Posted on 10/17/2020 6:56:36 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
“Jesus Answers a Gotcha Question” (Matthew 22:15-22)
If you’ve been following the news lately, and you watched the presidential debate, the vice-presidential debate, the Judiciary Committee hearings, or the dueling town halls, you heard a lot of “gotcha” questions. I’m guessing most of you have heard that term before, a “gotcha” question. But in case you haven’t, let me explain. A “gotcha” question is one in which the questioner asks someone a question designed to trap or embarrass the person being questioned. It’s designed to cast that person in a negative light, no matter how he might answer the question. The classic example of a gotcha question is this: “Have you stopped beating your wife? A yes or no answer, please.” You see, no matter how the guy answers, it sounds bad. If he says yes, it sounds like he was beating her before. If he says no, it sounds like he still is.
So you heard a bunch of gotcha questions over the past few weeks. The questions were constructed in such a way as to make the person look bad, no matter how he or she answered. “When will you denounce white supremacy?” As though he hasn’t already. “Why haven’t you denounced Q-Anon?” As though he even knows what Q-Anon is. “Judge, have you ever sexually assaulted anyone?” As though she might be likely to have done that. These are examples of gotcha questions. They’re designed to get the person in trouble, any way they answer.
But then this is nothing new. People have been asking people they don’t like gotcha questions for many centuries. We see it in the Gospel reading for today from Matthew 22. There the enemies of Jesus, the Pharisees and the Herodians, try to come up with a question that will get Jesus in trouble, no matter how he answers. But today we’ll see how he turns the tables on them, when “Jesus Answers a Gotcha Question.”
The enemies of Jesus have been trying to trap Jesus for several days now. We’re in Jerusalem, during the days leading up to Passover. There are tons of people in the city, and the tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Jesus’ enemies are trying to trap him with a series of gotcha questions. They tried asking him, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” But that didn’t work.
So now they’re going to try another question. But first they try to flatter him, to butter him up, so as to catch him off guard, to get him to speak more freely. Our text says: “Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And 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.’”
Well, I have to say, this is the first time I have to agree with the Pharisees and the Herodians. For Jesus is indeed true, and he does teach the way of God truthfully. He does not care about anyone’s opinion, and he is not swayed by appearances. All of that is true, but they are only saying those things to get him to speak more loosely, so they can trap him in what he says.
Now here is their gotcha question: “Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” Now here I need to explain why this is such a brilliant gotcha question. Notice the two groups who are coming together to ask Jesus this trap question. It’s the Pharisees and the Herodians. Now normally these two groups would not be getting together. On the one hand, you have the Pharisees, who were angry about the pagan Romans occupying their land and running the show. On the other hand, you have the Herodians, who were content to work with the occupying Roman Empire, if it would increase their own wealth and political power. Normally these two groups would be at odds with each other. But they found common cause in their hatred of Jesus. For he was upsetting the applecart. The Pharisees didn’t like him, because he had been exposing their hypocrisy. And the Herodians didn’t like him either, for he spoke of a kingdom much higher than Caesar’s. So the Pharisees and the Herodians came together on this occasion to try to trap Jesus and catch him in his words.
“Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” That is their gotcha question. They figure, either way Jesus answers, his goose is cooked. If he answers, “Yes, it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar,” then the Pharisees would accuse him of not being a loyal Jew, of subsidizing a godless pagan empire. And if he says, “No, as proud Jews, we definitely should not pay taxes to that blasphemous Caesar,” then the Herodians can report Jesus as being a rebellious insurrectionist. Whichever way he answers, Jesus will be in big trouble. They have laid the perfect trap. Or so they think.
But Jesus sees through what they are trying to do. He won’t fall for it. Our text continues: “But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius.” Jesus has something in mind. He’s going to turn the tables and put them on the spot. They bring Jesus a denarius, a common coin that the Romans used in their empire.
Very often, when someone asks Jesus a question, he answers them with a question of his own. As he does here. He holds up the denarius and asks them: “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” Now if you were to hold up one of these coins and look at it, you would see the image of the current Roman emperor, which at this time was Tiberius Caesar. And his name would be on there too as the inscription. So in response to Jesus’ question, they answer, correctly, “Caesar’s.” OK, pretty straightforward.
