Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Matthew 22:17 - 22:22

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Matthew 22:17 - 22:22


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The question and the reply:

v. 17. Tell us therefore, What thinkest Thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?

v. 18. But Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, Why tempt ye Me, ye hypocrites?

v. 19. Show Me the tribute-money. And they brought unto Him a penny.

v. 20. And He saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

v. 21. They say unto Him, Caesar's. Then saith He unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's.

v. 22. When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him, and went their way.

They come out with their question as though they were altogether innocent and harmless, merely asking for the opinion of a respected teacher, desiring to know whether it is the right, the proper thing, whether it should be done thus, to pay tribute or poll-tax to the Roman emperor. The difficulty of the question lay in this, that it was put from the religious point of view: Would it not seem that the tax-payer is in danger of coming into conflict with God and with his duty toward the Church? They expected, of course, that Jesus would declare against the paying of the tax, in which case they would have had reason to denounce Him before the Roman governor as a rebel. On the other hand, if He favored the paying of this most objectionable tax, they could easily cast the suspicion upon Him as though He were a friend and agent of the Roman government and had no proper love for the privileges of the Jews as the chosen people of God. But Christ knew their wickedness. He tells them that they are hypocrites with their attempt to mask their attack under the guise of sincere compliments, poor actors in tempting Him from the path of His ministry. He demands to be shown the coin of the census, the piece of money which had to be paid for this tax. And when they showed Him a denarius , the Roman silver coin with the image and inscription of Caesar, worth about seventeen cents in American money, He quickly gave them His decision: Caesar's give to Caesar, God's to God; a simple and most effective rule for keeping the distinction between Church and State clearly defined. It was an answer which silenced them completely, and should provide the necessary information on this vexed question for all time. God's people should above all give to God due honor and obedience. In those things which concern the Word of God, worship itself, faith, and conscience, we are obedient to God only and pay no attention to objections made by men. But in mere temporal, earthly things, which concern money, possessions, body, life, we obey the government of the country in which we live. "Though they were not worth it, yet the Lord taught them the right way. And with these words He also confirms the temporal sword. They hoped He would condemn it and talk against it; but He does nothing of the kind, but praises the worldly government and commands they should give to it what pertains thereto. Thereby He states His will that there should be government, princes, and lords, to whom we should be obedient, let them be whoever and whatever they will. And we should not ask whether they have the rule and the government with justice and right or with injustice, and hold it thus; we must merely look upon the power and government which is good, for it has been ordained and instituted by God, Rom_13:1. Thou dare not abuse the government if thou occasionally be oppressed by princes and tyrants, and they abuse their power which they have from God; they will surely have to give an account of it. The abuse of a thing does not make the thing evil which in itself is good. But what if they should want to take the Gospel from us, or prohibit its preaching? Then thou shalt say: The Gospel and the Word of God I will not give you, neither have ye any power concerning that; for your government is a temporal government over earthly goods, but the Gospel is a spiritual, heavenly possession; therefore your power does not extend over the Gospel and the Word of God. That we shall not yield, for it is the power of God, Rom_1:16; 1Co_1:18, against which even the portals of hell cannot prevail, Mat_16:18. Therefore the Lord condenses these two points very nicely, and separates them from each other in one verse, and says: 'Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. ' To God pertains His honor, that I believe Him to be the true, almighty, and wise God, and confess that He is the Author of everything good. And though I do not give Him this honor, yet He keeps it; thy honoring will neither add to nor detract from it; but in me He is true, almighty, and wise if I consider Him thus and believe that He is just as He has it told about Him. But to the government is due fear, custom, tribute, tax, and obedience. God wants the heart; the body and goods are under the government, over which it should rule in the stead of God."