Government from God's Point of View
The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 22:15-22
Sermon by Rick Crandall
(Prepared January 10, 2023)
BACKGROUND:
*Please open your Bibles to Matthew 22:15. Jesus was in Jerusalem to die on the cross for our sins. The city and surrounding villages were crowded with over 2 million Jewish pilgrims there for the annual Passover Feast. (1)
*Early that week, Jesus went into the Temple to drive out the moneychangers and dove merchants because they had turned the Court of the Gentiles into a den of thieves by cheating the pilgrims. Then in Matthew 21:14-16, "The blind and the lame came to (Jesus) in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!' they were indignant and said to Him, 'Do You hear what these are saying?' And Jesus said to them, 'Yes. Have you never read, "Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise"?'''
*The next day, Jesus went back to the Temple. Luke 20:1 tells us that Jesus was there teaching the people and preaching the gospel to them. That's when the chief priests, scribes, and elders confronted the Lord again. This time, those Temple rulers questioned the Lord about the source of His authority.
*Jesus refused to answer their question directly, because it wasn't quite time for His death on the cross. Instead, the Lord used a question and three parables to highlight the festering corruption and raging hatred in the hearts of these Temple rulers. They had completely rejected their promised Messiah, and had been plotting His murder for months. So, the Lord openly condemned them in Matthew 21:43 where Jesus told them, "I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it."
*After hearing Jesus, the Pharisees and Sadducees should have repented from their wicked plans. But in today's Scripture, the Pharisees decided to attack the Lord from a different angle. Verse 15 tells us that they "went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk."
*They decided to trap Jesus into taking a public stand against the Roman government. But you can't trick God, so the Lord knew exactly what to say. And in today's Scripture, Jesus helps us understand government from His point of view. Please think about this as we read Matthew 22:15-22.
MESSAGE:
*How good of a job do you think our federal government is doing right now? Well, if you're like most people, you are not too happy. Last November, only 22% of people approved of the way Congress is handling its job. And I think our government is more off-track right now than at any other time in my life. But a much more important question is: What does God think about our government? We can look into His Word today and see. (2)
1. FIRST, JESUS WANTS US TO KNOW THAT HE DESIGNED GOVERNMENT FOR OUR GOOD.
*The Lord designed government to help give peace and order in this fallen world. The evidence here is in vs. 21 where Jesus said, "Render (or give) to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
*Here Jesus was recognizing the rightful place of government in our world. The Apostle Paul was also clear about this in Romans 13:1 where he said, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God."
*Please understand that this Scripture does not mean God appointed dictators like the evil Nazi Adolph Hitler, or the Russian Communist Joseph Stalin, or the Communist rulers in China. Ungodly, cruel, corrupt politicians have been one of the worst plagues of mankind.
*One horrible example is Lavrentiy Beria. He was the most ruthless and longest-serving secret police chief during Joseph Stalin's reign of terror in the Soviet Union. Beria's famous boast was, "Show me the man and I'll show you the crime." He led the expansion of the slave-labor camps and secret detention facilities for political prisoners. I have seen estimates of 100 to 148 million people killed under brutal Communist dictatorships, including 65 million in China and up to 60 million in the nations once controlled by the Soviet Union. (3)
*And yes, God is ultimately in control of everything, but wherever there is sin in our world, God's perfect will is not being done. And as Hal Lindsey said years ago: "Satan is alive and well on planet Earth."
*Think about it this way: If God had appointed Adolf Hitler, then the Allies in World War II would have been sinful by going to war against Hitler. Romans 13:1 doesn't tell us that God appointed monsters like Hitler. It tells us that God created government to help the world exist in a good way. All government leaders are responsible to God, and they always get into trouble when they put themselves above God.
2. JESUS WANTS US TO KNOW THAT HE DESIGNED GOVERNMENT FOR OUR GOOD. HE ALSO WANTS US TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF UNGODLY GOVERNMENT.
*The sad reality in our fallen world is this: Governments have a strong tendency to trend toward evil and tyranny. Government is only as good as the character of the men in positions of power, so there is always a threat that this power will be abused.
