What Belongs to Caesar | Seaport Community Church

Adam Wujtewicz | July 16, 2023

Some would consider me a right-wing-nut-job. There are three political labels I will concede to. General-Equity-Theonomist would be my preferred nomenclature. Theocratic-Libertarian is accurate enough. Christian Nationalist isn’t my favorite but I’ll work with it. God has a great deal to say about good governance and tyranny, obedience and hierarchy. To leave Him out of our political discourse is to stifle the extent of His reign. Government, is ordained by God, The Apostle Paul refers to the civil government as the Lord’s deacon. Caesar, the king, the emperor, the president, the prime minister, whatever name they may go by, are meant to serve God.

Our text today is Matthew 22:15-22. The command at hand is, “Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and render unto God what belongs to God”. The issue here is people twist this command because Jesus doesn’t follow it up with a dissertation about biblical government. Thankfully there are other places in scripture where it’s laid out. We can’t take Christ’s quotes and remove it from who Christ was. We cannot divorce God’s Law from Christ’s speech. Every single word in the Bible is written under the power of the Holy Spirit. Whether the words are spoken by Jesus, Moses, David, Isaiah, Peter, John or Paul they are equally true and binding to us.

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Hermeneutics: The theory and methodology of interpretation, especially of scriptural text.

Exegesis: Critical explanation or analysis, especially of a text.

This sermon is a bit of a hermeneutics lesson. Exegesis can’t be done in a vacuum. We can’t make the Bible say something in one place that is expressly contradicted in another. My goal in this sermon is to give us the biblical knowledge to discern what belongs to Caesar, who decides that, and how we deal with that in the real world.

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“15Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. 16And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. ”22When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.” – Matthew 22:15-22

Let’s acknowledge the simplest analysis of this text. It’s not a sin against God to pay taxes. Nothing more is said explicitly, but the Pharisees frame the conversation with flattery and testing. They attempt to capture Jesus in a bad faith conversation by saying how brave Christ is to speak truth in the face of opposition. Flattery is saying complimentary things you don’t believe or are not objectively true. The Pharisees are trying to lull Jesus into a false sense of security. They want Him to believe if He says something inflammatory, they’ll back Him up. They’re testing Jesus, trying to get Him to tell the tax collector to go take a flying leap based on religious principle. They ask; “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

What do they mean by lawful? In the Roman empire Caesar was the law. Law was decided by whim and edict. Lawful couldn’t mean, does the law of Rome say we should pay taxes. They’re asking if paying taxes to Caesar is acceptable according to God’s law. God’s Law is the unchangeable standard beyond the king. Lex Rex, law is king. It creates a standard that everyone; believer or pagan, king or peasant, must adhere to. The Pharisees are appealing to God’s Law in opposition to Caesar’s taxes.

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1: Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s not sinful

2: Church and state are different entities each with God given roles

3: If the government demands something God forbids or forbids something

God demands we obey God

This tells us; 1: just because something is lawful doesn’t mean it’s not sinful. For example, recreational marijuana, abortion, homosexual union. These are areas where God’s Law prohibits something the CT Law permits. 2: The church and the state are different entities. The Pharisees question shows possible conflict between the two but the church and the state don’t deny each other’s sovereignty or ability to exist. 3: God’s law is preeminent over both and where the state forbids something God commands or commands something God forbids we side with God.

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“We must obey God rather than men.” – Acts of the Apostles 5:29

Moses repeatedly told Pharaoh what God required until God judged him and his nation for continually forbidding it. Daniel’s three fiends would not bow down and worship the statue of the king because God forbade it and Daniel prayed in the hearing of all when the king forbade it. God vindicated them all. Both the spiritual and the civil are subject to God’s Law. Even in Old Testament Israel there is a priestly class and a ruling class. The two confer with one another for guidance and clarity of God’s word but they are separate. We agree with a separation of church and state, not Christ and state. The Pharisees are looking for Christ to tell them to be Moses, Daniel. They want Jesus to tell the entirety of Israel to rebel against Rome so the soldiers will take Him away. “Jesus said, ‘Whose likeness is this?’21They said, ‘Caesar’s.’ he said, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’”

Jesus gives the command but it begs the question, who decides? Does Caesar decide what is Caesar’s and what is God’s? Or does God decide what is His and what is Caesars? We know from the framing of the question the Pharisees believed it was God’s decision.

