Read Matthew 22:15–22: Paying Taxes

For almost 30 years the Jews were forced to pay three different taxes to the Romans—and often the tax collectors would increase the taxes to get a little bonus for themselves. Some of the Jews refused to pay the tax, while almost everyone else paid it begrudgingly or out of fear of their Roman oppressors. With this in mind, the Pharisees and Herodians came to Jesus not with sincerity to learn from Him what to do and how to honor God with their lives and money, but to trap Jesus. Why try to trap Him in this manner, regarding paying taxes? Because depending on His answer, they could either 1) find cause to accuse Him of insurrection against the Roman Empire or 2) get the people to turn on Him by making it seem like Jesus was a Roman sympathizer against the Jews. And Jesus saw through this question and their flattery, and His response shocked them! Jesus starts by calling out their hypocrisy but then asks to see a denarius. When they brought it to Him, He asked, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” The answer to His question was the face of Tiberius Caesar, the reigning Roman Emperor, and the inscription was “Pontifex Maximus,” which declared him the high priest of the Roman Empire. Now comes the part that left them speechless and amazed: He tells them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Consider that all the Jews used these coins for everyday living and purchases. Therefore, Jesus was saying if they recognized Caesar’s civil authority enough to use and benefit from the coins, they must do so also to pay the taxes imposed. For God’s children, there’s no room for civil disobedience apart from when being personally decreed to do something unbiblical—like Nebuchadnezzar’s decree to bow down before the golden image or Darius’ decree to pray to no one but him for 30 days. Aside from being commanded to personally do something that goes against the Word, we’re commanded “to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient” (Titus 3:1 NIV) and to be “subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established” (Romans 13:1 NIV). Regardless of political opinion, Jesus, who knew He’d be sent to His death by the same governing body that coin represented, still instructed the people to walk in civil obedience. Now consider Jesus’ last words: give back “to God what is God’s.” The coin belonged to Caesar and his kingdom because his image was stamped on it, but our lives belong to God and His kingdom because His image is stamped on us. And thus, as His image bearers who belong fully and solely to Him, we must give everything to God—our complete submission and devotion; we must be willing to die fully to ourselves and surrender our hearts, minds, souls, strength, love, will, ambition, relationships, dreams, and plans! If you’re unwilling to do this, can you truly claim to be His? Discussion Question 1: What does Jesus’ response to the religious leaders tell us about how we’re to live today?   Discussion Question 2: What does it mean to give back “to God what is God’s”?   Discussion Question 3: Are there areas where you’re living in rebellion toward governing authorities and/or in rebellion against the Lord?

Read Matthew 22:23–33: Marriage and the Resurrection

The Sadducees could be easily compared to our modern liberal theologians as to how they interpreted Scripture. They only followed the Torah (or the first five books of the Bible), and they didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead or angelic beings. They denied the immortality of the soul, and they suppressed the power of God, which made them anti-supernaturalists. Because they didn’t believe in bodily resurrection, it didn’t make sense why they even posed this question since they didn’t care about the answer anyway. But similar to the Pharisees, they simply wanted to trap Jesus and find Him guilty of false teaching. And now, because of this interaction, we learn our relationships in heaven will look different than they do on earth. You see, the glory of heaven is all about our connection with God, which will surpass any earthly relationship we ever had (Revelation 21:22–23). Particularly, we’ll be captivated with such awe and amazement at the glory of God that we’ll not be thinking of our spouse (or spouses for some people), which answers the question the Sadducees had for Jesus. Jesus isn’t debating the actual law found in Deuteronomy 25 (the Levirate marriage), which calls a widow, who never got a chance to have any children with her deceased husband, to be impregnated by her brother-in-law and count the child as her spouse’s descendant. In fact, He’s answering their questions directly by showing them He knows what they mean, and He certainly means what He says! There’s no doubt Jesus believes in the Law, in heaven, in the resurrection of the body, and in all the supernatural things they vehemently reject. The beautiful part of heaven is that we’ll still remember our loved ones! In Luke 16:27–28, Jesus describes a rich man in the afterlife who is aware of his family. It’s difficult to grasp at this moment, but we’ll finally love differently and, most importantly, perfectly! The only perfect love we know is His because we receive it every day, but we’ll ultimately be capable of loving others as He loves us. Discussion Question 4: What comes to mind when you think of heaven?

Read Matthew 22:34–40: The Greatest Commandment

By now you’ve probably noticed a pattern in this section of Matthew’s Gospel: Religious leaders come at Jesus, trying to trip Him up and cause Him to say something foolish or wrong, something to turn the support of the people away from Him. They’re trying to stop the rising popularity and growing sentiment that perhaps this Man could be the promised Messiah. Why? Primarily because His message and His way were at odds with their lifestyle, status, and influence over the people. However, as we saw with the question of paying taxes to Caesar, these interactions with Jesus never went the way the Pharisees and other sects of the establishment imagined they would. Each time, Jesus would provide answers that amazed everyone. He reversed everything on them, which caused them to walk away with their theological tails between their legs. That’s been the rhythm we’ve seen in this succession of confrontations leading up to this point. But now we come to an exchange that plays out a bit differently. In this passage, you may notice He’s approached by an individual as opposed to a larger group. Why is this important? Because every time we see someone have a personal encounter with Jesus, something truly powerful takes place. It’s in these personal moments that we tend to see spiritual transformation. And this man, a scribe who was well-versed in what God’s Word said, has noticed the authority and power of Jesus throughout these verbal conflicts, so he asks with a measure of sincerity which command in the Law of Moses is the most important. You may also notice that Jesus’ response to this man is very different than His response to the groups that preceded him. Perceiving where this man was coming from, Jesus doesn’t respond with a question of His own but answers the question directly. Again, there’s a different tone here. This was not a setup or a trap intended to incriminate Jesus. It was a sincere inquiry from someone who had deep roots in the Word of God and wanted to grow in his understanding. Jesus obliges this and gives him the answer: Loving God with everything we are is the greatest of all the commandments. Keep it first. But then the Lord gives him more than he asked for by telling him the second greatest command is to love his neighbor “as [himself].” He then tells Him that “all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” How so? The Gospel of Mark gives us further insight. Here, the scribe responds to Jesus, saying, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:32–33 NKJV). Now, look at what Jesus does: He encourages the man! He didn’t condemn him for not having it all together; He didn’t embarrass or belittle him, or push him away. Instead, He gently lead him onward. “Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God’” (Mark 12:34 NIV). Don’t you love how Jesus, after a series of contentious battles with the religious rulers, is willing to treat this man—who was part of that same antagonistic group—differently? He hones in on a heart that’s open to hear, He implants the seed of truth into it and then waters it with encouragement. May we never forget this about our Lord. He takes us on an individual basis and treats us according to our particular needs. Likewise, may we as His ambassadors approach every interaction with people with this same attitude! Discussion Question 5: What does Jesus do differently through this encounter? What can we apply to our lives from this interaction and the other two?

This Week

God loves our questions! When we ask them with a pure heart, without any agendas, and they bring us to His feet, He desires to give us an answer . . . in His time, of course! Unlike the Pharisees or Sadducees, spend time this week one-on-one with the Lord. Ask Him questions, ask Him to reveal His truth to you through His Word. Although some questions may not be answered in this lifetime, don’t be afraid to ask God about the mysteries of life.

Memory Verse

“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”—Matthew 22:34–40 (NIV)

Prayer Guide

Father, help me take each person individually and treat them personally, just as You would. Help me to remember that this is how You treated me before I knew You, and how You still treat me now, even as Your disciple, when I don’t get it. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at CalvaryFTL.org/Questions.