*In vs. 15-18, we see an example of this danger in the religious rulers who were trying to trick Jesus:
15. Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.
16. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men.
17. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?''
*Of course, you can't fool God, so in vs. 18, "Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, 'Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?'" Jesus was asking them, "Why are you tempting me? -- Why are you trying to trick me?" They were trying to trick Him because they were corrupt and refused to receive Jesus as the promised Messiah. But you can't fool the Lord! -- Thank God!
*Here the Bible mentions the Pharisees and Herodians, but there were two other groups involved in the conspiracy to murder Jesus: the scribes and Sadducees. Normally, the Sadducees were bitter rivals of the scribes and Pharisees, because these two groups radically enforced their man-made additions to God's Law. Sadducees rejected those laws. And the divide was so bitter that in Acts 23:10, Paul was almost pulled apart during a clash between them.
*Scribes and Pharisees were also bitter enemies of the Herodians, because they were supporters of the non-Jewish family appointed by Rome to rule Palestine. But these four groups had united in their murderous hatred of Jesus. They were obsessed with His destruction, and had been plotting His death for months. (4)
*How would you like to have evil people like that in charge of your government? Sadly, we do have lot of selfish, ungodly people running our government today. And we could talk about it for days.
*The problem with governments is that they aren't always good. But as off-track as ours is right now, we still have the best government in the world. In the whole history of the world there has never been another government that has brought as much freedom and prosperity into the world.
*That's because our Founding Fathers were for the most part godly Christians who were well aware of the dangers of government. And that's why our Declaration of Independence contains these words:
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . ."
*Our godly Founding Fathers were very wise about the potential dangers of ungodly government. Dr. Ben Carson explained that the Founding Fathers leaned heavily on the writings of Baron Charles Montesquieu. And they quoted from his work more often than any other source except the Bible. Montesquieu was a professor, author, and legal philosopher from France. He wrote an essay called "The Spirit of the Laws," which was studied intently and "greatly impacted the formation of the American government."
*Montesquieu understood and acknowledged the depravity of man, as described in Jeremiah 17:9. There God says this about the heart of fallen man: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?" Montesquieu understood this fact, so he advocated for a system that contained built-in checks and balances.
*He believed the power should be divided into 3 parts, and was inspired by Isaiah 33:22. There God's Word says: "The LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King; He will save us." In other words: The only man who is righteous enough to hold all of that power at once is the Lord God Himself. So the very existence of the United States Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Presidency highlight both the goodness of God and the potential danger in man-centered government. (5)
3. JESUS WANTS US TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF UNGODLY GOVERNMENT. HE ALSO WANTS US TO FULFILL OUR GODLY DUTIES TO GOVERNMENT.
*As Jesus responded to these murderous, scheming rulers, He also reminds us about our godly duties to government. And we can see this in vs. 18-22:
18. But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?
19. Show Me the tax money.'' So they brought Him a denarius.
20. And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?''
21. They said to Him, "Caesar's.'' And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.''
22. When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.
*It's amazing how Jesus turned things around here. And in the middle of astounding the people who were trying to trap Him, the Lord gives us an important instruction about our civic duty concerning our money. God doesn't want us to be selfish with our money, and this makes sense, because it's really His money anyway.
*But vs. 21 reminds us that we have a godly duty to give part of our money to the government. In other words: God wants us to pay our taxes. Paul confirmed this truth in Romans 13:6-7, where he said:
6. Because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing.
7. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
*We have a God-given duty to pay our taxes. But Paul also tells us there that we have a duty to give honor and respect those who deserve our respect. Thank God, there are still many good and godly people working in our government! They help protect us from the bad guys. They defend our freedom. And they perform all kinds of services that are important to a civil society.
*So God wants us to do our duty to government. Pay your taxes and give respect where it is due, because at its best, a government does good things for people. Looking back, I am so thankful that God allowed me to work for the Air Force for six years. During that time, my boss, Henry Hearn taught me to respect authority, really for the first time in my life, and I learned a little about doing my duty.