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“1Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,4for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.7Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” – Romans 13:1-7

Turn to Romans 13. This text is the gold standard. It was written after Jesus made His statement but there’s nothing in this passage the Old Testament believer would dispute scripturally. This is a concise version of what texts from Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Proverbs say.

“1Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. (Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.) For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. (Proverbs 8:15 says the same.) 2Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but too bad. (To say this with a knowledge of Moses, Daniel, years of Hebrew exile, and the Roman regime of Paul’s day, he can’t mean all rulers are justified in all they do. Paul was beheaded by the Roman government for preaching the gospel. This is Paul saying what God ordained government should be.) Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,4for he is God’s servant (deacon) for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. (If the state is God’s deacon then God decides what is right and wrong correct? The state is meant to uphold God’s standard. The sword is what’s rightfully Caesar’s, it’s the only tool given to the state by God. They are not equipped to educate, do charitable work, or intervene in healthcare. They are ill equipped, and it is outside their realm of authority. A government doing what it’s meant to would consist of military, tiered courts, and police to enforce the court’s ruling. The government serves God and His people by protecting the peace and prosperity of the nation through the adjudication and enforcement of His law.) 5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.(Hold on to this, there are a few principles that come into play when we consider being subject to authorities for the sake of conscience.) 6For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.7Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” (Taxes are lawful. The state doesn’t create revenue in any way, they are subsidized by the citizenry. To have a standard system of justice it must work under a singular umbrella of God’s law, played out in localities with higher courts to settle disputes involving multiple localities. This is all the authority that is necessarily rendered unto him; but there is an overarching principle of not going to literal war over everything, showing respect for the office while proclaiming to the Caesar what God says is lawful and not lawful, telling him that what he is and is not allowed to do, working in the system to remove evil legislation is our duty before God.)

God guaranteed that the government would always overstep it’s bounds when Israel asked for a king. The system of judges was meant to be enough under God’s law because the law was meant to govern not the people. God tells Israel that a king will take what God has not given government authority to take as a curse for wanting to be ruled like the pagans.

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Turn to 1 Samuel 8, starting in verse 11. This is what the prophet Samuel said the people of Israel.

“11He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. (He will take your sons to war and make them labor for him. Israel was no stranger to war so this kind of conscription and work wreaks of corruption. If your sons are running before the chariot of the king they are in a great deal more danger then he is. Leading from the rear is not an admirable trait.)13He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.(your daughters will become cogs in the machine rather than wives and mothers.) 14He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.(Corruption and cronyism) 15He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.(God required a tithe from Israel, that’s a tenth of what they produced. When the government requires equal to God, they put themselves on par with God. You know how many times our government requires of us than God? If you don’t think that’s theft and idolatry, I don’t know what to tell you besides read your Bible. Then the king will make himself and his cronies rich off the people’s labor.) 16He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work.17He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.(You ever wonder how it is you own anything if the government can take it from you if you don’t pay property taxes? Or how you can’t choose what a job is worth because of minimum wage laws or how much a product is worth because of sales tax. All of your labor and purchasing feeds the state. Just like God said it would.) 18And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day. (Every 4 years we cry out because we didn’t get the guy we voted for or the guy we voted for didn’t come close to doing what he promised.)” – 1 Samuel 8:11-18

