Jesus and Politics

INTRODUCTION:

This week, our country turns two hundred and fifty years old. Two and a half centuries of this American experiment is worth pausing over.

Ordered liberty is not the natural state of human history. Most people don’t get to choose their leaders, speak their minds, or worship without fear.

A lot of people sacrificed for the freedoms we take for granted. So morning I’m going to break the one rule of the Thanksgiving table. I’m going to talk about politics.

I can already feel the tension rising in the room. People get so anxious around those topics. Have you ever wondered why? It’s always money, politics and religion. Why is that?

It’s because of their ability to possess the human heart. These are some of the things we care most deeply about.

And yet, we live within a strange tension when it comes to these three things.

On the one hand, most of us try to avoid politics in polite company. We keep our heads down. We change the subject.

And on the other hand, we hold our political convictions with white-knuckled intensity. Increasingly people refuse to budge even an inch.

We’re quiet but dug in. Private but unflinching.

When I was first coming up as a preacher the conventional wisdom was to just stay out of politics. Why would a preacher want to alienate the very people he wants to reach because they disagree over politics.

I don’t disagree with that concern. And, if you’re going to talk about politics, there’s definitely a good way and a bad way to go about it.

Jesus Cares

But the idea that politics should NEVER be discussed is an unbiblical idea.

Jesus really cares how you approach your politics.

You cannot be indifferent about politics because Jesus was not indifferent about politics.

The King of Kings has an opinion about how earthly authorities go about their business. Our text today is one such example.

Jesus is dragged into one of the most politically polarizing questions in first century Palestine. Instead of dodging it, he answers it directly. And, the way he went about it, we still talk about today.

The reason Jesus cares so much about politics is because a lot of what we call "politics" is not really about legislation. It is an argument over theology with political implications.

Think about our hottest topics — the ones that actually make the room go quiet.

What is a human body, and who gets to say what it's for?

When does a life begin, and does that life have dignity?

What is a family? What is a man, what is a woman, what is marriage?

What do we owe the poor, the stranger, the vulnerable?

Those aren't questions about the tax percentages. Those are questions about the nature of the human person, the source of human dignity, and the authority of God.

Underneath every policy lies a doctrine of God, a doctrine of man and a doctrine of sin.

Beneath every vote is the worldview of the voter. Beneath every policy platform is a vision of human flourishing.

All politics contain theological assumptions.

All it takes to be a theologian is an opinion about God. All it takes to be political is an opinion about the polis. (aka. how we ought to live together)

Most people have strong opinions about both. The only question that really matters is whose opinion is correct.

My goal this morning is to get us to that place by looking at the way Jesus did his politics.

Set the Table

Open your Bible to Matthew 22. It is the last week of Jesus's life. He has ridden into Jerusalem to shouts of "Hosanna."

He walked into the temple and turned over the tables. He has told a string of parables that landed like indictments on the religious leaders.

Now those leaders have had enough. They can't arrest him because the crowds love him too much. Instead, they set a trap through the asking of a question.

They picked the most radioactive topic they could find: taxes. Specifically, the poll tax (aka, head tax) that Rome imposed on every adult living in Judea.

This tax was a naked symbol that they were an occupied people. Caesar was their sovereign and there was nothing they could do about it.

This tax was so divisive it had sparked a revolution. Judas the Galilean had led a revolt against this tax on theological grounds. His claim? “to pay tribute to Caesar is to deny that God alone is Lord.”

With that in mind, let’s read starting in verse 22.

Matthew 22:15–18 (CSB).

"Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to trap him by what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians. 'Teacher,' they said, 'we know that you are truthful and teach truthfully the way of God. You don't care what anyone thinks nor do you show partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?' Perceiving their malicious intent, Jesus said, 'Why are you testing me, hypocrites?

COMPLICATED QUESTIONS

Notice in verse 15 who shows up to ask the question: the Pharisees and the Herodians.

A common enemy can make for interesting bedfellows.

The Pharisees hated Rome and resented the annual tax.

The Herodians capitulated to cozy up with Roman power.

These two groups agreed on nothing other than the fact that Jesus needed to go. Nothing unites bitter enemies like a common target.

That brings us to the first point presented by this text.

Questions of politics are often complicated.

What was their question? “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” (Mat 22:17)

The word translated “lawful” was less about what was legal than what was “proper” in God’s eyes.

