{"id":711,"date":"2022-12-23T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-23T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy-cam.tempurl.host\/gospeladventure\/?p=711&2022"},"modified":"2022-12-20T17:00:14","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T00:00:14","slug":"more-significant-than-money-matthew-22-15-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/more-significant-than-money-matthew-22-15-22\/","title":{"rendered":"More Significant than Money: Matthew 22:15-22"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: Matthew 22:15-22 (NCV)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\">\r\n<p><sup>15\u00a0<\/sup>Then the Pharisees left that place and made plans to trap Jesus in saying something wrong.  <sup>16\u00a0<\/sup>They sent some of their own followers and some people from the group called Herodians. They said, \u201cTeacher, we know that you are an honest man and that you teach the truth about God\u2019s way. You are not afraid of what other people think about you, because you pay no attention to who they are.  <sup>17\u00a0<\/sup>So tell us what you think. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>18\u00a0<\/sup>But knowing that these leaders were trying to trick him, Jesus said, \u201cYou hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me?  <sup>19\u00a0<\/sup>Show me a coin used for paying the tax.\u201d So the men showed him a coin.  <sup>20\u00a0<\/sup>Then Jesus asked, \u201cWhose image and name are on the coin?\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>21\u00a0<\/sup>The men answered, \u201cCaesar\u2019s.\u201d<\/p><p>Then Jesus said to them, \u201cGive to Caesar the things that are Caesar\u2019s, and give to God the things that are God\u2019s.\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>22\u00a0<\/sup>When the men heard what Jesus said, they were amazed and left him and went away.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew 22:15-22&amp;version=ncv\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">Matthew 22:15-22<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>The Pharisees were notorious for trying to trick and trap Jesus saying something wrong. However, every spiritual challenge they brought Jesus\u2019 way was side-stepped, countered, or answered in a way they were not expecting.<\/p>\r\n<p>After discussing and collaborating with one another, the Pharisees came up with the perfect no-win scenario, but in order to really back Jesus into a corner, they needed to temporarily team up with a group they hated. The gospel of Matthew describes what happened \u201c<strong>Then the Pharisees left that place and made plans to trap Jesus in saying something wrong. They sent some of their own followers and some people from the group called Herodians.<\/strong>\u201d (v. 15-16a)<\/p>\r\n<p>The Herodians were Jews who had aligned themselves with Herod and the Roman government at that time. These Jews were the government supporters in a nation where most leaders disliked but tolerated the government. The Pharisees brought the Herodians with them so that they had both angles covered with enough witnesses to make a case against Jesus with whatever answer He gave.<\/p>\r\n<p>After setting the question up by giving Jesus some insincere compliments, they get to their question, \u201c<strong>So tell us what you think. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?<\/strong>\u201d (v. 17)<\/p>\r\n<p>Jesus knew exactly where this question was going, and He easily saw the trap that was in front of Him. If He said to not pay taxes, He would align Himself against the government that imposed taxes. But if He said to pay taxes, He would decrease God\u2019s rule and sovereignty and place a human, oppressive system in its place. In essence, paying taxes off the top of one\u2019s income is stealing the first money that should have been set apart as tithe to God.<\/p>\r\n<p>Jesus saw the challenge, and He saw the insincerity in how they asked the question. But to really get the point across, Jesus needed to ask a counter question. He asks them to show Him a coin, and then asks, \u201c<strong>Whose image and name are on the coin?<\/strong>\u201d (v. 20)<\/p>\r\n<p>The answer is obvious. There is a right answer, and it really isn\u2019t a trick question. Instead, Jesus uses this obvious illustration to get a point across. There was no way around admitting that Caesar\u2019s image and name are inscribed on each coin.<\/p>\r\n<p>After they respond, Jesus gives His clear and unexpected response. He says, \u201c<strong>Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar\u2019s, and give to God the things that are God\u2019s.\u201d<\/strong>\u201d (v. 21)<\/p>\r\n<p>In this response, Jesus both calls out the idea that we put our name on the things that are ours, but more importantly, He makes the statement that what belongs to God is so much more significant than money. Money is simply paper and coins &#8212; or in today\u2019s era, it is simply a line item in a spreadsheet called a bank account. In contrast, our life, our breath, and our eternity belong to God.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Jesus\u2019 response says that the government can have its money, but that we are to dedicate ourselves \u2013 the very essence of who we are \u2013 to God. Everyone of us has life because of God, and that makes us His.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--711\" class=\"aj-wrap-up\"><p><em>This thought was inspired by studying the <strong>Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/\" title=\"Check out Reflective Bible Study!\">click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p><p><em><a class=\"underline\" href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onClick=\"rbs_aj_inline_subscribe(this, '711');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pharisees were notorious for trying to trick and trap Jesus saying something wrong. However, every spiritual challenge they brought Jesus\u2019 way was side-stepped, countered, or answered in a way they were not expecting. After discussing and collaborating with one another, the Pharisees came up with the perfect no-win scenario, but in order to really [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>More Significant than Money: Matthew 22:15-22 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/more-significant-than-money-matthew-22-15-22\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"More Significant than Money: Matthew 22:15-22 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Pharisees were notorious for trying to trick and trap Jesus saying something wrong. 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