The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
A DAY OF QUESTIONS
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
A DAY OF QUESTIONS
Golden Text: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” (Matt. 22:21)
Lesson Plan:
1. A New Stratagem of the Pharisees (vs 15, 16)
2. The Trap – Is It Lawful to Give Tribute to Caesar? (vs 16, 17)
3. Jesus’ Wise Answer (vs 18-22)
4. Rendering to Caesar the Things That Are Caesar’s
5. Rendering to God the Things That Are God’s
Lesson Setting:
Time: Tuesday, April 4, A.D. 30. The last day of Jesus’ public teaching.
Place: The courts of the
Temple at Jerusalem.
Research and Discussion: Jesus in a battle with the enemies of the kingdom of heaven. His test by difficult questions. The simple truth, as His means of overcoming. The Herodians. Their relation to the question asked. The coin of the tribute. The wisdom of Jesus’ answer.
Introduction: Jesus was still in the midst of a great moral battle. He was defending the true church of God, as expressed in the ideal of the Jewish nation and in the new kingdom of God, against bitter enemies. The battle continued all that day – no less real a battle because it was a moral battle of right against wrong, of truth against error. This lesson represents only one skirmish in a long battle. Make it live before your mind’s eye. Translate it into life. Be aware that this is not a far-away story, but related to our own personal lives, because we fight the same kind of battles day after day.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:15, 16
1. A New Stratagem of the Pharisees
Determined to put Jesus to death, the Jewish rulers went to work accomplishing their purpose with satanic ingenuity. These rulers were not humbled or reproved by these wonderful parables wherein Jesus held up, as in a mirror, the truth concerning their lives. Instead the Pharisees became even more convinced to destroy Him. Their first maneuver was to confront Christ with some questions which they twisted and misquoted, hoping to find a way to condemn Him to death. On this great Tuesday the Lord’s opponents of all shades of opinion united to oppose and confound Him. They stated argument after argument, employing all their authority, learning and skill, hoping to either discredit Jesus in the eyes of the people or to extort from Him some reply involving Him with the civil powers. Having failed so far they now employed new and ingenious tactics seeking to ensnare Him with words they could use against Him either as treason against the Romans or as opposed to the prevailing hopes and ideas of the Jewish people. Whichever position He took they wanted it to be His ruin. Jesus did not seek controversy, but when it was thrust upon Him He used it as a means of bringing out clear truths. Controversy may have value, provided it is always used to purify and perfect God’s truth, no matter what opponents may say or do.
Illustration: No one man has all truth. Even an opponent might see a portion or side of truth. The Holy Scriptures contain the total, the whole of God’s truth for mankind. Sometimes one student of God’s Word might understand and see a certain portion or side of God’s truth, while another might understand and see the other side or portion. At first the two might meet one another in conflict. However, the fire generated by such a collision might in the end become a perfect fusion.
Illustration: Opposition of the most bitter and malicious enemies may be used like the thin filament in an electric light, which by obstructing the electric current is made to give forth a dazzling light.
The two parties: (a) The Pharisees were very strict in their teaching of the Jewish law. They believed in their own nation as the chosen of God, separated from their unbelieving neighbors. They were looking for a Messiah who would deliver them from Rome’s yoke. They hated Roman dominance and were fiercely opposed to the tribute taxes which supported the government they hated. They regarded Rome as impiety and treason to their God. (b) The Herodians on the other hand were a political party composed of the adherents and supporters of the Herodian dynasty, which was the representative of the Roman Empire. They pandered to the vice and cruelty of the Herods, and submitted or yielded obsequiously to the Romans. “They were traitors alike to Israel and to Israel’s God” (Dr. David Smith). “Every important city throughout the Holy Land was garrisoned by Roman soldiers. The common currency was Roman coin. Roman law transcended every other law. Judea lay prostrate at the feet of the mistress of the world” (Francis Wayland).
Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:16, 17
2. The Trap – Is It Lawful to Give Tribute to Caesar?
Keeping themselves out of sight, the Pharisees send to Jesus a mixed delegation of both parties ... “their disciples” (v 16), several young men, who, like Saul of Tarsus were being trained in the Rabbinical Schools, and along with them several of that courtly order, the Herodians. They began by complimenting Jesus, as if they were His sincere disciples, desiring to know what to do, making it necessary for Him as a teacher and prophet to give a decisive answer for their guidance.
v 16 ... “Saying.” “The snare was set with much astuteness, and well baited with flattery, the bait coming first. The compliment, besides being treacherous, was insulting, implying that Jesus was a reckless simpleton who would give Himself away, and a vain man who could be flattered” (Expositors Greek Testament).
v 16 ... “Master, we know that thou art true,” so that You will speak the truth without fear or favor.
v 16 ... “And teachest the way of God in truth,” You can give a divine answer to our question, one of absolute truth. “The way of God is the conduct or manner of life which God requires” (Int. Crit. Com.).
v 16 ... “Regardest not the person of men.” You speak the truth whether rulers, governors, or emperors are pleased with it or not; You are brave and true.
v 17 ... “Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?” The word rendered “”tribute” is properly the Roman word ‘Census.’ “It denoted, as used by the Jews, the annual poll tax which was levied on the people for the treasury of the Roman emperor. The publicans collected it, and were obliged to transmit to the Roman treasury as much as accorded with the official census of the population. Hence the designation of the tax. It was of the value of a day’s wages” (Dr. Morison). “Can a person of tender consciences as we,” they say, “pay this tribute without sin? Or must we refuse, and bring upon ourselves all the consequences of resistance to the civil authority?”
The Dilemma: No matter which side Jesus took, it would bring Him and His cause into trouble and disaster. He was sailing between Scylla and Charybdis, to be wrecked on the rocks, or swallowed up in the whirlpool. (a) If He said it was not right to pay the taxes, that it was treason against God and the promised Messiah to pay them; that it was wicked to thus support a monarch who was a tyrant of atrocious wickedness, and a government that was ever working against the kingdom of God – then He would be in collision with the whole Roman empire. He would be treated as a rebel and criminal. The Pharisees would be able to have Jesus convicted in the Roman courts, ending His career. (b) On the other hand, if He said it was lawful for the Jews to pay the Roman taxes the great mass of people would be against Him, and He would lose His hold on them; for they hated the Roman government, and one of the first and greatest things they expected of the Messiah was deliverance from subjection to a foreign power.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:18-22
3. Jesus’ Wise Answer
Great truths for all ages spring up from bitter opposition: “Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites” (v 18), masking your base designs under the guise of seekers after truth.
v 19 ... “Show me the tribute money.” Lit., the coin of the census, the coin in which the poll tax is paid.
v 19 ... “And they brought unto him a [silver] penny,” a denarius, a silver coin worth about $32.
v 20 ... “Whose is this image?” The emperor issuing the coin usually had his image stamped on it; as is common in modern times.
v 20 ... “And superscription,” the inscription on the coin, the name and titles of the emperor. Tiberius’ portrait is on one side, while the inscription circled around both sides. He was both pope and emperor.
v 21 ... “They say unto him, Caesar’s.”
v 21 ... “Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s.” “The image and superscription on the coin implied the sovereignty of Caesar. The Jews, by using the coins, in so far were served by the Roman government. They therefore owed it some service in return. This service was the payment of taxes” (Dr. Shailer Mathews, ‘The Social Teaching of Jesus’). So long as they used the protection, roads, money, courts, etc., of the Roman government, it was simple honesty to pay their part of the expenses. The badness of the rulers did not make dishonesty right on the part of their subjects. The payment did not indorse the government. It is not without significance that when they asked: Shall we give? Jesus answered: pay.”
v 21 ... “And unto God the things that are God’s.” God as your maker, preserver, giver of countless good gifts, one of the choicest of which was the gift of His Son, their Messiah, had a right to claim love and obedience from them. Fulfill those duties as faithfully as you should those to an earthly ruler. Bring your whole life under the sway of conscience and righteousness. This appealed to their conscience. It was no evasion of the question, but a statement of great principle which applies to all ages. Thus Jesus went to the very heart of the matter, establishing the true foundation principle for Christian citizenship.
