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15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” 18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” 21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away. (Matthew 22:15-22 NIV)
Happy Monday! May this day find you blessed and well is my prayer for you, dear Friend. This is the Gospel lesson for this coming Sunday. Yes, you may have read this last Monday. I pray the message is still as fresh and powerful for you and your daily walk with Jesus. I ask for prayers for Mr. James Dorff, former bishop of our conference. He has been battling cancer and has lost a lot of weight and is very weak. Pray for his comfort and peace. Pray for one another. Pray for yourselves.a
The political climate in Jesus' day was very charged with anger and distrust, similar to ours right now. The Jewish nation of Israel was no longer theirs; they had lost their land to the Romans and their government setup was distantly run by Rome, with the religious leaders of Judaism trying to govern their spiritual realm in cooperation and distrust from the secular Roman rule. In many ways, there was an overlap. To say the Jews disliked the Romans and their rules, laws, and presence, would be an understatement. And to ask them how they felt about paying taxes to a foreign government who was occupying their land, would be to ask them to punch you. The religious landscape had the priests, scribe, zealots, Pharisees, Sadducees, and an interesting group called the Herodians. These guys actually aligned themselves with Herod. Herod was a terrible man and ruler, and in no way a friend of the Jews. Still, they wanted to be in on all of the religious decisions of the day, and the chief one was to trap Jesus and find a way to kill Him. So, the Pharisees planned out what they believed would be a great, unstoppable plan to trap Jesus and thus bring Him to justice. Notice the smoothness of their language with our Savior.
"Teacher," a great way to try to disarm Jesus and try to lower His guard, "We know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth." Okay, we know the ones not speaking the truth are these so-called religious leaders. They continue, "You aren't swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are." They meant to say, you're basically ignoring us, and won't give in to the way we would like things to remain! "Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?" In our day, that's the same as asking, "Do you want to go to jail by not paying taxes?" In those days, they could have taken a "NO" answer straight to the government with known results from that being that Jesus would have been executed by the Romans as a traitor. The stage is set.
I love that the Bible says, "But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, 'You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They bring to him a denarius. Jesus asked, "Whose image is this? And whose inscription?" They only had one way to answer, "Casear's." Then Jesus says, "So give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." Boom! What could they say? They just walked away.
There was no love in the hearts of these leaders; they were evil, bitter men, devoted to their traditions and customs and to the position they had managed to achieve in their lives. Jesus posed a threat to them, for He came preaching a different way of seeing the law; a loving expression of God's intent to redeem, that is, call back His people. Their way was to continue their exclusive and elusive way of law; keep it for ourselves, the privileged. All others can stay where they are; as long as they pay what they owe to keep our way the way it is. Jesus, by contrast, was all about love. Which made me name the devotional, "Who gets your love? And who gets your money?" We should, by the title we give ourselves as Christians, love the Lord our God. And by that same token, we should love all people. And by logical progression, we share our money with that which blesses us and guides us. We should not make a fuss about tithing to the Lord, or to sharing assistance with those who need our support. It should be our way of life and faith.
PRAYER: Loving Father, help us prioritize our lives in ways that bring honor and glory to You and Your Kingdom. Forgive us the times we have allowed our anger or dislike guide our sharing. Make us people of a blessed abundance mindset to share with You and Yours. In Christ Jesus' strong name we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Share this devotional with someone who needs a blessing! Ask them to subscribe!
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
