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coram_deo 21-Jul-21, 14:44 |
 The Pharisees Try To Trick JesusBut here’s another: “Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? 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. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.” (Matthew 22:15-22) I read several commentaries in the past on what Jesus meant by His answer, but all the commentaries I’ve seen agree with what the Pharisees’ motivation was in asking the question. They wanted to either to drive a wedge between Jesus and His followers, which would result, they thought, if Jesus said taxes should be paid to Caesar, or the Pharisees wanted a reason to accuse Jesus before the Roman government if Jesus said taxes shouldn’t be paid to Caesar. Here are some commentaries on this passage and what Jesus meant by His answer: “The Pharisees want Jesus out of the picture. They conspire looking for a way to trick Jesus into making a public gaffe. Ideally, they'd like to fool Jesus into saying something which will upset His crowd of followers: those who think He is the Messiah, and who hope He will soon overthrow the Romans and return Israel to glory. If they cannot do that, their next best option is getting Jesus to say something which sounds like rebellion against the Romans. Then, the Romans will arrest and execute Him.” “This makes the challenge a trap: the Pharisees want Jesus to make an unpopular statement or open Himself to arrest for rebellion against the Roman Empire. Instead, Jesus points out that the Roman denarius has Caesar's image on it. He then tells the people to give Caesar what is his and give God what is God's. This subtly implies that we should give ourselves to God, since we bear His image (Genesis 1:27; Matthew 22:37).” www.bibleref.com “i. “By treating them as distinct Jesus said in effect: The kingdom of God is not of this world, it is possible to be a true citizen of the kingdom and yet quietly submit to the civil rule of a foreign potentate.” (Bruce) ii. “It establishes the limits, regulates the rights, and distinguishes the jurisdiction of the two empires of heaven and earth. The image of princes stamped on their coin denotes that temporal things belong all to their government. The image of God stamped on the soul denotes that all its faculties and powers belong to the Most High, and should be employed in his service.” (Clarke) iii. Had the Jews rendered unto God His due, they would have never had to render anything to Caesar. In New Testament times, they would never have endured the occupying oppression of the Roman Empire if they had been obedient to their covenant with God.” enduringword.com “Like a lot of things Jesus said, these words are hard to pin down to just one meaning; they seem to blossom upon reflection into a surplus of significance. The more we think about this enigmatic saying, the more it shows us. The richness and subtlety of the answer is further enhanced when we remember that Matthew’s Jesus has already spoken on the subject of money and divided loyalties: “No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (6:24). Whatever Jesus is getting at here, he must not be describing a compromise that divides human loyalties neatly between YHWH and the emperor. By highlighting the physical features of the denarius used to pay the tax, Jesus gives us a number of things to think about. In the first place, the image of the emperor stamped into the coin’s surface, along with the blasphemous inscription with its claim to divinity, call to mind the prohibition against images in the Decalogue (Exodus 20:4). By pointing out that his opponents possess and display such an object within the Temple grounds (21:23), Jesus seems to raise, not lower, the stakes of the conversation about money and human loyalty. The issue at stake here is nothing less than idolatry. (And this is not a problem that we can solve simply by printing different words on our currency — even words that confess our trust in God.) Furthermore, when we think about Jesus highlighting the physicality of that denarius — the coin stamped out by human hands for human purposes, and the image of Caesar imprinted on it — it’s hard to ignore the connection to those words from the beginning of Genesis about what God said the first time God stamped out a human being: “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). Confronted with the question of human loyalty and the coin bearing the image of the earthly emperor, it’s easy to picture Jesus flipping that coin in his hand a few times, and then tossing it casually aside. In my imagination I see his eyes rising to meet those of his opponents, confronting each of them with an unspoken question hanging in the air: “And you, my friend: Whose image do you bear?” One thing, at least, seems clear: Jesus is not solving the dilemma by carving out separate domains of human loyalty. For every character in the story, and for each of us who still bother to read and ponder it, one absolute commitment subsumes and relativizes all other commitments. Whatever we render unto Caesar, or to the retirement fund, or to the offering basket at church, we can never afford to forget this: we belong entirely to God. We may divide our budget, but we must never divide our allegiance. The coin of our realm bears the image of dead presidents, but each of us bears another. Our Emperor said: “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.” We must never forget to render unto God the things that are God’s.“ www.workingpreacher.org In my opinion, what Jesus is saying in His answer is that everything belongs to God - the coins, the Roman government, the life of Caesar, the lives of the Pharisees, etc. I think He is trying to get them to see the pointlessness of their question. “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.” (Psalm 50:10-12) |
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coram_deo 21-Jul-21, 15:58 |
“And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.“ (Matthew 21:23-46) |
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coram_deo 25-Jul-21, 07:36 |
