18th Pentecost 11
Exodus 33:12-23 and Matthew 22: 15-22
Bearing the image of God.
I want to take a different route this morning and do a comparison of the Old Testament with the New. In Exodus 33: 12-33 Moses speaks to God about a desire to see Him face to face. Up to this point Moses had spoken only to burning bushes, clouds, pillars of fire and now he wants the closer relationship. I am sure that we can all relate to this desire to have a closer relationship.
But despite those conversations, Moses yearned for more. He wanted to behold God’s presence, literally to see him. Moses asks God if he can see his glory.
Moses is asking for certainty. God has freed them from Egypt and brought them into the wilderness where they will wander for a generation. God is feeding them manna and quails and giving them fresh water in the desert. He has promised them a homeland, but the truth is, they are homeless. Their roots are in Egypt, but they were only slaves there. Today’s needs are taken care of by the grace of God, but the truth is, they have no assurance other than God’s promise that tomorrow they will not starve or die of thirst. And they have a destination, but they know nothing about it. God has promised them a land flowing with milk and honey, but the truth is, it is utterly unknown to them.
So isn’t it natural that Moses wishes to be just a little more sure? On the one hand he has a demanding God. On the other hand he is leading a frightened and cantankerous people. So he is in essence saying to God, “Give me just a little more. I know we talk like we’re face to face, but let’s make it literally face to face, just one time, to make it a little easier for me to trust you and lead confidently.”
So because it is a natural inclination to want to see God, and because Moses needs a little more certainty, he asks God this, “Show me your glory, I pray(Ex. 33:18).”
So God offers Moses something, but not everything. “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, the Lord’; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But you cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live (Ex. 33:19,20).”
So God is going to let his goodness pass before Moses, and proclaim his name with his own voice, but prevent Moses from seeing the face of God. Instead God will let him see his back. The Bible says, “See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by, then I shall take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen (Ex. 33:21b-23).”
So God walks by, and with his own hand, covers the opening in the rocks where Moses stands peering upward. So he sees God’s palm. Then God, having passed by and facing away, lifts his hand and Moses glances up and sees God walking away, sees God himself, but only God’s back.
I wonder what that means? We know this for sure – it means God is with Moses. He is there. He listens and he responds.
We know for sure also that it means this – since Moses sees only God’s back, where is God? God is moving ahead of the people. Leading them. That’s something Moses needed to know. And it is something we need to know too. We need these two things in our arsenal for living. We need to know that God is there, listening and responding.
In the same way, God wants to know are we listening and following and bearing His image to the world. This is revealed in the conversation Jesus has in Matthew 22.
The story starts with the Jewish Church leaders looking for some way to get rid of Jesus.
They know that they don’t have any power to do anything to Him themselves, except flog Him and that might just have made Jesus even more popular. So they tried to find ways to get Him to say something against the Romans so they can take over and do something to keep Jesus quiet.
But there is a problem. A lot of the ordinary folks regarded Jesus as a prophet and just giving Him to the Romans could make things very difficult for themselves. So they come up with a plan that, if it works, and they see no reason why it won’t, whatever Jesus does will upset one side or the other.
This is their plan. There are two main groups arguing against each other. One was the Herodians. These were not a Church group, but a group of Jewish people who supported Herod Antipas and wanted closer and better ties with Rome. They supported Roman taxation, and believed it was right for everyone to pay taxes to Rome. This tax wasn’t based on income, but was a poll tax, something everyone had to pay… and there was a lot of dishonesty that went along with it.
The other group was the Pharisees. This group was a religious group and they objected strongly against paying anything to Rome, claiming it was a heresy to do so. They based this claim on the fact that the tax had to be paid in Roman coins which had an image of Caesar on them. They refused to pay anything but the Temple Tax, which was paid in Jewish shekels.
It’s hard to see how two such opposing forces could work together, but they did. They had a common cause—get rid of this Jesus!!! So they thought they had a question worked up, that no matter what Jesus answered, He would condemn Himself.
The question was: “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” The conspirators thought there were only two possible answers. Either answer would condemn Jesus.
They start out by flattering Jesus, and Jesus, quite justifiably calls them hypocrites. He knows what is in their hearts. Matthew tells us that it was “evil”. So instead of answering their yes or no question, Jesus throws a question back at them, by asking for one of the coins. Apparently, Jesus did not make it a habit to carry Roman coins around with Him. His treasure was elsewhere.
“Show me the coin used for paying the tax,” Jesus says. He points to the picture and inscription on the coin. “Whose portrait is this?,” Jesus asks, “And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. “Then he said to them, ‘give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Ingenious!
So ingenious that the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians “were amazed. So they left him and went away.”
How many knew that this is the origin of the saying: “Render unto Caesar?” A lot of us may not even know that this comes from the mouth of Jesus, it’s so well known. I think that our familiarity with this saying can keep us from seeing the deeper meaning of this passage…we also often leave out the other part. Jesus does say, give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, but he also says, in the same breath: “and to God what is God’s.”
In Jesus’ response, He used the Greek word “apodote” which is translated as render or give back. The coin bore Caesar’s image: give it back to him. But whose image do we bear? If we bear God’s image, does this not also mean: “Give yourself back to God?” In Genesis 1:27 we are told: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female.”
Quite literally, we have all been created in the image of God, and we are to give back to God what is rightfully God’s! Have we done this? Are we doing this?
When humankind rebelled against the Creator, what was one of the main reasons? We see in Genesis 3 that we wanted to be like God, but of course in doing this we did not become more like God…instead, we blurred our image, and became a bit like Satan as well. The goodness of God became mixed in us with the badness or the evil of Satan. We became unholy, naked, alone, fearful, lost.
And God said to Adam that we will return to the ground “since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” But I don’t want that to be the last word for me, and thankfully, neither does God! By His grace, because of His great love for us, God has come back in human form to reclaim that which is rightfully His…humankind.
God has come to us in Jesus Christ, and in God’s mercy all of us who receive Jesus Christ, all of us who believe in His name God grants the right to, once again, “become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision but born of God.”
And for all of us who have been born of God—through the Cross of Christ, God stamps His inscription on us. Whose portrait, whose inscription do we have stamped on us? It is to be the likeness and image of God, for He made us…and as Christians, Christ has purchased us with His blood!!!
So let me ask you; are we willing to allow God to have what is already rightfully His? Our lives and our allegiance?
This does not mean that we do not pay taxes to Caesar, or to whoever the governing authority is. Christians are to be good citizens. We are to be good witnesses for Christ. Because our ultimate and everlasting citizenship is not of this world.
Should we render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s? Sure thing; But, that’s just a coin. What we are to render unto God is our whole selves! Are we doing this? Or do we still live as Almost Christians, who have half an interest set in the kingdom of darkness, and another half in the kingdom of heaven?
Jesus told us that we cannot have it both ways. Because the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of God are like oil and water. They are opposites. They don’t mix.
Let’s be honest. Are we living with an American flag on our right side, a political affiliation on the other, and a symbol of Jesus somewhere in-between? If so, I fear that our witness and our image… that is the image of God imprinted on us… may be slightly blurred. Other people should be able to see Christ’s image and Christ’s inscription on us. We are to be the light of the world, the salt of the earth…not part of the dust!
I want to challenge you as you grow closer to God like Moses did to also think, “We are God’s coins.” We are to bear the image of God. There is to be no competition between God and Caesar! Our allegiance must be to Christ and Christ alone!!!
