Flashback Episode — More Than Money: Matthew 22:15-22

As I read the gospels, I am continually amazed at how many different ways the chief priest, leaders, and Pharisees tried to trick and trap Jesus. A quick reading of any of the gospels will surface some group of leaders or Pharisees bringing a trick question to Jesus, and in every case, Jesus has a strong response.

Sometimes the response Jesus gives is an answer they didn’t expect, while other times, Jesus asks a counter question that derails or invalidates the original question.

As we move through Jesus’ last week before His crucifixion, we come to a last ditch effort to invalidate Jesus. After failing numerous times, the Pharisees come up with the perfect solution, or at least it looks like the perfect challenge when they were discussing this amongst their group.

Up to that point, I suspect some of these religious leaders believed Jesus was only saying what the people wanted to hear, which is a hard case to make if you have read any of the several challenging messages Jesus shared with the crowds that followed Him in the gospels.

However, in my mind’s eye, I suspect that some of the Pharisees plotted that a perfect approach to trapping Jesus would involve temporarily teaming up with a group they did not agree with at all – with a group of people they kind of hated, and then asking a question that would force Jesus to pick a side. Along the lines of this challenge, I suspect that these religious leaders believed that if Jesus was pressured in this way, He would have no chance avoiding disaster.

The event we are focusing in on for this podcast episode is found in three of the four gospels. While we could look at this event from any one of the three, let’s look at Matthew’s version of this event. Our passage is found in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 22, and we will read it using the New Century Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 15, Matthew sets the stage for us by writing:

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees left that place and made plans to trap Jesus in saying something wrong. ¹⁶ They sent some of their own followers and some people from the group called Herodians. [As a sidenote, the Herodians were those who were loyal to Herod the governor and the Roman government] They said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man and that you teach the truth about God’s way. You are not afraid of what other people think about you, because you pay no attention to who they are. ¹⁷ So tell us what you think. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸ But knowing that these leaders were trying to trick him, Jesus said, “You hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Show me a coin used for paying the tax.” So the men showed him a coin. ²⁰ Then Jesus asked, “Whose image and name are on the coin?”

²¹ The men answered, “Caesar’s.”

Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.”

²² When the men heard what Jesus said, they were amazed and left him and went away.

In this passage, Jesus effortlessly brushes aside this seemingly impossible challenge while also making a very profound statement.

I’ve lost count to the number of times I have heard this event, but as I was reading it in preparation for this episode, an interesting question entered my mind.

Jesus responded by saying, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.” Reading this prompted me to ask myself the question, “What things are God’s?”

When reading this event, it’s easy to understand paying taxes to Caesar, because there is a coin present, but too often, we are quick to skip over or brush past the other side of Jesus’ response. Do we really think about what Jesus means when He talks about giving God what is God’s?

One easy answer to giving God what is His might be returning tithe to Him. In several places within the Old Testament, God challenges the Israelites on their lack of generosity towards Him. In Malachi, God even goes as far as to say that not giving tithes is the same as robbing Him.

On one level, Jesus could be referring to tithe, which allows us to see the original challenge the Pharisees and Herodians bring as being exclusively focused on money. However, if we stop looking at what is God’s at the topic of tithe, we risk missing out on one of Jesus’ biggest challenges.

When we look at our lives, God has given us so much more than money. It is even true, perhaps even more true, that some of the things He has “given” us are really only things He has let us borrow. If we look at the biggest picture we can imagine, everything in the universe is God’s, from all the galaxies in the universe to all the grains of sand on a beach. Taking this big picture idea to its logical conclusion about ownership of things, anything we think we own that we are not able to keep past our short life span is probably only borrowed.

While reading this event, I am amazed that while Jesus challenges those present to give Caesar the things that are his, they are also challenged to give God the things that are His. Applying this truth into our own lives, we are challenged to give Caesar, or our government, the things that are theirs, and give to God the things that are God’s.

In the big picture of life in this universe, since we are unable to keep our money, our stuff, our relationships, or even our life after our time on this planet is over, all these things we might believe are ours are technically only loaned to us. Because God owns everything, He is the one who really owns all the things we might be tempted to thinks are ours.

While some might argue this point, within the way I see God’s blessings, the biggest thing He has blessed us with is our life. However at this time, life is not a permanent gift. At any moment, a life may return to God as a person gives their last breath. While it is sobering to think about, since we don’t know when our lives will end, this means that we all are living on borrowed time. If God is the one loaning us time, at the heart of Jesus’ challenge to return to God the things that are His, Jesus is really saying that we are to give God the time that is His – and as the cliché saying goes, time is more valuable than money.

We live in a world where the money carries the name of whatever country we live in, so according to Jesus, let the money be the governments’. But Jesus also says that the things that are God’s, which is really everything from the land, to the natural resources, to the life of every man, woman, child, and animal in every place within the entire universe is His, and that we should return our blessings to Him who has loaned us a handful of decades of time.

This is a huge truth with amazing implications. However, with that said, each of us carries with us a responsibility of this truth. This leaves us with a question: How are you returning to God the things that are His? It is only when we give back to God that we can become the person He created us to be.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. Purposefully choose to give God the things that are His while also working to improve the things within society. Intentionally use the money you have to make the world a better place, and remember that everything we have is ours only because God has blessed us with the ability to have it.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself in order to grow closer to God and to learn who He is and what He is like. Only through prayer and Bible study can we discover just how much God loves us and just how much He values you.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!