ResponsiveReiding

From Matthew 23:13-36 / Woe, woe, woe, seven times – woe!

Jesus began this section with His question to the Pharisees, and His condemnation of pride in the priesthood. Something we might rightly transfer not only to those in “ministry” but to all of us in our service to the King. If we are serving Christ and His Church for our own gratification, we are in dangerous territory. That does not mean that we ought not enjoy being in His service, not at all. We ought to delight at being employed by Him. But when being employed by Him and enjoying it, flips so that begin to accrue to ourselves some of the glory that belongs only to Him – when serving Him feeds our pride – woe to us. For now, ministry serves us, rather than we serving in ministry. We become like Achan in Joshua 7, taking for ourselves what is supposed to be dedicated to God. When we forget Christ’s words to the Disciples in Luke 17:10 “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ” Our highest obedience is only our bare responsibility – not something to pride ourselves in.

So it is Jesus then issues these 7 “woes” for those (in this case the Pharisees) who refuse to humble themselves, but instead seek to be exalted by others.

Woe #1 (13) – When we assume that who “gets in” or not, is up to us and our little group. Damning exclusivity based upon connection to us over and above connection to Christ by faith.

Woe #2 (15) – Engaging in making disciples of us, rather than disciples of Christ.

Woe #3 (16-22) – Constructing ethical paradigms built upon our views over and above Biblical teaching. Paradigms that circumvent the need for transparent truthfulness.

Woe #4 (23-24) – Teaching that technical, ritualistic and mechanical obedience makes the character of Christ within irrelevant.

Woe #5 (25-26) – Replacing spiritual transformation with mere moralism.

Woe #6 (27-28) – Putting more emphasis on how one appears to others, than on how the inward man is perceived by God.

Woe #7 (29-35) – Putting emphasis upon the people they were connected to, as though that says something positive about them – rather than identifying with Christ Himself. It creates cults built upon human association. And prevails today in celebrity ministries.

How glorious is the Gospel then?

We are born again in the Kingdom by the Spirit, and our eternal destiny is not up to any human institution – great or small.

We are made new so as to follow Christ. And listen to only those who point us to Him, to His persona and work.

We come to walk in the light even as He is in the light – and there all our sins are met in Christ. And there are no spiritual elite who can live by other rules than the holiness of Christ.

We are justified by faith, not by works. Our righteousness does not depend upon rites and rituals, but upon the righteousness of Christ imputed to us by faith.

We seek to be transformed by the renewing of our minds by the work of the Spirit as He reveals to us the work of Christ, and illumines His Word to us to sanctify us by the Truth. Changed lives flowing our of changed hearts.

We seek to be smiled upon by The Father, as it is without faith, it is impossible to please Him. We are freed from bondage to how others may see us.

We find no spiritual comfort or status in who we might be connected to by blood or association – but in our being one with Christ by the Spirit. This is all our hope – that we are in Christ.

How freeing and glorious then is this salvation! All of grace, all of grace, all of grace.

All gory to Christ our King. Our Savior and our God.

From Matthew 23:1-12 / Sitting on Moses’ Seat

The previous chapter closed with Jesus putting forth the question to others – specifically the Pharisees, regarding who the Christ was in light of David’s enigmatic statement in Psalm 110. From here then, He begins to dismantle the perceived spiritual authority the Pharisees had.

It wasn’t that they held an actual office, but rather that they had come to be seen as having the most authority when teaching the Scriptures. Even as many today find some Bible teachers or preachers as having more soundness or authority than others in our eyes.

Note first: Jesus does not simply dismiss ecclesiastical authority. He says plainly the scribes and the Pharisees “sit on Moses’ seat.” Blomberg comments: ““Moses’ seat” referred to an actual chair in the synagogues and stood for the teaching authority of Moses’ successors as interpreters of Torah (cf. Deut 17:10). The expression is roughly parallel to our reference to the pulpit as the symbol for preaching or scriptural exposition.” _{Blomberg, Craig. 1992. Matthew. Vol. 22. The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.}

That said, Jesus doesn’t say simply to disregard them – but to assess and respond to them appropriately. Neither their corruption nor their wrong notions automatically meant they were to be disregarded. So “observe whatever they tell you”; follow their instructions and honor their authority while they maintain their role. But! Do not be like them.