4. Rendering to Caesar the Things That Are Caesar’s
(A) Living in a country, enjoying its protection, receiving its advantages, traveling on its roads, studying in its schools, partaking of all the good things it provides, puts us under obligation to be good, loyal, law-abiding, tax-paying citizens. Paul urges the same spirit, “Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God: and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment. For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Wherefore ye must needs be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’s sake. For this cause ye pay tribute also; for they are ministers of God’s service, attending continually upon this very thing. Render to all their dues” (Rom. 13:1-7). So Peter writes: “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; “Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well” (1 Pet. 2:13, 14). Likewise, Jesus Himself lived under the Roman law in the same spirit of obedience.
(B) But a Christian must determine the things belonging to Caesar, and also what belongs to God. The Lord’s claim over us transcends that of any civil magistrate in this way: if the magistracy commands us to disobey God, it has transcended its proper powers, its commands are then of no authority, and a Christian cannot, must not obey them, being willing to suffer the consequences according to law. The Apostles did so: “Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to harken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye: for we cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard ... Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 4:19; 5:29). And they went to prison for it, rejoicing because they could suffer for Jesus’ sake. Christians have to live in countries where the government is not perfect, and it is their duty to be good citizens, the best citizens possible. This was one of the ways by which Christianity conquered the Roman Empire. To have fought the empire with worldly weapons would have been ruin, as Christ Himself said: “For all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Matt. 26:52). They conquered by obeying Christ’s precept “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” They did this best by His further command to “render unto God the things that are God’s.” But note that very seldom did obedience to this higher law come into conflict with the essential principles of the empire, or of the Jewish rulers. When the apostles disobeyed the autocratic commands of Jewish rulers they did not disobey the law of the land, and the same was usually true as to the Roman law. And really their obedience first and highest to God’s law was a sustaining of the things that really were Caesar’s. And the same is true of most persecutions.
(C) Under this principle Christ laid down, it is the duty of Christians to vote in their country’s elections and to honestly pay their taxes, to disdain revenue cheating. Christians “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” by being the best possible citizens, by laboring to overcome its evils, and doing everything possible to help every good cause.
5. Rendering to God the Things That Are God’s
God’s image is stamped on the soul of man. It is sometimes soiled in the mire of sin, dimmed by the friction of worldly cares, bent and distorted by wrongs done and wrongs received; but every man was created in the image of God. This makes it possible to be restored, to receive the fuller, sweeter, more perfect image of God’s holiness. Jeremy Taylor wrote a poem comparing our sinful hearts to clay, on which God is asked to stamp His image, as a coin receives its impression in the mint: Stamp it, and on this sordid metal make Thy holy image and it shall outshine The beauty of this golden mine. Therefore, render unto God yourself first of all, for you belong to God. “Here, Lord, I give myself to thee, ‘tis all that I can do.” What are ‘these things that are God’s’? What share has He? What rights of ownership, creation, and preservation? What title? What claims? – In your bodily strength, in your time, in your real or personal estate, in your mind and its education, in your tongue and its speech, in your business and its profits, in your social influence and its motives, in your home happiness and the fruits of it?
Take my life and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee. Take my feet and let them be Swift and beautiful for Thee. Take my lips and let them be Filed with messages from Thee. Take my silver and my gold; Take my moments and my days; Take my will and make it Thine, Take my heart it is Thine own. Take my love, my God, I pour At thy feet its treasure store (Frances R. Havergal).
