Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Luke 5-6
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 22:18-21
Jesus: You hypocrites! Why do you show up here with such a transparent trick? Bring Me a coin you would use to pay tax.
Someone handed Him a denarius. Jesus fingered the coin.
Jesus: Of whom is this a portrait, and who owns this inscription?
Students: Caesar.
Jesus: Well then, render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
The students meant to trick Jesus with what they thought was a difficult question, but Jesus caught them in their own sad violation of their petty traditions. You see, you have to look a little deeper into the story to understand just how foolish the student was to ask this question at this time and in this place. Jesus was in the temple the scriptures tell us when these scholars tried to trap Him.
The devout had some interesting rules about the temple. No coinage could be used in the temple except the shekel. In fact, the very devout would not allow Roman coins brought into the temple because they bore the image of Caesar. To many of the Jews. Just bearing the likeness of Caesar made the coin itself an idol and many refused to handle the coins and chose to barter for goods use raw precious metals rather than use stamped coins as a means of transacting business.
So when Jesus asked for a coin with which they paid their tax, it shouldn’t have appeared in the temple. That would have been an act of sacrilege for the coin to be there. How would they find it so soon and why would they even think to do what He said and bring it into the temple courts? So there is strike one.
Strike two, God tells us He is the one who puts people in places of authority. David and the psalmists continually talk about the power of God to cause kings to rise and fall. He alone allows kingdoms to stand. Sometimes He even allows corrupt governments to act on His behalf as He did with the Assyrians and Babylonians as punishment against His chosen people because of their failure to follow His commands.
So if God allows these kings and emperors and governments to hold power of His people, He expects His people to be good citizens. Paul tells us that, too. It’s better to be punished unjustly for doing good than to be punished justly for wrongdoing. What does it say about our godly character if we deserve the suffering we get because of wrongs we commit against others? But if we suffer for doing what is right and good, then we cast ourselves in company with Christ, our Savior. Is there any better company we could keep?
Strike three, Jesus’ answer takes the question with which they knew they could trap Him and turns it upside down as He usually did with those who opposed Him. Jesus never said much to denounce Rome or its government if you’ll read through His words. He really didn’t seem to care if the government we live under is a dictatorship, a democracy, a republic, a theocracy, or someone drawing straws to see what should be done next. He doesn’t seem to care about types of government on this world because He lives and operates in a different plane.
I think God really doesn’t care much for politics. He doesn’t care about Democrats, Republicans, or Independents. What God cares about are those who choose to live in His kingdom. We can begin to live in His kingdom in this world. When we do, the type of government doesn’t matter. The church flourishes under dictators. It grows in communist countries. God can’t be held down when kings sit on thrones. In fact, the slowest growth in Christendom seems to be in democratic states. Kind of interesting, isn’t it? When we live in a place where we can choose our own leaders, we can have our own way, we are more like to not choose God’s way. It is a fascinating corollary.
So what do we learn from these students’ encounter with Jesus? First, don’t ever think you are smarter than God. You’re not. You never will be. Don’t even try. Just give it up. Second, don’t worry about who is sitting in the seats of power. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be good citizens. We need to vote for the person God lays on our heart. We need to pray for our leaders. We need to understand the incredible stress our leaders are under to try to make sense out of governing the 7 billion people that occupy this globe. It isn’t an easy job. They need our prayer and support. God let them sit in those seats whether you like them or not. God is still in control of this place, so remember that if you bad-mouth them, you are bad-mouthing the person God allowed to sit in that seat!
Finally, keep God first. It was a little thing to have Caesar’s coins in their pockets in the temple. But for these young men, it was like cheating at solitaire. It spoke of their character. They knew they weren’t suppose to have the coins or they wouldn’t have thought to bring up the subject in the first place. Jesus trapped them in their petty rules because they lived by rules instead of relationship. Make your relationship with God and others more important than a list of rules you need to keep. You’ll find that you still keep the rules, you’ll just have a lot more joy and peace while you do it and you won’t even think about keeping them. It will just happen because you love them, like you love yourself.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.