Note second: The 3 deadly manifestations of dead religiosity. What Jesus says the crowds and the Disciple s are NOT to do, while still honoring the position of those occupying “Moses’ seat.”

1. Hypocrisy. Preaching one thing and living a lifestyle contrary to what is preached and taught. And it is why even today, no matter how orthodox some teacher or preacher may be – if his life and character to do not comport with the truths they teach – with the Spirit of Christ. Recognize the issue, and do not fall into the same trap.

2. Putting spiritual burdens on others, without pointing them to how Christ meets those in grace. There is plenty of “law” preaching still about today. A quasi-Christianity built upon mere moralism – dressed up in Christianese. They use Biblical texts, and they note how Christians ought to live, but all the while there is an unspoken undercurrent that it is really our behavior which justifies us before God, and not faith in Christ alone.

As William Gurnall wrote: “It is not the least of a minister’s care and skill in dividing the word, so to press the Christian’s duty, as not to oppress his spirit with the weight of it, by laying it on the creature’s own shoulders, and not on the Lord’s strength.”_{Gurnall, William, and John Campbell. 1845. The Christian in Complete Armour. London: Thomas Tegg.}

Perhaps one of the most glaring examples of such is when parents tell their children to be obedient, or God will not love them. Putting the burden of God’s love on those precious little shoulders, when we ourselves cannot live up to such a standard. Rather then pointing men and women to Christ, it is so easy to cross over into mere behavioralism, and leave grace to mere lip-service.

3. Doing good deeds, religious practices for the purpose of gaining the recognition and admiration of men as opposed to God.

Beware, beware, beware. This is so very subtle and so very dangerous. If you need pats on the back and recognition for your service to Christ and His Church, you are in grave danger. Labor for His eyes, not the eyes of men.

Note third: The great danger of giving teachers and preachers the place that Jesus alone is meant to occupy.

Jesus’ words in 8-10 cannot be anachronistically applied to calling Roman Catholic priests “father.” That framework was centuries away.

Jesus’ point here is that His advent, no man (and I might add no organization nor system) is to be considered the last word in Biblical interpretation or authority. The authority resides on the Word itself, especially as expounded and fulfilled by Christ – and together, as brothers, we flesh it out – using the gifts God has bestowed among us all in the Church throughout history.

Note fourth: Every Believer is a student of Christ. It is one of the non-negotiable elements of being a Christian.

Those who claim to be Christ’s and to follow Him, who are not students of His Word, are a contradiction in terms. A “disciple” is ever and always a learner. A student. And one perpetually sitting at the feet of The Savior.

Note lastly: How is is that Jesus’ call for humility here, is borne out of His own heart and practice.

Unlike earthly teachers and the hypocrisy Jesus is combating here, He lived His life always submitted to the Father. Even unto death: “Not my will, but thine be done.”

Remember His practice of attending Synagogue worship. How He sat under the preaching and teaching of the very scribes and Pharisees He is considering here.

Remember how He never challenged the Pharisees in their roles, even as they administrated God’s house and people so poorly.

Remember how He said nothing of overthrowing any authority structure, either in the culture, the Church or the home.

Remember how He was submitted to His parents – who were fallen creatures and no doubt erred in many ways.

Remember how He never grasped at being properly recognized, applauded or honored.

He is the ultimate example of true humility. And so He only calls us to be like Himself, in the power of His own Spirit.

When I originally wrote this song, it was in my mind to be sung as an anthem; similar in feel to the hymn from which I borrowed a part – “O Worship The King all Glorious Thou Art.” (William Croft’s famous tune Lyon.)

You’ll no doubt recognize my variation.

However, the producer at the time had a much different take on the piece, and what you hear recorded here was his “vision” not mine. That said, I pray it can be an encouragement.

You can listen to the piece here: https://youtu.be/6fbziPPCsUA?si=pxMP_mC7yMldqmOw

The lyrics are below.

