The narrative unfolds during a time of heightened tension, when Jesus was confronted by those seeking to entangle Him in His words. Imagine a convergence of Pharisees and Herodians, motivated by conflicting interests yet united in their mission to trap Jesus. The stakes were high as they questioned Him about the lawfulness of paying taxes to Caesar. The context was charged with political and religious implications, as refusing to pay taxes could mean rebellion against Roman authority.In response, Jesus transformed the situation into a profound teaching moment. His instruction to ‘render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s’ was more than a reply about fiscal duties; it was a declaration on the rightful ownership and sovereignty. With eloquence, Jesus affirmed the principle of fulfilling civic responsibilities while not neglecting duties to God, thus drawing a clear line between earthly obligations and spiritual commitments.As the story unfolds, the craftiness of Jesus’ adversaries is exposed. Their aim to put Him in a lose-lose situation backfired spectacularly. When Jesus asked to see a coin and pointed out Caesar’s image, He cleverly sidestepped the trap, reasserting the separation of the secular and the sacred in one masterstroke. It was a moment that left His opponents marveling at His wisdom, even as they departed in shock and silence.
Through this act, Jesus shed light on the deeper concept of rendering unto God what belongs to Him. The question posed to His audience then and now is profound: where is God’s image inscribed? The inscription is not on coins but on human souls and bodies – we are created in God’s image. This enduring message calls us to dedicate our lives, reflect divine attributes, and give back to God all that is rightfully His.
Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees also highlights the concept of divine authority versus man-made laws. His response underscored a significant theological assertion: while we live under civil systems, our ultimate allegiance is towards God. It showcased a deft blend of common sense and spiritual truth, counteracting their attempt to undermine His teachings.
This event is rich with implications for contemporary believers navigating the complexities of faith and societal duties. Jesus models how to engage with cunning challenges with both wisdom and integrity, without compromising core beliefs. It stands as a reminder of the sovereignty of God’s commandments over any human ordinances when they conflict with divine principles.
The episode concludes with an invitation for self-reflection: are we rendering unto God what is His by leading lives that embody His teachings? As the listeners are encouraged to ponder this perspective, they are reminded that true adherence to faith involves recognizing His image in us and living in ways that honor that divine connection. This lesson, drawn from an ancient scenario, remains strikingly applicable, urging believers to introspect on whom and what they serve with their lives.
Join us in this episode as we recount the day when Jesus was put to the test by the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians. From debates about taxes to declarations on divine inscriptions, Jesus masterfully counters their traps, teaching us about the balance between giving unto Caesar and unto God. These timeless lessons underscore our identity in God, urging us to reflect His image in every aspect of our lives.
Greetings, friends and new listeners. Welcome to our program. I'm Sharon Knotts, thanking you for joining us today because we know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. I'm excited to share this message with you. Render, give it back. You know, I absolutely love the way Jesus spoke with such authority and power and grace, but also how cleverly He was able to make His antagonist The Pharisees and the Sadducees and others put their feet in their own mouths every time they conspired to trap him in his words. And one particular day was unusually amusing, especially when money and paying taxes was the subject in Render, Give It Back. So now let's see where this takes us.
