The Coin and Ownership

Matthew 22:15-22

The Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. 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." When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

This gospel is no doubt familiar to you. You have probably heard or read it before, or at least know the line "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." You may also recognize it from the King James Version (an earlier translation): "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesars; and unto God the things that are Gods."

But there is a great deal more to this passage than this one line, and to get into it, we have to start at the beginning.

This passage takes place after Jesus has come to Jerusalem, after Palm Sunday, shortly before he is to be Crucified. He is standing at or near the Temple. Jesus has brought many followers with him and is becoming increasingly popular.

Also, the people that are used to being the ones that the people listen to are the Jewish leaders. Though traveling rabbis teach at the Temple, the Temple authorities usually command a certain respect. In other words, Jesus was moving onto their turf.

Take it further by recognizing how the Pharisees probably felt about Jesus in this situation. Since Jesus was proclaiming a vision of God that was compatible with theirs, but would remove their earthly power, you can start to see motive for their actions, right? They have it pretty good, and Jesus is suggesting that these things should all be taken away with His radical pronouncements of love and raising up the poor.

And who are these people? The Pharisees don't work in the temple (those are high priests) and don't work for the temple (the Sadducees) or transcribe the scriptures (the scribes). They might closely resemble the moralists, super-believers that "just can't help it" that other people "don't believe like they do". You know, the people today that make you feel like you aren't "enough of a Christian"? Those are the Pharisees. In this passage, they recruit the Herodians, who we can only assume are followers or supporters of King Herod. So they represent the government.

So these people harrass Jesus, first by giving him complements, but then trying to trap him with a question that can only be answered with a "yes" or a "no": "Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" If he says yes, he will seem like a hypocrite and if he says no, he could be arrested for sedition (which they end up doing later). But Jesus chooses not to make it easy on them. He not only declines to answer their question, but he sets his own trap--a three-parter that makes them look stupid.

First, he gets one of them to pull out a Roman coin, a denarius, from his pocket. This is a visual signal to the crowd of the Pharisees' hypocricy, since they a) shouldn't have that coin at the Temple, b) they didn't need to even carry that currency, c) the question of taxes is made moot, since they visually demonstrate their loyalties.

Second, Jesus asks them a question about the coin, getting them to announce out loud that they possess a Roman coin, meaning the people that couldn't see the coin, could actually hear about it!

Third, Jesus speaks that favorite phrase: "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." A teaching that has sounded like he supports the paying of taxes, except when you pay attention to Jesus's view of "the things that are God's." God is the true owner of our land, our dwellings, and our food. We live in our homes and eat food as a gift of God. These aren't owned by people.

So what does this have to do with taxes? Perhaps Jesus is giving the OK to pay them. Or maybe not. Maybe he is taking the opportunity to talk about the One that is above the Emperor--the One whom the Emperor is exploiting. Maybe he is suggesting that the Emperor is gaining wealth that is neither his to take, nor is it the people's to give.

So how does this affect the way you see your own society, your own government? Should we interpret this literally (asking whether or not we should pay taxes) or metaphorically (asking ourselves about true ownership)?

Jesus humiliates the Pharisees in this passage, exposing them for the bullies they are. What do you make of this vision of Jesus? How does this compare with the vision of Jesus that is kind and compassionate?

Much of the early part of the Older Testament deals with ownership and property. One concept, described in Leviticus 25:9 is the "Jubilee" when all things are to be returned to their original owners because they are really on a sort of "loan" from God. What do you think it would mean to not only praise God for the things God provides in your life, but in removing the things that aren't from God?

Living like a tenant

Matthew 21:23-32

Jesus said, ‘Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. ³⁴When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. ³⁵But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. ³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” ³⁹So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ ⁴¹They said to him, ‘He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.’

42 Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the scriptures:
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this was the Lord’s doing,
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45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Remember, the first thing to do when reading any text--whether it's the Bible, a novel, or the newspaper--is to look at who the intended audience is. This helps us understand the purpose of the message, and what is truly being communicated. In this way, we should recognize that Jesus is talkign to the religious authorities. The groups of authorities (chief priests and Pharisees) are less important than it is that Jesus is directing his attention at them.

Secondly, theis comes right after the question of authority, which means that the themes are related, or that we should be mindful of that teaching when working with this one.

This gospel seems to show Jesus using an allegory--a story symbolic of something else. Jesus uses a prior frame for this story as well: the landowner and the workers. This time, however, instead of revealing his understanding of God's economic philosophy, he is revealing humanity's. Let's look at it.

Jesus introduces the landowner who did a great deal of work, planting, fencing, building. He prepares everything--he did all of the heavy-lifting if you will--and "then leased it to tenants and went to another country." When the landowner sends his slaves to collect the produce of his hard work, the tenants kill them. So the landowner decides that a greater number of slaves will be more effective. They too are murdered by the tenants. So then the landowner decides to send his son--not just a representative of the landowner, but someone that is of the same person--he has the same DNA as the landowner. It is here that the tenants reveal their true motive: they want to steal control of the land for themselves, so they murder the son, too.

It doesn't take much for us to see that the landowner is God, the son is Jesus, and the tenants are the Jewish leaders. But what is Jesus trying to say in theis (besides foretelling his own demise)? He is criticizing the way the Jewish leaders have directed the faith. He is claiming that they are no longer doing the wishes of God, but fulfilling their own selfish desires: they have tried to steal the Kingdom.

It also seems to be a constant issue for us, as well. Can you think of an example of when your church does what it wants to do, as opposed to what God asks us to do? Do you even think about our actions as an expression of God's wishes?

The authorities unwittingly condemn themselves by suggesting what the landowner (God) will do with the tenants (authorities): kick them out and punish them. But Jesus reveals what matters: that God will recruit new tenants to work the land that God has provided. It matters less what happens to the wicked than the fact that they will be replaced.

Jesus tells us that God's promise is golden. If our leaders don't honor that promise, God will recruit new ones. This is truly awesome!

The implications in this, however, is that the earlier notion of authority is part of the problem. For the Jewish people 2,000 years ago, incredible power was being wielded by a select few over the people. So much of this was hereditary and the average Jew had no potential to be the one wielding that power. It was an impervious caste system. But Jesus came along and challenged that concept. He reversed the order of preference (remember?) and made the first last and the last first. The powerful are to be powerless and the powerless shall be powerful in God's kingdom.

So what do we do with this? It's simple: we're the new tenants. God is always kicking out the bad apples and trying to give each of us the opportunity. This isn't easy work, but it isn't slaver, either. Think about the job: someone else has tilled the land, planted the seeds, put up the fence, built the buildings; the landowner won't micromanage and watch over your shoulder; the work is pretty straightforward but there's enough flexibility to allow for creativity. All you have to do is work the land. This is what it means to do "Kingdom" work.

What are God's instructions for you?