• The Kingdom Eternal shall never suffer loss

‘Tis builded on the firm foundation, Jesus and His Cross

and though the hosts of Hell may rage its walls to overthrow

Their siege shall suffer quick defeat repelled by its holy glow

• The kingdom Eternal has Jesus for its King

And none therein shall suffer want for Christ is everything

Drinking daily at the fountain flowing from His throne

Each saint shall know the sweet supply possessed as Jesus’ own.

• The Kingdom Eternal is filled with righteous hosts

Who sing the endless praise of Father, Son and Holy Ghost

Though Heaven and Earth shall pass away with mighty fervent flame

No sound shall ever breah its walls save praise to Jesus’ name.

No sound shall ever preach its walls save praise to Jesus’ name.

His name was Richard. He had severe disabilities. Not as much physically as those brought on by his circumstances.

Richard (as I was to find out later) was born with normal intelligence, but with such profound deafness, being without inner-ear apparatus, he could not even feel vibrations properly. By the time I met him, he was in his late 20’s, and as a bus driver, I was picking him (and others with other various disabilities) and transporting all to a facility which was helping each learn to navigate the things in life most of us take for granted.

Richard, being born so completely deaf to parents who just plain had no idea what to do with such a child, just kept him in the house for the first 20 years or so of his life. He didn’t know how to tie his own shoes or much of anything else. Over time he developed a whole host of tics and odd behaviors. In his isolation, he declined further and further.

He was a big guy, over 6′ and well built. He squinted chronically. And if I didn’t arrive just on time to pick him up, he would scour the street for discarded cigarette butts and pack them in his upper and lower gums. Sometimes he would sort of shriek out loud. But he was never violent. However, one time he did stand up in the back of the bus, his hands pressed on the ceiling and began to rock the whole vehicle, to the delight of some and the terror of others of his fellow passengers.

I felt for this guy. If he had not been trapped in the house for decades, and deprived of useful interaction, he probably would have developed quite normally. His case worker bemoaned his condition as she shared it with me.

I wept.

One day, after dropping him off at the center, I sort of unloaded on the Lord. How could this be? How could this happen to an unsuspecting and (in earthly terms) innocent? I raged inwardly in my consternation. I prayed loudly, tearfully and in distress.

The Lord has big shoulders you know. He can take it. I had learned that from Job, David, Jonah and especially Habakkuk. So I went to Him with my distress and complaint.

In the silent aftermath, the words from the first line of Psalm 46:10 came to my mind. They came with such force that I began to sob: “Be still, and know that I am God.”

I would not receive the answers to my “why?” questions. But the Scripture did refocus me upon the more necessary “who?” question. My God. My sovereign God. My loving, all-wise God. My God.

And from that line in Ps. 46:10, I almost immediately scratched these lyrics, and set it to music later. I pray it may be a comfort to someone struggling today.

Click here for the audio: https://youtu.be/Hk-CxwWpF8k?si=o6XIvMDprrow-ENG

• To know His presence, is to know His perfect peace.

To fell Him near me, is to bid all care subside.

And when anxious fears, wet my eyes with tears,

His gentle voice rings sweetly through the din.

• Be still and know, that I am God

No foe can harm you not one hair upon your head.

And though the dark clouds rise, you’ve never left my eyes.

My child, be still, and know that I am God.

From Matthew 22:41-46 / Spiritual Misdirection

Slight of hand magicians – prestidigitators – rely on misdirection. If they can get your eye fixed in one place, you won’t notice what’s going on in the other place. Satan relies on the same technique.

In C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, Older demon Screwtape writes to his younger nephew on the finer points of moving the spiritually minded away from God. He closes letter 12 with this: “You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” Lewis, C. S.. The Screwtape Letters: Annotated Edition (pp. 60-62). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. 

And this reality is true regarding sins, or anything else which can edge one away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Even theology if need be. For so it was with the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the rest who kept putting questions to Jesus which all avoided asking and answering the most eternally important questions of all: Those concerning the person and work of Christ.