If you don’t feel the tension between the “should be” of Romans 13 and the reality of 1 Samuel 8, I need you to wake up and start following me again. Some Christians are so set on suffering on earth to get to heaven, they believe working for redemption of anything besides individual people in this life is pointless. This is a process. There will be peaks and valleys of godliness in leadership. The curse of 1st Samuel 8 is real. Christ’s command is for us to obey as far as our conscience will take us so as not to sin before God. This requires wisdom to know what battles to fight and when to fight them. This requires discernment to know what belongs to Caesar and what does not. It requires patience and perseverance to comply with sinful mandates without sinning ourselves. It requires courage to take a defiant stance against tyranny, or tell the state it’s sinned and overstepped it’s bounds despite our compliance. Presenting new legislation, or better yet the repeal of current legislation. Going to town hall meetings and oppose sinful laws, taxes, mandates, curricula. These things can be done while still being good citizens. We can suffer injustice and still seek justice. If people are saved their lives change, right? If we preach the gospel, which requires the confrontation of sin, to politicians or state employees and they are saved, they will then govern more justly. When that happens we move to a governmental structure that brings glory to God, without ever putting aside this command of Christ. Do we see the progression from the curse of 1 Samuel 8, to the working out of this command of Christ in Matthew 22, to the end goal of a government that works for it’s citizens, upholding the righteous and punishing the wicked?

Jesus knew Caesar was sinful and took more than was his but He didn’t fight or tell Israel to rise up over the taxes. He said give to Him what is His. Samuel didn’t tell Israel once they got this sinful king they were allowed to rise up in violent rebellion against him. There are points in scripture when rebellion is rewarded.

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Examples of godly rebellion:

Hebrew midwives saving children – Exodus 1:15-22

Gideon hiding grain from Midianite occupiers – Judges 6:11

3 wise men not reporting to Herod – Matthew 2:12

The Apostles leaving prison – Acts 5:17-21

The Hebrew midwives, defying Pharaoh’s edict to kill the sons of Israel. Gideon hiding his wheat in the wine press to not pay the Midianite invaders tribute. The three wise men not returning to Herod with news of Jesus.The Apostles being broken out of prison. Rebellion isn’t always frowned upon but is always done to avoid greater sin before God. Perhaps the Pharisees thought Christ would follow in His cousin John the Baptist’s footsteps and speak out against the rulers and lose His head for His trouble.Maybe that’s why;“22When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.”

Sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor. Suffering under an unjust tax rather than losing everything and endangering your family’s well being for not paying it makes more sense. The other concept that undergirds Christ’s command is from the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:38-41.

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“38You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” – Matthew 5:38-41

The last example applies to the government because this is about being required to carry the pack of a Roman solder one mile is asked. Your resistance of this sinful action could lead to your death, but your compliance and added effort could gain you favor. This might not be the case with payment of unjust taxes but the principle of not being quarrelsome in the face of guaranteed defeat or not being petty and stubborn in retaliation stands.

There will come a point where it weighs on the conscience. When they ask something of you and you must draw the line. When you can no longer comply without it being sin. Where compliance with Caesar becomes the sin of living a lie. Some of us have already seen that red line and said no. Some of us see the red line ahead of us and are just waiting for them to ask us to step over. When that time comes do we respectfully and with reasoned response say, “I will not comply because that does not belong to you.”? As we then face the lashes that come do we seek the repentance of our victimizers offering up God’s grace to them, hoping it changes their hearts? Do we give the warning to our government by what the word of God has said in Isaiah 10?

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“1Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, 2to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! 3What will you do on the day of punishment, in the ruin that will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth? 4Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.” – Isaiah 10:1-4

This is a promise from God. It’s a promise those living under unjust governments can remember to help them suffer well. Justice is always done in this world or the next because God has promised it. We go the extra mile and pay the unjust tax knowing God’s hand is still stretched out.

This promise allows us to preach mercy and grace. To warn those walking this path there will come a day when it is too late to reconcile with God. When nothing will remain but to play dead amongst the dead and to hope you’re not noticed among the prisoners. That ruin comes for the wicked and the oppressive. Until that day comes, God’s grace is still available. His love and mercy will still set you free. Christ is still enough to stay God’s wrath against a sinner. Pray for those in power, pray that they would come to Christ and then govern like it. Pray that they would have the courage to enact God’s wisdom and only take what God has said belongs to them. Let’s do that now.

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