March 23, 2016
LIBERTY! FREEDOM! TYRANNY IS DEAD! RUN HENCE, PROCLAIM, CRY IT ABOUT THE STREETS.
Matthew 22:15–22
Jay Kreusch
Central Truth
When you poke and prod the Word of God, looking for the advantageous angle, you may go away amazed. When you truly engage with Jesus, you won't walk away. You will follow Him and worship Him . . . and it will change EVERYTHING.
Key Verse | Matthew 22:22
When they heard it [Jesus' reply], they marveled. And they left him and went away. (Matthew 22:22)
Matthew 22:15–22
Paying Taxes to Caesar
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. 1 22:16 Greek for you do not look at people's faces 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. 2 22:19 A denarius was a day's wage for a laborer 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.
Dive Deeper | Matthew 22:15–22
I don't know about you, but whenever I read about Caesar in the New Testament, for some reason my mind wanders to Shakespeare's famous Julius Caesar. After looking it up, I noticed that after Caesar is betrayed and dies, the words first said thereafter are, "Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead! Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets."
What a wonderful parallel and so appropriate to this passage. As we think about Jesus' betrayal instead of Caesar's, we should think, "Liberty! Freedom! SIN is dead! Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets. Jesus is ALIVE!"
Since the election cycle is in full swing, taxes are often frequently discussed. This passage is therefore being abused by both sides of the aisle frequently in defense of their own selfish views. But this passage isn't really about taxes, is it?
If you look at the passage closely, you will notice something very interesting that has NOTHING to do with taxes. The interesting thing is that the Pharisees go away amazed. How could you just "go away" after hearing the words of Christ?
All too often as Christians, we are amazed by Jesus, but we just go away. We go away just like those Pharisees. We hear His words and are in awe of the truth, then we just go about our business. How sad.
When we understand our own sin, when we understand the amazing grace of the cross, when we understand the profound gift that is given to us, we can't just go away amazed. We must stop what we are doing and follow Him.
Discussion Questions
1. In what ways are you reading the words of Jesus and trying to trick Him into allowing you to do something you know is wrong?
2. When you go away "amazed," what are you going to?
3. Do you understand why Jesus is amazing? Would you like to? How has your amazement about Christ caused you to act differently?