SPEAKER 02 :
We're in Matthew 22. We are going to skip down to verse 15. And I say that because I said this is the day when they all came to attack Jesus. Okay? It was the Pharisees and the Herodians that came to attack him with the story that we're going to read today. The Sadducees, as I told you a moment ago, did not believe in the resurrection. They came and asked Jesus. They painted this hypothesis. This woman got married. Her husband died. She remarried. He died. She remarried. He died. She remarried. He died. She remarried. He died. She remarried. He died. And the seventh died. She remarried. And he died. I mean, what are the chances that a woman's going to outlive seven husbands? Now, I know somebody who outlived three husbands. And that was Sister McKinney, Johnny Carver's mother. She outlived three husbands. But seven? Seven husbands? And so that's to show you they came and brought Jesus the story. Well, this woman had seven husbands. They all died. And smirkingly they said, So, tell us, who will be her husband? In the resurrection. Whose wife is she going to be in the resurrection? Because they didn't believe in the resurrection. And they figured that would stump Jesus and he wouldn't know how to answer it. And he said, you do err. Because you don't know the scriptures and you don't know the power of God. The power of God is he can raise the dead. And so there you have all these different ones coming and asking him questions. And guess what the lawyers asked him? What is the greatest commandment? They all had their little pet peeves that they brought to Jesus. But we're going to see what the Pharisees and the Herodians said, and we will begin in verse 15. Then went the Pharisees and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. Took counsel. They got other people, other sects to join in. And Luke says that they sent out spies. And they sent out unto him their disciples, Luke said spies instead of disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true and teachest the way of God in truth. That's really flatter now. Neither carest thou for any man, for thou regardest not the person of men. So tell us, therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he said unto them, Whose is this image and subscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's. Then he said unto them, render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's. And when they had heard these things, they marveled and left him and went their way. I just can imagine that the air was just sucked out of the whole atmosphere. Because everybody was thinking, oh, wow, that's a good question. Yeah, man, did you hear? Shh, I want to hear what Jesus says. That's a very good question. So they came and they thought that they had crafted a question where they could stump Jesus. And that was the whole purpose, to try to catch him in his words. So they started off with flattery. How many know when anybody approaches you and takes the first... 50 to 60 seconds with flattery, you know you're in trouble. You just know. You just start stiffening up because you know what is coming now. They prepped him with false flattery. They said, master. And see, the word master in Hebrew is rabba. And we think of rabbi, and we say teacher, and those are correct. But I want you to know what the word rabbi means. The true meaning of rabbi is great one. When you want to say great is thy faithfulness, you say rabbi amunetekah. Rabbi, you hear Rabbi? The word is great. So when they were saying master, they were saying great one. Why did they call a teacher a great one? Because in the mindset of the Jewish people, that is the greatest calling of all, is to be a teacher of God's word. And so someone who was a good teacher of God's word, they would call Rabbah, great one. And so they didn't believe that Jesus was the teacher of God's word. But you see, they were trying to flatter him and they started off with Rabbah, great one. And then they go on to say, we know thou art true. And does speak the word of God truly and rightly. And you do not accept any man's person. You preach without favoritism or fear. You don't worry about anybody. You don't even accept the person of Caesar. Don't you see what they were saying to him? So you tell it straight up, Jesus. And you never have any respect of persons. Not even Caesar. Because you speak the truth. So we want to ask you, what do you think about paying taxes? You know that's all we hear right now. I don't care what party they belong to or any of that stuff. Everybody's talking about taxes. They have fought more this year in the House of Congress and the Senate over the payroll taxes. You know, your payroll taxes have been reduced for about a year. And they were even threatening to close the government and shut down because they wouldn't pass that. And the fact is, if they didn't pass that, they didn't pass the larger bill that had to do with the budget. and they were ready to shut everything down because some wanted to keep the payroll taxes where they are cut, and some wanted to say, okay, and I'm not mentioning parties, and the one party said, fine, we're okay with you keeping the payroll taxes cut, but you've got to find the money to pay for it. We can't keep increasing the deficit So you gotta cut something else, somewhere else cut something to make up for keeping the payroll taxes low. And the other party said, we ain't cutting nothing. We're going to spend more and more and more, but we ain't going to cut anything, which means the deficit goes up and up and up. And finally, the other side caved in, said, OK, we'll pass it. So what happened? You keep your payroll taxes cut. You'll keep seeing the same amount