Notice how they posed the question as a simple "Yes or no.” That simple question was a trap with two opposing jaws.

If Jesus said "pay it," he would’ve lost the crowd. Most Jewish patriots despised the Roman Empire.

If Jesus said "don't pay it," the Herodians would turn him in. Opposition to Rome was treated as sedition.

It was a brilliant strategy because either answer gets him killed. It was NOT an honest question. It was designed to be a snare.

These groups didn’t want an answer; they wanted ammunition to take Jesus out.

Consider Context

People do the very same thing today, especially with politics.

We take the most complicated realities in human life and flatten them into a gotcha.

Which team are you on? Are you one of us or one of them? The goal is rarely truth, goodness and beauty. The ultimate goal is leverage and power.

What does Jesus do? He does not take the bait nor does he dodge the question. He answers the question with incredible wisdom.

Wisdom requires you consider the context.

Jesus slows the whole thing down and reads what's underneath. Their compliments were nice but the guise was insincere.

"Teacher, we know you are truthful, you teach truthfully the way of God, you don't care what anyone thinks nor do you show partiality."

Casuistic Speech

Notice their emphasis on truth even as they conceal their deception. Such is the nature of political discourse.

Though spoken with confidence, the praise was only bait, as was the conclusion tucked beneath their premise.

No matter what Jesus said his answer would be wrong. In logic we call this a false dilemma.

Both the false praise and the logical fallacies were par for the course. Many sophists were known for such rhetorical moves.

They would use high falutin language to whip people up into an emotional frenzy. With their audience in that state they would smuggle in deception

We would call it casuistry. Covering up their lies with words that would disarm. Presenting as “well-known” that which was “untrue.”

Wisdom helps you know when speech is casuistic.

Corrupt Motives

The wisdom of Jesus helped him see right through the act. He saw through the false praise and logical fallacies.

But that’s not all Jesus perceived. Verse 18 says Jesus "perceived their malicious intent.”

He saw right through the compliments to the knives behind their backs.

He looked at the smiling faces and he said, “Why are you testing me, hypocrites?"

Wisdom helps you know when motives are corrupt.

Jesus knew that their question was never about tax policy. It was a carefully crafted scheme to destroy his reputation. It was a legal pretext for state sponsored violence.

The same is true in our politics today. Sometimes the argument we're having isn't even the real issue.

Our discourse is unduly shaped by hidden algorithms. Content is amplified through misaligned incentives. The entire operation serves a sinister agenda.

No Camps

Politicians prey on our anger, our fears and ambitions; our need to be right and desire for true justice.

What happens when we lose the wisdom that is needed? Thankfully, Jesus shows a better way.

Jesus will not be squeezed into a corner. He resists the either or and exposes their agenda. The answer of Jesus challenged every camp.

Wisdom helps you see every problem in each camp.

When the question of politics says you have to choose one camp, Jesus pushes back and says “my kingdom won’t be captured.” Jesus sets us free from every false dilemma.

There is a wisdom from Jesus that sits above the fray. It never avoids the question but it might change the conversation.

The reason is because political questions are complicated. Consider the context and who is framing the questions. Then move forward with wisdom and truth.

CAESAR’S COURT & CULT

In this case, Jesus shows the truth through a Roman coin.

Matthew 22:19–21 CSB

19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” They brought him a denarius. 20 “Whose image and inscription is this?” he asked them. 21 “Caesar’s,” they said to him.

The fact that Jesus didn’t have a coin but the questioners did goes a long way to expose their hypocrisy.

Jesus sprang a trap on those who tried to trap him! You’ve got to love it.

They were feigning moral outrage at Roman collaboration all the while guilty of that which they protested.

He holds it up. "Whose image and inscription is this?" And they have to say it out loud: "Caesar's."

To understand the weight of this, you need to know what was on that coin. It was a silver denarius with the economic value of a day's wage.

But it was also a tool for political propaganda.

Caesar's coin represented his court and his cult.

On one side was the face of Tiberius Caesar, the emperor and sovereign whose armies enforced the tax.

That image was a claim of his jurisdiction: this money, this territory, these people fall under Rome's court. It was real governing authority and genuine earthly power.

But the coin was also in service of Caesar’s cult.

The inscription around the face read, "Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus," and on the back, "high priest."