Conclusion: The Titans are mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:18 where we read about “the valley of Rephaim” or “the valley of the Titans” (Greek translation of Old Testament). These Titans were “an aboriginal Canaanitish race of reputed giants” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) who fell in battle to David and his men. “Sibbecai ... slew Sippai, of the sons of the giant ... and Elhanan ... slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite ... And there was ... a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty ... and he was also born unto the giant. And when he defied Israel, Jonathan ... slew him. These were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and the hand of his servants” (1 Chron. 20:4-8). Of interest, David’s army was full of giant slayers in contrast to Saul’s army (1 Sam. 17). Maybe that is because their leader, David, was a giant slayer himself. These fellows were courageous in battle because they trusted in God (1 Sam. 17:45-48; 2 Sam. 7:1). When the odds seem to be against you this is something to remember. The seen and unseen enemies of God’s people are no match for God Himself, a God who has promised, “I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5). We need to render unto God what He wants most from each of us: faith, love, trust in His promises and a steadfast effort to study and obey the Bible, God’s Sacred and Holy Word.
Illustration; “Our destiny is a direct result of our next decision.” As we all move from “one degree of glory to another,” we must never lost sight of the fact that the ultimate victor is the Son of God, resurrected after the awful pain of Calvary. Jesus Christ provides strength that we cannot achieve on our own.
At times the struggle may seem insurmountable, but remember the old saying: “Life is hard by the yard, but a cinch by the inch.” William J.H. Boetcker wrote, “The difficulties and struggles of today are but the price we must pay for the accomplishments and victories of tomorrow.” As you load your briefcase, purse, or backpack with laptop, books, binders, day planner, etc., in preparation for business, work or class, always reserve a special place for the Bible. It is in the Holy Word of God that you will find the strength, determination, and character to achieve your goals. Ivory towers and great halls of learning can never replace fervent and consistent study, prayer, and quiet reflection.
Beauty from chaos: When an artist begins a new canvass, he or she first puts down several broad strokes of basic colors. Someone watching through an untrained eye might be confused and see no meaning at all to such a beginning. In fact, the viewer might even walk away, convinced that nothing of beauty could come of so awkward a start. As the artist works carefully to blend the colors and to introduce an occasional new one from his palette, what had originally seemed to be meaningless confusion begins to emerge into a beautiful painting. The workings of our God are sometimes of the same order. He does this and allows that in His world. It might appear that in a given instance there is no possible good that can come from a situation. Then, the skillful artist brings first this and then another influence to bear until something purposeful begins to emerge and some good work is done to his glory. This is the Biblical doctrine of the providence of God. Divine providence should never be interpreted as meaning that every successful effort is a God- approved one or that every disaster is divine judgment. Wicked persons, such as Haman in Esther, may prosper for a time and appear to be successful. At the same time, good persons like Job or Joseph may suffer as Satan attempts to undermine and destroy their faith in God. We are not infinite in wisdom and thus cannot see things as God sees them. We cannot always discern His reasons for allowing conditions which seem so unjust to us. We do know, however, that such unpleasant episodes as those which have been endured by Joseph, Esther, or many a modern-day saint have perfected faith and strengthened character. God is working on the canvas of human history. We must not presume to know what He is attempting to achieve in particular cases. Neither are we wise enough to be critical of His methods. His workings in our lives are beyond our ability to discern and we may not understand them until we look back from eternity – Beauty from chaos; Victory from defeat; and Life from death. God has a track record of doing it time and again. So don’t despair that you cannot see His resolution to your present crisis. Just continue to live by faith, not by sight.
Illustration: Do you sometimes feel that your Christian character is blurred, like a coin can be defaced? Have you ever seen silver or gold come in contact with a drop of quicksilver? At once the precious metal sucks up the mercury and loses its brilliancy, its ring, and its value. To restore it the coin must be subjected to intense heat, melting out the base metal.
Brought into contact with evil, a Christian may take some of the evil in, producing injury. The outcome? – A defacing; losing the ring, the focus, the aspect of Christianity. Through Christ restoration is possible. But it comes only by passing through the fire of repentance, burning out the evil. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
