Sermon Tone Analysis

Not long after I became a Christian at university, the Christian Union held a Grill-a-Christian event in the college bar and I was on the panel!

People were invited to come and ask any questions they might have about the Christian faith and what they believe.

As a pretty-much brand new Christian I was definitely out of my depth!

For most of us, It’s an uncomfortable experience to be bombarded with questions, especially about our faith.

But not for Jesus!

At this point in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is in Jerusalem and facing down some pretty tough opponents.

The Chief Priests and elders have tried to confront him, but he responded with three parables announcing their downfall.

This only made them resolved to take action:

Now, it’s all about trying to incriminate Jesus, catch him out, get him to say something illegal, either by Jewish law or Roman law.

And so we have three rounds of Q&A, with disciples of the Pharisees/Herodians, the Sadducees and the Pharisees themselves all trying to have a go.

Each time Jesus responds they are silenced and stunned.

By the end, no one wants to ask him any more questions!

But Jesus’ responses say something to all of us, and we are again challenged to accept things that we find hard to accept - we belong to God, we will live forever, we are made to love.

Ultimately, we are challenged to accept that Jesus Christ is Lord.

You Belong To God

If you want to derail someone who’s in the public eye, ask them a question about a highly contentious issue.

Question 1

What is thy only comfort in life and death?

That I with body and soul, both in life and death,a am not my own,b but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ;c who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins,d and delivered me from all the power of the devil;e and so preserves mef that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head;g yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation,h and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life,i and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.j

What is thy only comfort in life and death?

That I with body and soul, both in life and death,a am not my own,b but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ;

After flattering Jesus in an attempt to catch him off guard, they ask this stinger:

Matthew 22:17

This was most likely a hot topic of the time.

A bit like asking if you voted Leave or Remain!

The Pharisees had really thought about this, and chose what they thought was an unanswerable question.

In other words, whatever Jesus answers will be wrong.

If he says “Yes, it’s right to pay taxes to Caesar,” then Jesus is seen to be in favour of the Roman occupation of Israel, or worse that he’s in collusion with them.

But if he says “No, it’s totally wrong to pay taxes to Caesar,” then they can report him to the Roman authorities as an insurrectionist.

Either way, they think, Jesus can’t win!

It’s a brilliant answer!

On one level, Jesus says that you don’t have to pit your obligation to worldly authorities against your obligation to God.

2:18-21

It’s a brilliant answer!

On one level, Jesus says that you don’t have to pit your obligation to worldly authorities against your obligation to God.

On one level, Jesus says that you don’t have to pit your obligation to worldly authorities against your obligation to God.

But on the other hand, Jesus makes a profound point about who’s really in charge.

He points out that the denarius coin bears the image of Caesar, so therefore it belongs to him anyway.

Whatever is due to Caesar must be paid.

But at the same time, what is due to God must also be rendered.

We bear the image of God and so we belong to him, but not a certain portion like a tax - the whole of us belongs to God, so we must give him the whole.

It’s really a challenge to his questioners:

The first question of the Heidelberg Catechism [explain catechisms] goes like this:

Q1.

What is your only comfort in life and in death?

The first question of the Heidelberg Catechism goes like this:

A1.

That I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

What is thy only comfort in life and death?

That I with body and soul, both in life and death,a am not my own,b but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ;

This is the most important thing about us.

Not our nationality, or our language.

Not our background or upbringing.

Not our career or family situation.

Not our possession or appearance.

Not our allegiance to political parties or sports team.

Not our self-given identity or sexual preference or ideas about gender.

No, the most important thing about every single human is that we belong to God.

He made us.

We are his.

We are made in his image, his likeness, to know him and experience him and enjoy him.

So, fine, pay your taxes, enjoy your national identity, your career, your family, your sports etc - but do not forget to remind yourself daily of this vital fact:

“That I am not my own, but belong— body and soul, in life and in death— to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Actually the Heidelberg answers goes further:

That I with body and soul, both in life and death,a am not my own,b but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ;c who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins,d and delivered me from all the power of the devil;e and so preserves mef that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head;g yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation,h and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life,i and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.j

A1.

That I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,

and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,

and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.

Because I belong to him,

Christ, by his Holy Spirit,

assures me of eternal life

and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready

from now on to live for him.

I know that I belong to Jesus Christ because he has bought my redemption and forgiveness with his blood.

That is the most important thing about me.

Today.

Everyday.

Regardless of the circumstances.

No matter how I’m feeling.

I’m His! [Counter cultural - then and now].

You belong to God.

The inland revenue has a claim on a certain portion of your earnings, but God has a claim on the whole of your life.

You belong to God.

So honour him.

Obey him.

Live for him rather than this world.

That’s especially important because of the second thing we learn from this Q&A with Jesus:

You Will Live Forever

With the disciples of the Pharisees and Herodians defeated, the Sadducees have a go.

Matt 22:23

This isn’t a question about law but about doctrine.

We’re told the Sadducees didn’t believe in resurrection.

That’s because the Sadducees got all their doctrine from the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.

Resurrection is a doctrine derived from later OT books and Jewish rabbinic literature.

So they’re trying to discredit Jesus as a theological leader by showing him up, making him look foolish on a point of doctrine.

If a woman has seven husbands who all die before she bears children, which one will be her husband in the resurrection.

Their assumption is that there is no resurrection and that this scenario proves it.