And so it is, when Jesus’ detractors have spent themselves questioning Him – He now questions them. And the issue: Who is the Christ? Who is God’s Messiah? And what are the implications of answering those questions? Indeed, Jesus has already visited this issue with His own disciples back in Matt. 16. And as we saw then – This, and this alone is the foundation of the Church: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Apart from this we have nothing but man made religion. Everything hangs upon and is founded upon this revelation. And any who have not had it revealed to them, are not of or in The Church. Indeed, this is THE question everyone must answer for themselves. And make no mistake, the mere truth of the data is not salvific alone. The Devil and all the demons know who Jesus really is. The question is, having received the light of who He is, have you been reconciled to God through Him?

So Jesus re-directs their attention to the Scriptures, and getting them to focus on dealing with this most critical issue – and especially in terms of how it applies to Him.

More important then Sabbath rules. More important than divorce and remarriage. More important than paying or not paying taxes to pagan governments. More important than anything else in the universe is answering who is Jesus? And then sorting out the implications of His being the Messiah, the eternal Son of God in human flesh. If that is who He is – what does this mean for you and me regarding what He said and taught, and what He did by dying for sins and rising from the dead? And what does that mean when He says He will return to judge the living and the dead?

Reader – what does all this mean to you? Think about it. Contemplate it deeply. It cannot be brushed off while you concentrate on your family, career or world events. What are you doing with Jesus? Whose son is He? How is it that David can call Him Lord when He is also His son? If this is the revelation of the incarnation – then the whole of cosmic and truth and reality – and the nature of our relationship with God places its full weight on this question.

So Reader – who is Christ? And how are you responding to that reality? Let nothing else ca[pture you until this is answered in full.

From Matthew 22:34-40 / The Impossible (Great) Commandment

Having soundly rebuked the Sadducees in the previous portion, the Pharisees now want to test the waters to see if Jesus is one of them. Maybe they can use Him to their ends if He is clearly not in the Sadducean party. But it is here where He shows that any party that does not have God’s interests first is the problem. He’s of no-one’s party. He is God’s alone.

Note first: Jesus’ citation from Deut. 6 comes right on the heels of God having given the 10 commandments. It is part of the “Shema” – the most fundamental concept in all of Judaism. While the Shema is comprised of all of Deut. 4-9, the opening statement: ““Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” heads everything else. And it is at this revelation of God’s unique oneness, that when we “hear” it, take in the full wonder of it, calls forth the only fitting response: “You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

This forms a divine summary of all that is incumbent upon humankind as created in God’s image. The knowing Him for who and what He is, that revelation would so resonate with our entire being, that we should be in perpetual rapture considering it. Which then ought to overflow in wanting our neighbor to enter into the same transcendent glory in experiencing God.

But in context, we are reminded of God’s words leading up this in Deut. 5:29 – “Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!”

God knows full well, that His people, even given the most extraordinary of revelations concerning Him; even experiencing their miraculous deliverance from Egypt and His continuing supernatural signs, are not inwardly changed by such exposures. Such is the depravity of the human heart. Such is the need for true inward transformation by the Spirit. Such is the promise of the New Covenant, and why the Old Covenant must pass away and give way to it.

This transition, the Pharisees would not be prepared for. They would not be willing to cede their power, position or construct. Jesus, was not of their party.

Note second: Just what the law of God actually commands. It commands, it demands, the impossible given our current state.

Think what it is to love God as stated here; to love God in this way, and all that reflects or represents Him to the mind as well.

With all the Heart: So that He, is valued and prized above all else. Not for what He does, but for who and what He is.

With all the Soul: Not compartmentalized. So that who and what He is, informs every part of me. My thoughts, emotions, priorities – how I govern my entire life and thought process.

With all the Mind: With truth as revealed about Him in the Word. Not an imagined God, but the God who has been displayed in His Word and ultimately in Christ.

This is more impossible than drinking in the entire ocean through a straw.

How can we ever become so drawn out of self and set in our entire being in this way? Only if we are radically transformed from the inside out. Only if the entirety of the being is redirected, refocused, cleansed from its former distortions and brought face to face with the living God in all of His glory. And how is this to be done? 2 Cor. 3:18 “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

This is why the Scripture calls us to see Jesus in every part of Scripture and in the fullness of His person and work. We will only get this “Son tan” as we make Him in His full revelation the ultimate and consistent pursuit of our lives.