It didn’t just saw “Caesar rules” but that “Caesar is divine.” Son of a god. High priest. It fused the throne and the altar; it took political power and wrapped it in worship.

Claim Not Control

For a faithful Jew, that coin broke the first two commandments the day it was minted.

It was an idolatrous graven image of a man who claimed God’s name.

Jesus takes this loaded object and gives an answer no one saw coming. "Give, then, to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God’s." (Matthew 22:21)

This is a powerful proverb with two equal parts. First, “give, then, to Caesar that which is Caesars.”

Notice that Jesus changes their verb. They asked, "is it lawful to give?" Jesus says, not give, render. Give back. It isn't robbery you're submitting to; it's a debt you're settling.

You use Caesar's roads, Caesar's coin, Caesar's orde...

Return to Caesar that which is his claim.

Pay your taxes. Honor your leaders. Obey the law. Be the best kind of citizen. The Christian is no anarchist; the governing authority is God's servant for your good. Avoid behaviors that make you guilty to that court.

Caesar can and ought to have his court. If you refuse his court, he’ll take your time and money.

What Caesar cannot have does NOT belong to him. He may have the court but he cannot have the cult.

We cannot give to Caesar what belongs to God alone.

Keep from Caesar that which he can't control.

Your conscience. Your worship. Your ultimate allegiance. These are the things that belong to God alone.

Caesar can tax your income; he cannot have your soul. Caesar can conscript your calendar; Caesar cannot command your knee.

His claim is real but his authority is limited. The moment he moves past that line is where submission stops.

And what was true of Caesar is true of EVERY POLITICIAN. Ancient Rome was not the last imperial cult.

This threat is present in every generation.

Reject any fusion of state power and religion. No politician is worthy of our worship. No political administration will inaugurate God’s kingdom.

We can love this country and defend it with our life but not give to the government that which belongs to God.

Every Caesar has the power to put his image on our money. Only God has the power to put his image on our soul. And that changes everything.

GOD’S CROWN (v. 21b)

The trap was avoided with the first half of this proverb. But Jesus goes beyond that with what he says right after.

“Render to God the things that are God's." (Matthew 22:21)

The crowd came for a ruling on taxes. Jesus hands them a reckoning with God.

Everyone remembers "render to Caesar” but God has a claim Caesar cannot counterfeit.

The phrase “render unto God what belongs to God” works at two different levels.

On the one hand, every Jewish reader knew that God was the creator. Which means, at one level, everything belongs to God.

Every week, within that temple, the Pharisees and Herodians would sing Psalm 24:1. “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.”

Every acre, every atom, every human empire. Even Caesar's authority is borrowed - not absolute.

It’s on loan from God who may decide to take it back!

Every worldly power sits beneath the crown of God.

Daniel 2:21 says that “The LORD removes kings and establishes Kings.” Even the great “Nebuchenezer was “given sovereignty, power, strength and glory” from “the LORD.” (Daniel 2:37-38)

Proverbs 8:15 “It is by me that kings reign and rulers enact just law…” Caesar himself, and everything Caesar governs, sits inside a world that belongs to God alone.

This means Christians ought to honor and submit to governing authority. Such authority comes from God and therefore ought to be respected. (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17)

But every earthly power has a limit on it’s reign. When confronted with a choice Christians obey God not man. (Acts 4:19; 5:29; Revelation 13)

God’s Image

Which leads to the highlight of this passage. Jesus’ response is implicity profound.

Jesus asks the question, “Whose image is on this coin?” The obvious second question is, “Whose image is on you?”

Go back to the first page of the Bible. "God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him." (Genesis 1:26-27) You are stamped. You are minted. You bear the likeness of the living God.

God has our allegiance because we carry His image.

Your politics contain theological assumptions because contain the image of God. Your money may be Caesar’s but you belong to God. Caesar can have the metal. Only God can have the man.

What corner of your life have you quietly marked "off-limits"? Is there a room where you've told God, "everything except…”

Everything except my money? Except my politics? Except my anger? You cannot compartmentalize the sacred and the secular.

YOUR CALL

How do the leaders respond to the greatest political answer ever given?

"When they heard this, they were amazed, and they left him and went away." (Mat 22:22)

The most dangerous thing you can do with Jesus is be impressed and walk away. If God's claim is total, then our politics must look different.

