Matthew 22:15-22: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”

“Then render...to God the things that are God's," Jesus in Matthew 22:21

“To oppose or resist at this point [in paying taxes] would be to show a fatal inability to distinguish between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world…Let the Christian remain in subjection to the powers which exercise dominion over him.”   (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, p. 264)

It is Tuesday of Holy Week and Jesus is in the temple teaching.  The Pharisees cannot silence Him so they change tactics.    They infiltrate the crowd with “spies who pretended to be righteous” (Luke 20:20).  They sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians (v. 16) who were at odds with the Pharisees over Roman rule.  The Pharisees despised the occupying Romans yet the Herodians tried to appease the Romans.  But the enemy of my enemy is my friend.  And here both parties align in order to get rid of a more hated enemy: Jesus. 

The Pharisees and the Herodians lay it on thick: “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” (v.16).   That’s the bait; now the trap.  

“Tell us then…Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar or not?” (v.17). If Jesus answers, “yes, pay your taxes” then He is a traitor to the Jews and the Pharisees will have what they lust for, the chance to seize Him.  If Jesus says, “No, don’t pay the tax,” then the Herodians will deliver Him to Caesar for treason, which they do in a few days anyway when they falsely accuse Jesus of “forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar,” (Luke 23:2).

Jesus perceived their malice (v.18) and was outraged by their lying lips (Proverbs 12:22).   “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?” (v.18). “Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.”  They brought Him a denarius (v.19).  “Whose likeness… is this?” (v.20). They said to Him, it is Tiberius Caesar’s (v.21), the Roman emperor. 

D.A. Carson’s commentary on Matthew says that the phrase “pontifex maximus” (“high priest”) is on the other side.  The Roman emperor blasphemingly saw himself as both king and high priest, a dual role that only Christ can fulfill (as foreshadowed by Melchizedek in Hebrews 7:1-3).    King Uzziah was stricken with leprosy when he assumed both the role of king and priest (2 Chronicles 26:16-21).

Masterfully Jesus says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s,” (v. 21).  Pay taxes, Jesus says.   He says it here and in Matthew 17:27.   Paul says it in Romans 13:7; Peter alludes to it in 1 Peter 2:17.    But Jesus’ main point is deeper than taxes:  What are the things that are God’s?

Everything.  Everything we have is God’s.  All we are.  All we have.  All the time.   

We are to love Him with all of our heart, soul, and strength.  This was the call to Israel through Moses in Deuteronomy 6:4-5.  This is repeated by Jesus as the Greatest Commandment in Matthew 23:36-37.   The Lord doesn’t merely want only our 10% tithe or just our Sunday mornings, Christmases and Easters.  He is not impressed with our sacrifices (1 Samuel 15:22; Hosea 6:6); He wants our hearts.     

They marveled at His teaching but didn’t like what He said.   So leaving Him, they went away (v. 22).  It is not in our nature to give to God what is God’s; rather we want to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and keep the rest for ourselves.  But the Lord will reign forever.   All pretenders to the role of King and Priest, including Caesar, Uzziah, and other earthly kings, will bow before Him (Philippians 2:10-11).   Christ will reign forever!  And if we are His, then we will reign with Him (Revelation 22:5).  He is WORTHY of ALL we have!  Hallelujah!  Amen!  

Matthew 22:11-14: Many are Called, but Few are Chosen

“How did you come in here without wedding clothes?” The king to the speechless guest at the wedding feast, Matthew 22:12

 “Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak.   We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” (C.S. Lewis, “Weight of Glory”; first given as a sermon at Oxford in November 1941)

“If we go to heaven, and some say we don't, but if there's a reckoning day.  Please God, I'll see you and maybe I won't;  I've a bag packed to go either way.”  (Mark Knopfler, “Heart Full of Holes”)

“Sorry I wasn’t in church on Sunday but I was practicing witchcraft and learning to become a lesbian.”  A bumper sticker we saw in Ft. Collins, Colorado, July 1999.

These four verses from Matthew 22 are a continuation of the parable of the king’s feast.   In the parable none of the king’s invited guests attend the wedding feast of his son (Matthew 22:2-3); they even mistreat and kill the king’s messengers (Matthew 22:6).   So the king sends his slaves to gather together all they could find, from the main highways and streets, anybody and everybody, (Matthew 22:9) “and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests” (Matthew 22:10).

But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes and he said to him, “Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?”  (v. 11-12).   The Ryrie Study Bible offers this insight: “This assumes that the guests would have been supplied with robes by the king’s servants, since all the guests came in a hurry and most were unsuitably attired.”   To receive proper clothing to wear when one was the guest of royalty was customary in Biblical times (Genesis 45:22; 2 Kings 10:22; Esther 6:8, 8:15).

The main teaching point of the previous parable is that Israel has rejected God’s call to live as His covenant people, even mistreating the prophets sent to her (see Jeremiah 32:32-33, etc.).  So the invitation to be among His covenant people has been sent out everywhere; all are invited to the wedding feast.   Yet this parable, vv. 11-14, offers a strong warning:  May we not take for granted the invitation to the wedding feast.     

