What is Jesus Up To?

Matthew 22:15-22 was the lectionary Gospel reading this past Sunday. It is no wonder that the religious leaders of the day challenged Jesus. When you throw around some furniture in the temple and tell several stories that pointedly put the leaders in their place, you are bound to get a reaction. Interestingly, the reaction Jesus gets is two opposing groups allying themselves to try and "trick" Jesus into showing his hand. The Herodians and Pharisees are unlikely bedfellows. The Herodians were allied with Rome, while the Pharisees maintained ritual purity. But Jesus was controversial enough to unite them.

The question: Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful (allowed by Torah) to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? This was not a new concern, and was a common point of discussion among scholars in Jesus' day. Further, it is set against the backdrop of two Torah keepers who led rebellions, Judas Maccabaeus and Judas Galilean. Perhaps these questioners were hoping to flush out the rebellion in Jesus and begin the revolt against Rome that many were hoping for him to lead. Perhaps they were simply looking for him to entrap himself by making a blasphemous statement, giving them cause and justification to kill him.

Calmly, Jesus asks to see the coin used for paying taxes. In this simple request he flushes out his opponents. From a strict Jewish point of view, such a blasphemous object should not be handled or possessed. However, one was produced from the pocket of Jesus' questioners. They were already compromised. "Then he said to them, 'Whose head is this, and whose title?' They answered, 'The emperor's.' Then he said to them, 'Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's.' "

Another way to hear this statement, echoing among the words and actions of former revolutionaries, would be, "Pay Caesar back what he is owed! Render to Caesar what he deserves!" Revolutionary words indeed. Had Jesus told them to revolt? Had Jesus told them to pay taxes? He had done neither and he had done both. He had called them to revolution, but not the kind of violent one they were looking for him to lead. To meet the violence of Rome with violent revolution would be to stoop to the ghastly level of Rome. Jesus was calling them to a revolution that took the high road. This is revealed in the second part of his statement.

"Give to God what is God's." This statement evokes a call to worship echoed throughout the Psalms, prophets, and Israel's traditions. Psalm 96 would surely jump to the forefront of the minds of those hearing this response. Jesus was calling them to revolt by being the people of God among a pagan people. To defy compromise and stay true to worshiping the one true God. To acknowledge daily that Israel's God is Lord, not Caesar. Jesus was making a royal claim in a new kingdom that could not be reduced to conventional thinking and actions. This kingdom knew and offered a better way, a narrow way, a way of love.

When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away. A new kingdom, a new way, a new leader, a new authority was here. What was Jesus up to? He was up to establishing the kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven. As followers of Jesus, that is also what we are called to on a daily basis. We are called to be revolutionaries, giving to God what is God's and thereby bringing the kingdom of God to earth as it is in heaven.