Reverend Ref +

SERMON
22 PENTECOST
PROPER 24A
(Matthew 22:15-22)

The religious leaders have had enough of Jesus. After the entry into Jerusalem, after the confrontation about John the Baptist and after the parables attacking them, they decide it's time to get rid of him.

These guys aren't stupid, though. They know Jesus has the support of the people and aren't about to arrest him in broad daylight. Instead, they "plotted to entrap him in what he said." In other words, they want to get him talking and give him just enough rope so that he hangs himself.

Israel, remember, is an occupied nation, and they live under the Pax Romana. For those of you not up on your Latin, the translation of Pax Romana is, "Do it our way and you'll have peace." And, as you would be apt to guess, living under foreign occupation leads to at least two responses. One response, or faction, is to hate the occupiers and look for ways to remove them and regain self-rule. The other faction figures that the best way to keep from being killed is to acquiesce and cooperate fully with the occupiers. Two totally different responses, and neither group cares for the other. The basic breakdown of these two groups are the Pharisees and the Herodians. Now I realize that that this is a gross oversimplification, but since those are the two groups identified in today's gospel, go with me on this one. These two diametrically opposed groups team up to fight a common enemy -- Jesus.

They get together and devise a loaded question, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor?" If Jesus says yes, his nationalistic disciples will denounce him as a traitor. If he says no, Rome will be able to step in and have him arrested for inciting rebellion. The question is a no-win situation for Jesus; it would be like me asking Bill, "Have you stopped beating your wife?" Jesus, it would seem, is caught between a rock and a hard place.

Jesus asks for a coin in response and they bring him one. What we get next is one of those biblical quotes that everybody, regardless of religiosity or biblical knowledge, seems to know, and they all know it in King James language: Render unto Caesaer the things that are Caesar's, and render unto God the things that are God's.

There are a couple of things to look at here. First, some history. We need to ask why they are concerned about paying taxes to the emperor. Remember King Herod? There were some Wise Men, a star, some dreams, a trick and an escape. Herod, after being given the slip by the Wise Men, has all of the children in Bethlehem under two killed. Herod was not a nice guy. After he died, his son Archelaus took over.

Archelaus was worse than his father, and it was because of him that Joseph moved the family to Galilee. He was so bad, in fact, that the Jewish leaders of the time appealed to Rome to have him removed. And now the current leaders are asking Jesus if they should pay the tax to the emperor. So among all of the other reasons as to why they would ask about paying taxes, idolatry and other illegal activities among them, Jesus is saying, "Hey, you invited Rome in, now you have to play by their rules." This is probably why he called them hypocrites. You wanted them, now you have to pay for them.

The second point is much more compelling, I think. Jesus gets the coin from them and then asks, "Whose head is this and whose title?" One of the ways governments assert their authority is by controlling monetary supply; we can't print our own money, that's the government's job. Rome would mint coins with the image of Caesar that could be used for legal tender. And look at our own coins and bills, they have the images of Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Washington, Kennedy and Eisenhower on them; images of leaders of this country that we use for all kinds of transactions. And generally speaking, they are only good in this country. If you want to make a transaction in another country, you have to exchange our money for theirs. For instance, Walter's down the street here, won't accept Canadien money. So the government stamps their coins with images of their leaders as proof of legal tender.

For the most part I like the NRSV translation that we read in church. It is thorough, accurate and easy to read. However, there are some places where I think the committee that put it together made a mistake; but then again, I'm no language expert, so maybe it's me. Anyway, it is within this story that I think there is a less than ideal translation.

Jesus asks to see a coin and then asks them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" The King James Version translates this as, "Whose image . . ," and the Revised Standard Version reads, "Whose likeness . . ." And technically speaking, even in our language, it really isn't anybody's head that is on the coin, but the image or likeness of someone's head. That coin was minted by the government. That coin contains the image, or likeness, of the emperor. That coin is to be returned to the government. In other words, give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's.

This takes me all the way back to Genesis. In the first story of creation, does anybody remember what God did on the sixth day?

"Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness' . . ."

We were minted by God. We contain the image, or likeness, of God. We are to return ourselves to God. In other words, give to God the things that are God's. Give yourself back to God, just like you give the coin back to the emperor.

Like the parable of the vineyard where we are to give back to God the fruits of the harvest, and like the parable of the wedding banquet where we are asked to change in response to God's grace, Jesus is asking us to recognize that we are the image of God and we belong to him.