In Jesus's own day, God's people had four postures toward a pagan power — four ways to relate to Caesar. Every one of them gets it wrong and the same is true today.

Resist political contempt — the way of the Pharisees.

They resented Rome, resented the compromisers, and before long resented anyone who didn't share their outrage. It's the sneer and arrogance for the people across the aisle. Those people aren't just wrong, they’re evil and beneath you.

But Scripture says, "Honor everyone." The person with the other yard sign is not your enemy; he's an image-bearer of God, and your contempt is a sin against the God whose image he carries. You can hold deep conviction without an ounce of contempt. If your convictions have made you crueler, they're not yet really Christian.

Resist political cynicism — the way of the Essenes.

The Essenes looked at the whole of politics as a dirty business. As a result, they packed up, and moved to the desert. But cynicism is not holiness; it's despair in religious language.

You were handed a rare gift as a citizen of this country. You’ve been given a voice, a vote, and genuine freedom. To throw away that gift is a failure of stewardship. You’ve buried your talent in the ground and you will give an answer.

Resist political coercion — the way of the Zealots.

They reached for the sword and tried to force the kingdom of God into the world by power. It's the belief that if we could just seize enough control, win enough elections, crush enough enemies, we could build heaven on earth ourselves.

But Jesus refused the sword in the garden, and he refuses it still. The kingdom of God does not advance the way empires do. We dare not bring the reign of God through political violence.

Resist political capitulation — the way of the Herodians.

They climbed into bed with power, fused the people of God to an earthly throne, and traded conviction for a seat at the table. It’d be like us trying to stitch a cross onto the flag. When the church becomes subservient to any political party, the church has lost and voice and function in society.

We are not the religious wing of anyone's campaign. We belong to a King who will outlast every administration.

The Pharisees, the Essenes, the Herodians and Zealots, Jesus refused all four and we should too.

But this passage doesn’t leave us with just something to resist. It also gives a framework for something to embrace.

Jesus leaves us with a blueprint for political captivation. Captivate the world with the love of Jesus Christ.

Embrace political captivation — the politics of Jesus.

The leaders were amazed and walked away and asked him no more questions. Others bowed the knee and gave their life to be a witness.

Don't be amazed. Be captivated. Let this King so take hold of you that you become like Christ. You become the best kind of citizen precisely because you belong to a greater Kingdom.

We pay, we serve, we vote, we honor, we love our enemies. Though never as our Lord, Caesar always has our prayers.

Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the emperor. (1 Peter 2:17)

Christ Connection

Everything Jesus asks of us, he first did himself.

He rendered back to Caesar that which was his claim. He paid the temple tax. He submitted to an unjust trial. He stood in front of Roman power and didn't call down the legions or raise a sword. He gave the government its due all the way to a cross, and never once gave it his worship.

And he rendered back to God the one thing we could not: the whole of himself, heart, soul, mind and strength.

He is the true image of the invisible God: not stamped on silver, but living in the flesh.

Where Caesar’s coin proclaimed, "Caesar, son of God," Jesus actually proved he and God are One.

In a garden on the night before he died, when everything in him wanted another way, he said "Father, not my will, but your will be done."

And when Rome crucified him with his dying breath, he cried out “It is finished, into you hands I commit my spirit.”

On that good Friday he was buried him in a tomb, on the third day God raised him from the dead.

A sign above that cross read "Jesus: King of the Jews." They meant it as a joke. But they were telling the actual truth.

That counterfeit court, with its counterfeit coin and its counterfeit son, crucified the King of Kings. Jesus IS King and Caesar is NOT.

Whatever your politics it starts and ends right there.

Invitation

You are not a coin nor the property of a nation. You carry the image of the King who rules this world.

Maybe you've never once given God what is God's. You've crowned a hundred lesser kings and bent the knee to all of them. Come home. He isn't asking for your coin. He's asking for your heart.

Maybe you're a believer, and an election puts more fear in you than the resurrection puts hope in you. Render your fear to the risen King. He sits on a throne no ballot can move, and he has never once lost control of history.

Maybe your convictions have devolved into contempt and there are image-bearers you've learned to despise. Repent right now. Go honor someone you despise for the sake of Christ.

There's no compartment; the whole house belongs to God. Don’t be amazed and walk away. Be captivated by God’s love.