“At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.” (Matthew 12:1-14) Here are excerpts from David Guzik’s commentary on this passage: “a. His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck the heads of grain and to eat: There was nothing wrong with what they did, because their gleaning was not considered stealing according to Deuteronomy 23:25. The issue was only the day on which they did it. The rabbis made an elaborate list of “do” and “don’t” items relevant to the Sabbath, and this violated several items on this list.” “iii. Matthew just quoted Jesus offering us an easy yoke and a light burden. Now he shows us the kind of heavy burdens and hard yokes the religious leaders put upon the people. When the disciples began to pluck the heads of grain, in the eyes of the religious leaders they were guilty of: · Reaping. · Threshing. · Winnowing. · Preparing food. This represented four violations of the Sabbath in one mouthful! iv. At this time, many rabbis filled Judaism with elaborate rituals related to the Sabbath and observance of other laws. Ancient rabbis taught that on the Sabbath a man could not carry something in his right hand or in his left hand, across his chest or on his shoulder; but he could carry something with the back of his hand, with his foot, elbow, or in the ear, on the hair, in the hem of his shirt, or in his shoe or sandal. On the Sabbath one was forbidden to tie a knot – except a woman could tie a knot in her girdle. So if a bucket of water had to be raised from a well, one could not tie a rope to the bucket, but a woman could tie her girdle to the bucket and then to the rope. v. “The Jews were so superstitious, concerning the observance of the Sabbath, that in their wars with Antiochus Epiphanes, and the Romans, they thought it a crime even to attempt to defend themselves on the Sabbath: when their enemies observed this, they deterred their operations to that day. It was through this, that Pompey was enabled to take Jerusalem.” (Clarke)“ b. Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath: Jesus never violated God’s command to observe the Sabbath or approved of His disciples violating God’s Sabbath command, but He often broke man’s legalistic additions to that law and He sometimes seems to have deliberately broken those human additions. “i. Even some Jewish people in Jesus’ day recognized that the rules about the Sabbath were mostly human additions to the law. Carson quotes an ancient Jewish writing that said, “The rules about the Sabbath…are as mountains hanging by a hair, for Scripture is scanty and the rules are many.” ” “a. Have you not read what David did when he was hungry: The first principle Jesus presented is simple and illustrated by David’s experience with the priests and the showbread (1 Samuel 21). Jesus reminded them that human need is more important than observing ceremonial rituals. i. The incident with David was a valid defense, because: · It was a case of eating. · It probably happened on the Sabbath (1 Samuel 21:6). · It concerned not only David, but also his followers. ii. The context of David’s taking the bread in 1 Samuel 21 shows that it was justified for him to do it. “To have eaten the holy bread out of profanity, or bravado, or levity, might have involved the offender in the judgment of death; but to do so in urgent need was not blameworthy in the case of David.” (Spurgeon) b. The priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless: The second principle Jesus presented is also simple. The priests themselves break the Sabbath all the time. Perhaps the Pharisees didn’t understand as much about Sabbath observance as they thought they did. i. “The Temple ritual always involved work – the kindling of fires, the slaughter and the preparation of animals, the lifting of them on to the altar, and a host of other things. This work was actually doubled on the Sabbath, for on the Sabbath the offerings were doubled (cp. e.g. Numbers 28:9).” (Barclay)“ “c. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath: The third principle was the most dramatic, based on who Jesus is. He is greater than the temple, even as much as they honored and valued the temple. Even more so, He is Lord even of the Sabbath. i. This was a direct claim to Deity. Jesus said that He had the authority to know if His disciples broke the Sabbath law, because He is the Lord even of the Sabbath.” “b. A man who had a withered hand: At best, the religious leaders saw the man with the withered hand as an interesting test case. It is more likely that they saw the man as bait for a Sabbath controversy trap for Jesus. In contrast, Jesus looked at the man through eyes of compassion. i. These accusers also knew Jesus would do something when He saw this man in need. In this sense, these critics had more faith than many of us. We sometimes seem to doubt that Jesus wants to really or miraculously meet the needs of others.” “c. Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath: Jesus exposed their hypocrisy by showing their greater concern for their own possessions than for a man in need, arguing persuasively that it can’t be wrong to do good on the Sabbath. Then Jesus compassionately healed the man.” “e. Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him: In response to this display of compassion, power, and wisdom the Pharisees, in the hardness of their hearts, did not respond in reverent worship and submission but in hardened, murderous rejection. i. This is a significant development in the opposition against Jesus from the religious leaders. “Hitherto, they had been content with finding fault; now it is come to plotting against His life – a tribute to His power…Such is the evil fruit of Sabbath controversies.” (Bruce) ii. Luke 6:11 says that the critics of Jesus were filled with rage when Jesus healed this man. Which was more a violation of the Sabbath: When Jesus healed a man, or when these hate-filled men plotted the murder of a godly Man who never sinned against anybody?“ enduringword.com |
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coram_deo 08-Aug-21, 13:53 |
Master, Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed. And the second took her, and died, neither left he any seed: and the third likewise. And the seven had her, and left no seed: last of all the woman died also. In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife. And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven. And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.” (Mark 12:18-27) |