Oh, that the Lord would grant us to grow in this way as Paul prayed for the Ephesians: “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

And again: “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

And so we say with The Spirit here too: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Yes, Jesus really DOES, get us.

He gets how broken we are.

He gets how sinful we are.

He gets how idolatrous we are.

He gets how desperately wicked our hearts are.

He gets how rebellious against the rule of God we are.

He gets how unbelieving we are.

He gets how wickedly we treat each other.

He gets how shattered the image we were created in is.

He gets how violent we are.

He gets how selfish we are.

He gets how we love ourselves supremely.

He gets how dreadfully sin has distorted every last vestige of His image in us.

He gets how truly lost and unwilling to seek Him, His Kingdom and His righteousness we are.

What we don’t get is that all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.

We don’t get that outside of Christ we are: Dead in Trespasses and sins; Following the course of this world; Following the prince of the power of the air; Carrying out the desires of the body and the mind; ‌We’re by nature children of wrath; Separated from Christ‌; Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; ‌Strangers to the covenants of promise; Having no hope; ‌Without God in the world.

We don’t get that unless we are born again, we cannot even see the kingdom of God. And that we are at present under the wrath of God.

And we don’t get that God sent His only true Son, God in human flesh, Jesus Christ, to take on the wrath of God against human sin, so that all who put their trust in Him as their sin-bearer, might be forgiven all of their guilt and sin, be born again, and have everlasting life.

He gets us alright. And gave Himself to rescue us from ourselves and the just wrath of God we have brought upon ourselves by our sin.

He gets us.

Which is why there is salvation in no other name, than that of Jesus Christ.

From Matthew 22:23-33 / A Crypt with Two Doors

The Judaism of Jesus’ day, like today, was not monolithic. There were four major groups, each with further nuances within them. There were the Zealots, the Essenes, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

The Zealots: According to Josephus, they tie their origin with a man called “Judas the Galilean.” In 6 AD, he led a revolt against Roman rule. His party continued, and even one the 12 – “Simon the Zealot” (Luke 6:15) is listed as having been a part of them, at least at some point. They were more politically and nationalistically oriented. Not so much theologically focused.

The Essenes were an influential separatist sect who appear to have gathered mainly around the Qumran district, though not exclusively. More of their written material exists today than any of the major four from that period. They lived a very strict lifestyle with some communal aspects. They had a strong view of an afterlife with rewards and punishments, and of divine intervention in human affairs.

The Sadducees probably took their name from Zadok, the high priest during the reigns of David and Solomon. They were a wealthy sect (whereas the Essenes saw all wealth as corrupting), and at the time of Jesus, the ruling class in the Temple. They show up in the inter-testamental period as more politically motivated. But they also had a distinctive theological base. Josephus says their predominating marks were: emphasis upon human free will a denial of divine action in the world, and a rejection of any notion of an afterlife. They believed and taught the soul perished with the body. Annas, the high priest was a Sadducee. They rejected anything not strictly found in the five books of Moses.

The Pharisees. The were the popular “evangelicals” of the Judaism of that day. They were serious about serving God. Rigorous in their study of Torah, rich with the oral traditions, faithful to a strict lifestyle. Like the Essenes, they held to strong notions of an afterlife and a resurrection from the dead with rewards and punishments. They were Jesus’ main antagonists.

While it is true that the Old Testament does not emphasize the realities of the resurrection and afterlife, the New Testament, especially from the lips of Jesus – places much weight upon it. The truth is, there were always strains of Judaism from the beginning who made much of the afterlife and strains which did not. But the topic comes to the fore in the preaching and teaching of Jesus as this passage evidences.

Note first: Those who wish to debate theological issues often use absurdisms right out of the gate to prove their point, rather than simply going to the Scripture. Hence Jesus’ first response – “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures…”

Note second: When one rejects part of Scripture rather than taking it as a whole – we cannot help but form skewed views. The Bible must be read as a whole. And this is where the Sadducees made their first and biggest mistake. Ignoring God’s progressive revelation through the prophets and other inspired writers, they developed a truncated theology which had little or no room for formulating the entire truth.