And now Jesus is going to answer their question. Remember, they had asked him, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” And he has shown them Caesar’s image and inscription on the coin. So Jesus says: “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
Now where is Jesus going with this answer? For one thing, he is saying that it’s OK to pay taxes to the government. And we affirm that. “Render unto Caesar.” This is one of the passages that teaches us Christians to obey the government and pay our taxes, even if we’re not crazy about the current government. God has instituted civil government for our good. Romans 13 teaches likewise. “Render unto Caesar.” OK, we’ve got that.
But really that is the lesser point of this story. For Jesus’ answer concerns something much more important than rendering unto Caesar. Jesus goes on to say this: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Whoa! This is where Jesus turns the tables on his enemies. For they were not rendering unto God the things that are God’s!
How so? For standing right there in front of them is God’s own Son, who bears the image of God in his person and who has God written all over him. And they were not rendering faith and obedience unto God by believing in the one he sent, namely Jesus, and receiving him! That’s what they should have been doing, and they weren’t. In fact, they had rejected Jesus and were trying to trap him. They even were conspiring to kill him! How in the world is that rendering unto God the things that are God’s? It isn’t. And that’s the big issue, not this trick question about paying taxes to Caesar.
Dear friends, Jesus bears the image of God in his person and has God written all over him. Jesus Christ is the very Son of God, come down from heaven to reveal God to us and to win our salvation. Jesus has grace and truth written all over him, in his words of wisdom and his works of mercy. He is here for you! Christ is right here for you today! Listen to his voice! See him by faith in his presence among us. Jesus is speaking truth to you today. Do not reject him, like the Pharisees and the Herodians did. Instead, receive him as your dear Savior! Jesus lived and died and rose again for you! He bore your sins on the cross, so that now your sins are forgiven. Christ wipes away your debt of sin and gives you his righteousness in its place. Jesus suffers your death and gives you his life in its place. Freely. Nothing you have to do to earn it. It’s a gift--forgiveness, and life, and eternal salvation in Jesus name!
Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world--your sin! And then ask yourself this question: “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” In Christ Jesus we see what God is like: He is just and merciful, and he loves us so much. We see God inscribing our names into his book of life. Rejoice in this, brothers and sisters!
You want to hear a gotcha question? Here it is: Who has gotcha safe and secure in his loving hands? God does, my friends. And the proof is in Christ Jesus our Lord. In his likeness we see God for who he really is. And his inscription spells out life and salvation for you and me.
On my heart imprint Your image,
Blessed Jesus, King of grace,
That life’s riches, cares, and pleasures
Never may Your work erase;
Let the clear inscription be:
Jesus, crucified for me,
Is my life, my hope’s foundation,
And my glory and salvation!
On the one hand there might be a degree of truth in that statement, but overall, it might cause one to lump the entire offspring of Israel into the Jewish pot which is far from the truth. There were 12 Tribes each with a name, Ten are considered lost. The return of the lost Ten Tribes is one of the crowning events of the last days. Not to mention Jews are mostly not Christian, and the Children of Israel were the true believers that is how and why they are the Covenant people. Abraham was a believer and taught his offspring. Like all of us, they could choose for themselves and ultimately chose apostasy over remaining in the fold. For as long as it lasts, these are the days of the Gentiles, but ultimately the twelve tribes will again resume their earlier status as the chosen and covenant people.
Everyone who lives in an area with a HOA knows that the covenant that THEY have to obey does NOT apply to the guy in the next housing development.
It's in the Quad:
Galatians 3:15
Brothers, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man cancels, or adds thereto.
The D&C speaks of an EVERLASTING covenant; but that doesn't seem to be followed much by mainstream Mormons any more.
58 Now, as touching the law of the apriesthood, there are many things pertaining thereunto.
59 Verily, if a man be called of my Father, as was aAaron, by mine own voice, and by the voice of him that bsent me, and I have endowed him with the ckeys of the power of this priesthood, if he do anything in my name, and according to my law and by my word, he will not commit dsin, and I will justify him.
60 Let no one, therefore, set on my servant Joseph; for I will justify him; for he shall do the sacrifice which I require at his hands for his transgressions, saith the Lord your God.
61 And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood: "if any man espouse a virgin, and desire to espouse aanother, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.
