comes down to evaluating the answers and checking sources. In Matthew 22:15-46 Jesus is put through some tough evaluation

Kingdom Challenge

Passage

Matthew 22:15–46 ESV

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16 And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20 And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21 They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away. 23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.” 29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. 34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test 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 great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls 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 then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

I. Test about Politics Matthew 22:15-22

Photo of The Denarius of Tiberius

Herodians would have approved of the tax, but zealots would not have.

Additional References for Kingdom Citizens living under the authority of government Rom 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13-17

Humans are created in the image of God

Genesis 1:26–27 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 5:1–3 ESV

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

Genesis 9:6 ESV

6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

James 3:9 ESV

9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

Ephesians 4:24 ESV

24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

God has stamped us with His image, so we belong to God.

II. Test about Theology Matthew 22:23-33

III. Test about Ethics Matthew 22:34-40

IV. Jesus Tests the Pharisees Matthew 22:41-46

Psalm 110:1 ESV

1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

In what ways do you treat Jesus like your best source of answers in life?

In what ways do you not treat Jesus like your best source of answers in life?

What challenges your about Jesus teaching about Politics, Theology, or Ethics