It is all the more interesting then that Jesus in His wisdom makes His point even out of the only portions the Sadducees did hold to – and quotes Ex. 3:6. And at that, His argument hinges on the simple use of a present tense reading of the passage. The Scripture could not have God saying “I AM the God of Abraham” etc., unless they were still alive. The text would have to have read “I WAS the God of…”

Note third: How carefully we need to study the Scriptures, even down to the tenses of the verbs, if we would know what the Bible teaches, and not just what the words say. Bible study takes work.

Note fourth: Jesus’ appeal to the power of God appears to reference how different things will be in the resurrection. Why would we be raised only to remain as we are, with sexual needs, marital relations intact, etc? The God who raises us is the God who made the angels who do not live under such constraints (angels being something the Sadducees denied as well). He was showing how their thinking of God’s power, greatness and program was so limited, they could not even imagine another existence. Like so many sadly today.

Note fifth: How Jesus in the process of rebuking His interlocutors, provides Believers with the doubly promised blessing of what is to come. First, that Scripture affirms that there is indeed life after death. Second, that in that life, God is still our God and we are still His people. And third, that the life He promises will be so much higher, so much greater, so much sweeter, so much more wonderful than this one, that even one of the highest blessings we can have here – marriage – will be off the table in comparison to the bliss to come.

What a Savior!

From Matthew 22:15-22 / In The Cross-hairs

Most of us tend to like things simple. We like black and white understanding and answers to questions. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with that desire, it can be a real hindrance to truth if we make it iron clad. We must make room for nuance and subtlety when and where required.

Wisdom dictates that we understand that some things in Scripture present us with clear antitheses – So we have Isa. 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Some things are truly evil and they cannot be construed as good under any circumstances. And, some things are good and cannot be construed as evil under any circumstances. It is never right to deny Christ, and it is never wrong to acknowledge Him for who and what He is. Black cannot white nor vice versa. Clear either/ors exist. One is either born again or not. There is no middle road.

At the same time, there are also both/ands in Scripture. So if we ask “is God one or is He three?” we cannot choose one or the other but have to answer – Yes! Was Jesus God or man? Yes. Was the Bible inspired by God or written by men? Yes. In these cases and others like them, the perfect antitheses we so long for, if answered in pure black and white, will rob us of the whole truth. It is true the Bible was breathed out by the Holy Spirit. But that is not the entire truth. Jesus was indeed God, but that is not the entire truth either.

You get the picture.

All of this leads us to the confrontation contained in our text.

The Pharisees and the Herodians, typically not friendly to one another, shared one common view – they disliked Roman rule. However else apart they were theologically and even practically – on this point they were agreed.

They were also agreed that Jesus, in gaining popularity among the masses, might prove to be less than helpful in their quest to martial the people in opposing the Romans. Both parties wanted a free Jewish state. They would iron out how theocratic that state would be after the Roman yoke was dissolved.

So it was, the two groups came together to to try and entangle Jesus in His words, so as to get the Jesus fly out of their joint ointment. If He answered a definitive “yes” it is right to pay taxes to Caesar – without qualification – then they could use that to sway the people against Him as a Roman sympathizer. And if He answered a definitive “no”, that it was unlawful to pay taxes to Caesar, they could offer Him up to the Romans as anti-Caesar. Either way, He would be out of their way.

Jesus won’t satisfy their imposed either/or construct. He knows full well that according to the Scriptures, Israel would only be under foreign rule as a chastisement for spiritual infidelity. A straightforward fact no one seemed to be addressing. They needed national repentance, not an anti-Roman movement or program. Rome wasn’t the problem, only the symptom. Sin was the problem. And only Jesus was the answer to that. Living fully under God’s rule would mitigate the need for foreign rule. But that wasn’t the answer they were looking for.

Given that they were nationally unrepentant, especially in the religious leadership – then their responsibility was to yield as fully to the foreign yoke as they could, until God would deliver them in grace. Just as they were called to do when under Babylonian rule. Because of sin, they were in this place where human rule was imposed upon them in judgment. The very same way human government has been established by God all along, due to the fact that men will not live voluntarily under the just rulership of God as individuals. So He ordains human government so as to prevent total anarchy until men’s hearts and minds are ruled by Christ. Until then, we will have to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Is this the ideal and permanent arrangement? No. One day, Christ will rule the nations. But it is what we live under until then.