62 And if he have aten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified.
63 But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to amultiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be bglorified.
64 And again, verily, verily, I say unto you, if any man have a wife, who holds the keys of this power, and he teaches unto her the law of my priesthood, as pertaining to these things, then shall she believe and administer unto him, or she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God; for I will destroy her; for I will magnify my name upon all those who receive and abide in my law.
65 Therefore, it shall be lawful in me, if she receive not this law, for him to receive all things whatsoever I, the Lord his God, will give unto him, because she did not believe and administer unto him according to my word; and she then becomes the transgressor; and he is exempt from the law of Sarah, who administered unto Abraham according to the law when I commanded Abraham to take aHagar to wife.
66 And now, as pertaining to this law, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will reveal more unto you, hereafter; therefore, let this suffice for the present. Behold, I am Alpha and Omega. Amen.
Repetition again?
“The D&C speaks of an EVERLASTING covenant; but that doesn’t seem to be followed much by mainstream Mormons any more.”
Firstly, your come back IMHO is unrelated to the Abrahamic Covenant I was discussing.
and lastly, you are well aware of why the subject you brought up is not being lived. It is against the law of the land. It does however address issues at the highest levels of our Government. The idea of freedom of religion as enumerated in the First Amendment to the Constitution, particularly the “free exercise thereof”. One can only wonder where we might be now had the congress not started bending the Constitution in the eighteen hundreds to right the perceived wrongs of the Church of Jesus Christ at that time.
It would be difficult to prove things could be any worse now that Supreme Court has joined in the activism by giving us unlimited baby killing, Government ordained marriage of the same sex kind, elimination of sodomy laws, removing prayer from public education, threats by the IRS against religious leaders and their congregations to remove the tax exempt status they now enjoy, and who knows what’s next.
Have I left out any other Government trampling of enumerated rights of the Freedom of Religion clause? My hope is we will all appreciate learning and living under God’s Government. It is a clear why a cleansing of this world is a necessity prior to the return of the Savior. We might agree that were he to return as he came the first time, “the world” would again fail to recognize him and seek his life.
No; it wasn't. You brought up 'covenant' and I POSTED one from one of your religious books; that mainstream MormonISM no longer obeys.
. and lastly, you are well aware of why the subject you brought up is not being lived. It is against the law of the land.
And your Quad says...
Acts 5:29 KJVThen Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/official-statement/same-gender-attraction
Responses showed significant emotional distress, dramatic loss of trust in Church leaders,
and a dramatic decline in Church Activity as a result of the policy.
Individual stories help us to understand where and how different LGBT Mormons find hope,
and why discussion about the Church can be so polarizing.
Oh?
Got Scripture on that?
Will that thread our Constitution hangs by, be snapped or fixed by then?
Why would we agree to this; since Scripture is quite plain:
Acts 1:11 King James Version...Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
“Got Scripture on that?”
“Will that thread our Constitution hangs by, be snapped or fixed by then?”
Just as many scriptures as you. To point one.
Who knows? I don’t believe there is a timeline attached. To point two.
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
I can only see what the result was. The Jews killed their King, and the Romans finished off eleven of the twelve apostles, which pretty much lead to the dark ages, total apostasy, and the death of the Church. The leaders gave it their best shot while they were alive, but the world quite obviously was poorly prepared for sustaining the Church as founded in the New Testament despite the Apostles and other leaders protestations and efforts to the contrary.
We learn from latter day revelation, that only the Jews...
Remaining comments self censored.
Dear Reverend,
The phrases are indeed syntactically parallel, but the distinction is captured in the semantics: ‘Apodate’, “give back”. You can give *back* to somebody only what is already theirs. Which of course is why Jesus asked to be shown the tribute money, because it identified itself as Caesar’s, who had ordered it coined. (And why my original post pointed out that this was contingent). So it is lawful to give back to Caesar what is his.
What does one give back to God? Everything, of course, because everything was originally his, and will eventually again also be his, as Revelation i:8 says.
The Authorised version makes the same point in a different way, but the version you quoted does not. I reaffirm that it is therefore false to the textus receptus, and, by seeming to place Caesar and God on an equal footing, it is false also to the depositum fidei.
Well; at least you read my questions.
You are a wise man.
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