in your pay. Otherwise, you would have seen less in your pay. But they just added $100 billion to the deficit. So when you start talking about taxes, people get really emotional. Amen? People that are usually got a very gentle, calm way about them, all of a sudden they get very angry. And so they said, we want to know, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes or not? And you've got to understand when they said, is it lawful? They were not talking about Roman law. They were talking about God's law. Is it lawful according to God's law for us Jews to be paying Rome taxes? We want to know what you think about that. You see, up until that point, as hard as they tried, they had never, ever been able to accuse him on any religious matter. They had tried over and over, but when it came to religious issues or any issues at all that had to do with the law of Moses, they had never once been able to trip him up. And so now they thought, we got the perfect scenario to snare him. We are going to snare him. He is in a lose-lose situation here. Because if he says no, God's people shouldn't be paying taxes to the pagan Romans, what's going to happen? The Romans are going to come and lock him up for inciting the people not to pay taxes. And if he says, well, yes, you've got to pay taxes to the Romans because we were living here under Roman authority, then he would have been going against the word of God. Why? Because God never intended Israel to pay taxes to any government other than his own. Israel was created as a theocracy and they were only to pay tithes to God, not taxes to men. So they thought they had Jesus in a corner that he could not possibly ever get out. He was in a position where either way he was going to be in trouble. Because if he said, no, don't pay taxes, those spies would have beat it to Pilate's house so fast. We got an insurrectionist. He's telling people not to pay their taxes to Rome. And believe you me, Rome had to have lots of taxes because their armies were so huge and they were conquering and going to conquer and conquer. They needed money to feed all those men in their armies to keep the peace from where their empire had grown so greatly. But, you know, if he would say no, they were just hoping. I believe they were just saying, let him say no. Let him say no. Because we know so far he's never crossed the law of Moses. So far we've never been able to catch him. But today we got him. Because if he says no, you shouldn't be paying taxes to Rome. Rome will do our dirty work. And we'll be done with him once and for all. And we'll see if you go around teaching, calling us wicked servants. sitting up in prison. And that's what they thought. But we saw here that Jesus perceived. And if you go to Luke, don't go there. But Luke says, but Jesus perceived their craftiness. Their craftiness. And he said, why are you tempting me, you hypocrites? You don't mean one word. You've said that I am true. And I only preach the truth. And I'm not fooled by your flattery. I love what he said. Show me the money. Just show me the money. Amen? Show me the money. Somebody said, oh, here you are, Jesus. You know how people want to volunteer? Run up and hand him the penny. And he said, you know, I don't want your money. I just want you to look at it. I want you to look at it now. It really was a denarius, which was a Roman coin. And here's why I asked you about all the questions about our money. On one side of the denarius was the image of Caesar. like we see George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, they had the image of Caesar. And the Caesar that was Caesar at that time, because Caesar is just another word for king. But the one who was in power at that time was Tiberius. And so they had on one side was a picture of Caesar Tiberius, the Roman emperor. And the inscription said, listen to this, Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the divine Augustus. You see, Augustus, who was his father, at one point in his reign, declared himself to be a god. He said he was god. He said he was divine. So on their money was inscribed, Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the divine Augustus. On the other side of the coin, listen to this, was inscribed, chief priest Augustus. So Caesar saw himself as both the ruler, the emperor, divine, and the chief priest. Tiberius' father, as I said, he had demanded that people worship him as deity. That is something that no Jew, no Jew would have ever done. Amen? And that's one reason why the Romans hated them so much. They would not in any way cooperate with their type of worship. You were not going to get a Jew to say, I worship Tiberius Caesar. Not going to happen. And so when Jesus said, whose image and whose subscription is on this coin, and they all yelled out, Caesar, Caesar, Caesar, like y'all were yelling out. Amen? Some of you were saying Washington. Some were saying Jefferson. But they all knew because they only had one guy with all their money. And they all hollered out, Caesar, Caesar, Caesar. And what they didn't realize, every last one of them had just put their foot right in their mouth. Amen? And see, that was the reason why there had to be money changers. You see the word money changers. Well, what does that mean? Because there's no way but no way that any Jew would have gone into the temple with a coin in his hand with Caesar's picture on it. It would have violated the first and second commandments. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. And it's really literally thou shalt have no other gods in my face. And thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven image. So it was impossible for them to take that money, that Roman coin, into the temple of God. And so they had to have money changers. I give you my Roman coin, you give me your Hebrew shekel. I give you my denarius, whether they had a shekel, they had a hefe shekel. So they had to change the money from the Roman money to the Hebrew money because they would not bring anything into the house of God that bore some other person's image who said they were God and divine and you must worship me. Amen? And so the problem with the money changers was, though, they began to cheat the people. They began to cheat them. And we won't even get into that because that's another whole issue. So we have here that he said, well, whose face is engraved on that coin? Whose picture is it? Whose inscription? What does it say? It says it's Caesar, the son of the divine Augustus. On the other side it says the chief priest. Amen? And what did Jesus say? He said, render therefore the things unto Caesar which are Caesar's. Render unto God therefore the things that are God's. Now I want to ask you a question. Feel free to answer. What does the word render mean? I hear a lot of people say give. If you think it means give, raise your hand. How many thinks it means something else? Something funny is going on here. Because I saw a few people say it means give, and I saw less people say it means something else. So what is the rest of you doing? Waiting for it? That was very, very wise. Well, those of you who said you believe it means give, I mean, really, you're right, but we got to get technical here. We have to get with the technical answer. It's okay to say give, but it's not accurate. Huh? Honor? Nope. You were okay with the word give, but you have to say it this way. Give back to. How many see there's a difference between give and give back? How many don't see it? You were very smart not to raise your hand if you did. So he didn't just say, give to Caesar what is Caesar's. He said, give back to Caesar what is Caesar's. You see, Caesar is the one that gave the orders for that coin to be minted that way. And he had his face on there. And he declared himself to be the divine. And he declared himself to be worthy of worship and to be the chief priest. Rome made those coins. And so he's saying, give back to Caesar's what is his. In other words, he said, pay your taxes. Go ahead and pay him because that's Caesar's money. It's his money. Give him back his money. But you need to also give back to God the things that are God's. How many see that? Give back. You must understand that the word means give back. Give back to Caesar what belongs to him, but give back to God what belongs to him. That denarius never, ever belonged to God. Never. God would not have anything to do with that coin because it bore the image of a pagan man who claimed himself to be God and deity. That coin never belonged to God. God didn't want it. He said, so give it back. Give it back to Caesar. But give back to God the things that are his. Now when they heard his words, they marveled, they held their peace. For the first time, they were utterly speechless. And I'll tell you, that right there was a feed in itself. I love the scripture, and I think about it right now. The crafty was taken in their craftiness. Amen? Because the scripture says he disappoints the devices of the crafty so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. I love that verse. That's in Job. He takes the wise in their own craftiness. So they had miserably failed, and now they were quite embarrassed. They were so humiliated, and people walked around, and they were like, oh, my God. Can you believe this man? It's amazing. It's amazing how wise he is and how foolish he made them look. Amen? Okay, now here's what we really want to go into. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Render to God the things that are God's. Give back to God the things that are God's. I have another question for you. Where on this earth... is the image of God engraved. What on this earth bears the image of God? Is it our penny? No, we said Abraham. Is it our nickel? No, we said Thomas Jefferson. Is it our quarter? No, we said George Washington. Our half dollar, we said JFK. Our dollar, we found out Sacagawea, and we found Susan B. Anthony. And our bills, is it our $5 bill? Is it our $10 bill? Our $20? We went through all the way up to $100,000. And God's image isn't on any of that. Amen? So where on this earth is the image of God engraved and inscribed? In us, in our bodies. When he made us, he said, let us make man in our image. Let us make man after our likeness. Amen. The scripture says in Romans 8, 29, that everyone that God calls and answers the call, those here conforming to be made in the image of his dear son. We're even told to put off the old man that is corrupt according to the deceitful lust and put on the image of the new man created after him in true holiness and true righteousness. So on this earth, the thing that bears the image and the inscription of God is our bodies. is our spirit, is our soul and our body. And I say to you and one and all and myself included, give back to God the things that are God's. Give it back to God. Amen? Let's turn to 1 Corinthians, the third chapter. Verse 16. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy. Which temple you are. We saw that when Jesus went and saw how they had defiled the temple, his father's house. He began to cleanse it. And now we are the temple of God. And his inscription and image is in us. And those who defile the temple, if you defile your body, if you allow your soul and spirit to be defiled, that God shall destroy you. Amen? Flip over to the sixth chapter. Start at verse 12. And all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power, under the authority of all things. Amen? Meats for the belly and the belly for the meats. But God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. And God hath both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his own power. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I take then the members of Christ and make them the members of a harlot? Or a prostitute. God forbid. What know ye not that he which is joined to a harlot is one body. For two saith he shall be one flesh. Now we're talking about the sexual union. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee. Flee. fornication, unlawful sex. Every sin that a man doth is without the body, but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? So he's making a lot of remarks here that we need to look at. Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you. And really, if you read it in the Greek, it's another sense. He's assuming that he's in you. If it really be true, in other words, he put it this way, if it's so that you have the Holy Ghost, then realize your body is his temple. Amen? Because obviously he's not in you if you have joined yourself to sin. But he's saying if you claim to have the Holy Ghost, then know your body is his temple. Amen? So you better not defile it. Because what? I love verse 20. For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit forever. which are God's. So in other words, give back to God what is God's. Give back to God your spirit, your soul, and your body to be holy unto him. And don't defile yourself in any way in any of these areas because when you defile yourself, you are defiling the temple of God. And if you defile the temple of God, we see what Jesus did. He went in there and cleaned house. And he didn't tiptoe around anything. And if you defile your body, that's what the Holy Ghost is going to do because he wants to save you and not let you be destroyed. Amen? And so we must keep our bodies cleansed. I love the seventh chapter. 2 Corinthians, it says, Therefore, wherefore, beloved, having these promises, let us also cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, that we may perfect holiness in the fear of God. Why would I be afraid of God? I have no reason to be afraid of God for any other thing than if I defile my body. With sin. I never need to be afraid of God. I run up there, I jump on his lap, and I say, Abba, Father. With no condemnation, no guilt, no shame. I don't think twice about it. I just run up there and say, Dear Daddy, I'm here today. But when I have sin in my life, when I know there's sin in my life, I don't do that. I have the fear of God upon me. And I know that before I can run back up and say, Abba, Father, I've got to get this sin out. I've got to get cleansed. And I'm not going to go into a whole category and get out the catalog because we'd be here too long. But in the context of where we are, in what we just read, there are two major sins that defile the body. How many saw them? Gluttony, overeating, and fornication. Overeating and unsanctified sex, because that's what fornication means. Only sanctified sex there is is between a husband and wife. All the rest is unsanctified. Here's the thing about these sins. These are why these are so problematic. Both of them were dealing with normal, God-given appetites. Amen? God designed us with these appetites. I mean, we cannot deny them altogether. There's no way we can get up and say, thou shalt not eat.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen. I hope you're enjoying this message. Render, give it back. You know, the day Jesus spoke these words had to be one of the most intense and yet amusing days of his ministry. I'll call it the boomerang day because on this one day he was confronted by the Pharisees and their spies, the Sadducees, the Herodians, the lawyers, asking questions they thought would trap him in his words. The chief priests were furious because Jesus had cleansed the temple, throwing out the money changers, declaring, my father's house is a house of prayer, and you have made it a den of thieves. This had to stop. He was exerting too much authority. The funny thing is, the Pharisees and Sadducees were usually arguing with one another, much like our Democrats and Republicans today. But in a joint effort, they conspired to challenge Jesus on whether or not to pay taxes to Caesar. If he said yes, the people would rise up because they hated paying taxes to Rome, and God never intended Israel to be enslaved to another nation. If he said no, they could seize him and take him to Pilate for rebellion against Caesar. But Jesus took the crafty in his craftiness. "'Show me the money,' he said. The Roman denarius bore the image of Caesar and the inscription that he was divine, and there is no way one of those coins would have been given in the temple, and so the need for money changers. When Jesus said, "'Render to Caesar and render to God,' the term means to give back someone's property. Roman coins belong to Rome, and that which bears the image of God on earth belongs to God.'" If you're a Christian, that is you. Give back to God your body, which is his temple on earth. This message, Render, Give It Back, is full of nuggets you don't want to miss. So why not order the CD for a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry? Request offer SK164. Mail to Archie Hardy Ministries, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Or go online to ArchieHardy.org. Again, send a minimum love gift of $10 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. And request offer SK164 for Render, Give It Back. Until next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
