Today’s devotional will be short and sweet, mainly because I will let Jesus do most of the talking today. I want to share with you a moment in the Gospels in which Jesus was challenged by the religious authorities to make a choice that would label Jesus into one specific political/ religious camp or another. Let’s see what happens in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 22.
“Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a] to Caesar or not?” But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.”
This is a poignant moment in the Gospel. Notice how the religious leaders call Jesus “Teacher.” This is on purpose, Jesus is much more than a teacher, he is the Lord. Many of his disciples already referred to Jesus as Lord or as the Messiah. By calling Jesus a mere “teacher” the religious leaders were trying to put Jesus in his place. They were refusing to acknowledge any aspect of divinity within Christ. The other point is that the Pharisees wanted Jesus to make a declaration of intent regarding paying taxes. If Jesus told the people to pay taxes, then he would have seemed as pro-Roman and against the Jewish people. If Jesus had said not to pay taxes, then he would have been viewed as a rebel and enemy of the state. What Jesus says is quite profound.
