Last week (“Faith and Politics: Seek the Peace of Where You Are”) I said that Jeremiah’s advice to those contemplating rebellion against the Babylonian king was to submit to the yoke of subjugation to the king, because the pagan king was God’s chosen instrument for that time. Jeremiah encouraged them—even in captivity in Babylon—to seek the peace of that place, for if Babylon prospered, they would prosper.
Towards the end of the sermon, Priscilla asked, “But what about something like Nazi Germany? Surely it was right to hide the Jews! Surely we should not have collaborated with the Nazis!” Today’s sermon is a step towards addressing Priscilla’s concern.
Matthew 22:15-22
Commentary
v15-16 Politics makes strange bedfellows. Here the Herodians (supporters of the half-breed King Herod, the puppet-king installed by the Romans) and the Pharisees (pious legalists) conspire together to trap Jesus. If Jesus advocates sedition by refusing to pay the tax, the Herodians will be offended. If Jesus advocates capitulation by paying the tax, the Pharisees will be scandalized.
v20 Whose portrait ... whose inscription? Tiberius was Caesar when this event occurred, so most likely the coin bore the image of Tiberius and the words "Caesar Augustus Tiberius, the son of the divine Augustus." In addition to despising the Roman occupation of Judah, the Pharisees considered the coin (the required coin for paying the tribute) blasphemous.
v21 Jesus' words have posed a riddle for Christians through the ages. Some have read into Jesus' words a separation of church and state; others see it as commanding respect for worldly authority; others claim it demands rendering everything over to God. (Wikipedia has a great overview of the range of opinions at "Render Unto_Caesar".)
Application
Consider the context of the words. Jesus will shortly be arrested, tortured, put on trial, and killed by the minions of Caesar. Jesus will submit to Caesar without a word in his defense. He will do nothing to prevent the government from forcibly imposing its will. Certainly in his arrest, trial, and death, Jesus is obedient to his Father—rendering unto God what is God's—but that includes submitting to government reprisal when his actions run afoul of what the government desires. This is the heart of civil disobedience. Jesus' counsel in the face of what is about to happen to him is profound. Jesus pays taxes to a government that turns around and executes him—talk about seeing your tax dollars at work! It suggests that we do not go far enough in submission to the authorities that (as we learned last week) are God's chosen instruments.
Priscilla's question was, "What about the Nazis?" Nazis and fascists have been so demonized by historians that we have forgotten that—prior to World War II—the Roosevelt New Deal administration held up fascist Italy and Nazi Germany as progressive models that America should follow. A famous, and telling, defense of Mussolini was that, "He made the trains run on time," while early Nazi Germany was hailed for its advances in universal health care, senior care, organic foods, and cancer research (all this for pure-blood Aryans, at least). No government is so corrupt as to not care for at least a portion of its citizens, and no government is so benevolent as to care for all its citizens as it should. [1]
However, the problem comes when government oversteps its boundaries and claims the place of God. We see this in Caesar's claim to be divine, or Nazi Germany's mix of radical nationalism & racism. We cannot give our trust, our souls, to anything but God—that is idolatry. Therefore submitting to an immoral law is indefensible; Germans must hide the Jews. However, when we refuse to give to the government that which it cannot have and the government punishes us, we must submit. As Jesus said:
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28).Points to Ponder
We can see the boundaries overstepped by Caesar or the Nazis. What boundaries have been overstepped by our own national, state, and municipal governments?
On the other hand, even if we disagree with the laws of the government, can we submit to giving the government what it is due?
If you think abortion is wrong, but it is allowed by the government, would Jesus say it is OK to bomb abortion clinics?
If you think war is wrong, would Jesus say it is OK to protest the war? Would Jesus say it is OK to riot?
If Mainers vote to allow gay marriage next week, would Jesus say that is sufficient reason to disengage with society and hold up in church?
Many Christians believe that the mark of the beast in Revelation has something to do with money or the ability to conduct commerce (Revelation 13:17-18). If a world government came along and ordered a world currency, would Jesus say it is OK not to give to the government what it is due?
Read The Declaration of Independence. Would its authors agree or disagree with Jesus?
End Notes
1- This is why the founding fathers believed in checks and balances to mitigate or rectify the “train of abuses” that are bound to occur when government oversteps its bounds. Nevertheless, our fathers said, we should suffer the evils which are sufferable:
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. (The Declaration of Independence)
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