Now how is that to be lived out by Christians? And the answer, as given here by Jesus, was lived out in principle by Daniel and others during the Babylonian captivity. And the guiding principle appears to be: If the State requires of me anything Scripture expressly forbids, I must refuse; and if the State forbids me to do anything the Scripture expressly requires, I must disobey. Beyond that, I flex as far as I possibly can – recognizing the fact that we are still in some form of exile until Christ returns.

Some will argue, “but what if the State is not acting justly?” This does not mitigate their authority as it is an imposed authority by God. Rome, was a far from just state. But we read of no Christian resistance to the State in general at any time. That is not our domain. Ought we to call out sin and injustice when we see it? Of course. But someone else’s wrong does not dissolve the order automatically. And thankfully, in our present society, we have many forms of redress available to us, those in Jesus’ day and circumstance did not.

The joy is, we do not need to live in constant chaffing. We recognize the temporary place we are in. This is not the end of the story. Christ is coming. All other kingdoms will eventually fall under Him. He will crush them all to dust.

Human government as we know it both a blessing and a chastisement. We must live under it as such. Praying for and hastening unto the Kingdom to come. In due time, all will be made right. Until then, we will often be found living in the cross-hairs as Jesus did. May His Spirit of Wisdom rest on us in the intervening years.

Along the dusty road they walked

On down Emmaus’ way

And tried to fathom all they knew

What others had to say

 

The seven sad and lonely miles

Were filled with anxious talk

Confusion over Jesus’ death

Made heartbreak of the walk

 

In time a Stranger came along

He asked, what weighed them so?

And they rebuked His ignorance

Did He alone not know?

 

That Jesus, out of Nazareth

A prophet strong and true

We thought would redeem Israel

The Kingdom He’d renew

 

But all our priests, and rulers too

Conspired to see Him dead

Finessed the Roman Governor

To murder in their stead

 

And thus they crucified The One

On whom our hopes did rest

We saw Him die in agony

An end, we’d never guessed

 

And now, it is the third day since

Some women we know well

Saw angels at His empty tomb

Who gave them news to tell

 

They came and found a group of us

Told us of their vision

The empty tomb with angels there

Said that He had risen!

 

Upon that news some others ran

To see what this might be

His body surely was not there

But Him they did not see

 

T’was then the Stranger stopped their tale

Rebuked their unbelief

Was it not needed Christ should die,

His glory to receive?

 

From Moses and the prophets then

Interpreting the Word

He showed they were concerning Him

Their doubts were being cured

As they drew near their destined place

The Stranger didn’t slow

But they prevailed He stop with them

The sun had drifted low

 

So He went in to stay with them

And soon came time to dine

But when He blessed and broke the bread

The Son began to shine

 

Their eyes at last were opened up

They saw Him – Jesus raised!

Just then He vanished from their sight

They sat. Undone. Amazed.

 

Oh how our hearts did burn within

They mused about their talk

And how He opened up the Word

As they had made their walk

 

Thus rushing back the seven miles

To Simon and the rest

They heard the Lord appeared to him

And told how they’d been blessed

 

When all at once The Lord appeared

They started, caught by fear

But “Peace to you” He said to them

And bid them to draw near

 

Let not your hearts be troubled now

Don’t let dark doubts arise

Come touch my hands and see the wounds

Believe your own two eyes

 

Agast, they disbelieved for joy

He asked that He might eat

And taking fish confirmed that He

Was real; That it was He

 

Then opening their clouded minds

The Scriptures to unfold

He showed how all was writ of Him

From all the ages old

 

He told that they should preach the news

Worldwide, though starting here

Of sins forgiven in His name

Salvation had come near

 

But wait! He said. My Father’s Gift

The Promise yet to come

The Spirit’s power from on high

That souls might fast be won

Then leading them to Bethany

He blessed them as He went

Ascending up and Heavenward

He left. And they were sent

 

Returning to Jerusalem

Fresh filled with joy so great

They worshiped Him and blessed their God

For Pentecost to wait

Reid A Ferguson 3/30/2024