Paul said that as wild olive branches grafted into the domestic olive tree once the original dead branches have been cut away, we should “not be conceited, but fear.  For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you,” (Romans 11:20-21).   All may come to the wedding feast.  But we come on His terms, not on our own terms.    We do not clothe ourselves in our own righteousness, rather we “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14).

The king then gives orders to have the speechless (v. 12), improperly dressed guest to be tossed “into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (v.13).   The gift of salvation is free.   But for those who reject the free gift, there is no back door into heaven.  The kingdom of heaven is not about rewarding good people; for we know that “both evil and good” (Matthew 22:10) will be at the wedding feast. Rather His kingdom is about the Lord gathering to Himself those who are His by faith. “For many will say to Me on that day,” Jesus explains in Matthew 7:22-23, “’Lord, Lord, did we not…in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me…’” 

“For many are called, but few are chosen,” (v. 14) Jesus says in conclusion.   There is the general call to salvation given to all peoples.   Then there is the specific call that brings some to Himself.  I don’t know where the line is between man’s free will and God’s election; for me it is not a clearly defined line.  And I am okay with that; there are some things about the Infinite God that finite man we will never fully comprehend.  I echo the words of theologian Alan Hultberg regarding this verse: “Jesus preserved a tension between individual response and divine election.”

However, I can comprehend that to be a properly clothed guest at the King’s wedding feast for his Son will be the greatest joy imaginable.  It will make an invitation to any royal wedding on this planet seem like making mud pies in the slum.  Lay aside our trivial pursuits for worldly pleasures.  Get dressed; lets go.  And don’t miss this for the world!   

Matthew 22:1-10: Invitation to the Royal Wedding

“Behold, I have prepared my dinner…everything is ready; come to the wedding feast,” Jesus in Matthew 22:4

"Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can't wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but heaven has to step it up a bit.” Los Angeles Times columnist Joel Stein

"For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse." Science fiction author Isaac Asimov

"Jesus, unlike the founder of any major faith, holds out hope for ordinary human life. Our future is not an ethereal, impersonal form of consciousness. Rather we will eat, embrace, sing, laugh, and dance in the kingdom of God, in degrees of power, glory, and joy that we can't at present imagine." Tim Keller, from his book Prodigal God

 

At the top of the list of recent headlines was the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.  Some experts say the wedding was seen on TV by 2 billion people.  In the weeks leading up to the wedding, gossip ran high as to who was invited and who was snubbed.   Yet Jesus tells us of even a greater wedding with a bigger invite list that has been largely ignored.  Instead of treasuring this greater invitation, most responded with indifference and even murderous anger.

 Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.   And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast and they were unwilling to come” (vv.2-3).    Those that were invited “paid no attention” (v.5) and some even “seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them” (v.6).

“The king was enraged…and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire (v. 7).”   Once again, this parable is historical, meaning the parable retells actual events.  Most commentators say this parable points to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70 by the Roman army.   Over 1 million Jews were killed in that siege, according to the Jewish historian Josephus.  

It must be remembered that Matthew is writing his gospel as a polemic to the Jews, providing evidences that Jesus is the promised Messiah.   And Matthew shares three consecutive parables here (of which this is the 3^rd) that all speak of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God’s covenant with them.  “The Messiah has come,” Matthew’s point is, “and you have rejected Him and even killed Him.  Just as you did to the prophets who were sent before Him.  Judgment will be the result.”  The invitation to be in a covenant relationship with the Lord will be taken from those who were invited but not worthy (v. 8) and opened to all peoples, even to those found along the “the main highways” (v.9) and “streets” (v. 10). 

A wedding feast is the most frequently used metaphor in Scripture when it comes to a description of heaven.  Isaiah speaks how the “Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples” (Isaiah 25:6).  “He will swallow up death for all time and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces.”   Those at the banquet will turn to one another and say, “This is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.  This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation” (Isaiah 25:8-9).  Even John the Baptist uses this figure of speech and calls himself a “friend of the bridegroom” and how his joy “has been made full” (John 3:29).   

There is a Far Side cartoon that shows someone bored and sitting on a cloud.  The caption reads, “Wish I’d brought a magazine.”  Although funny, it shows an ignorance, even a hard-heartedness, toward His wedding banquet. For those accepting His invitation, we will feast, we will fellowship, we will rejoice and we will dance on the streets that are golden!    There will be no greater party, no greater dance, no greater banquet than the marriage feast of God’s Son!   This marriage feast will make William and Kate’s wedding look like a commercial time out during the taping of Romper Room.  

This parable goes on to say that both evil and good will be in the wedding hall as dinner guests (v.10).   For the Pharisees, evil and good was very clear cut:  if you could not trace your lineage to Abraham, you were evil.  If you were a Jew, you were good.   But the Lord has thrown open the wedding hall to all who would come.  Regardless of race or ethnicity, whether one has done evil or good, everyone is invited.    This is a wedding that you do not want to miss.   Don’t be content to watch this one on TV from a non-air-conditioned room.   You have been invited!  Will you be there?