4. JESUS WANTS US TO FULFILL OUR GODLY DUTIES TO GOVERNMENT. BUT MOST OF ALL, HE WANTS US TO BE DEVOTED TO GOD.
*Jesus wants us to be fully devoted to the one and only God who eternally exists as God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This means being fully devoted to Jesus Christ, because He is God in human flesh. As Colossians 2:9 says, "In Him (that is, in Jesus Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."
*And Jesus Christ is worthy of our devotion. One reason why is because He always tells the truth. Back up in vs. 16, even the Lord's enemies admitted that. They said, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth." Now they didn't really believe what they said that day, but they were absolutely right!
*Jesus is worthy of our devotion because He always tells the truth, also because His judgment is just.
*Christian: If you got falsely arrested for a bogus crime in Communist North Korea or China, or in Taliban controlled Afghanistan, do you think you would get a fair judge and jury? Not very likely. What if the same thing happened in Washington D.C. or San Francisco? Possibly, but a fair trial in those cities is by no means definite.
*Even a fair judge and jury can convict the wrong person. In 1984, a Louisiana man named Glenn Ford was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Almost 30 years later, new evidence came to light that that someone else had committed the murder, and Mr. Ford was released. That man spent almost 30 years on death row for a crime he did not commit. And by that time, he had stage 4 cancer. (6)
*The best human judges and juries can get it horribly wrong. But Jesus never does! Our God always does the right thing, and He always will! He is a just God. As Moses said in Deuteronomy 32:3-4, "I proclaim the name of the LORD: ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He."
*The Lord's judgment is always just, so of course He got it right in vs. 18 when He "perceived their wickedness," and called them "hypocrites." Jesus is worthy of our devotion because His judgment is just, and because His wisdom is wonderful.
*We saw a sample of the Lord's wisdom in vs. 19-22:
19. (Jesus said) "Show Me the tax money.'' So they brought Him a denarius.
20. And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?''
21. They said to Him, "Caesar's.'' And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.''
22. When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.
*They marveled at the Lord's wisdom, and we should marvel at the Lord's wisdom. For all of these reasons and countless more, Jesus is worthy of our supreme devotion. That's why in John 5:20-27, Jesus could say:
20. . . "The Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
21. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.
22. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,
23. that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
24. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
25. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.
26. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,
27. and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man."
*Here is the proper relationship between government and God: Human government should always be submissive to Jesus Christ. His judgment is always supreme, so Christians: We must always put God over government. We must never put government over God. And when the government tells us to disobey God, we should always disobey government.
*Two good Old Testament examples come from the story of Moses' birth. The first is in in Exodus 1:15-22, where God's Word says:
15. Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah;
16. and he said, "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.''
17. But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive.
18. So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?''
19. And the midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.''
20. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty.
21. And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.
22. So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.''
*Those midwives and God's people were greatly blessed, because the midwives disobeyed an ungodly government.
*Then in Exodus 2:1-6:
1. . . A man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi.
2. So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months.
3. But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank.
4. And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.
5. Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river. And her maidens walked along the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it.
6. And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children.''
*Moses grew up to become one of the greatest prophets and leaders who ever lived, because his parents disobeyed an ungodly government. And when government tells us to disobey God, we should disobey government.
*A great New Testament example starts in Acts 3. There Peter and John were on their way to pray at the Temple, but they were stopped by a beggar who had been lame for all of his life. The man asked for money, but in vs. 6-8:
6. . . Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.''
7. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
8. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them walking, leaping, and praising God.
*The large crowd of people in the Temple was filled with wonder over this miracle, and Peter began to preach about the Lord Jesus Christ. He talked about the cross and the wonderful good news of Christ's resurrection. Acts 4:4 tells us that 5,000 men were saved that day, when they believed in the Lord!
*But these things caused such a stir that the Temple rulers had Peter and John arrested. The next day, Peter and John were put on trial before the Jewish High Court for preaching about Jesus. And Acts 4:15-20 says:
15. . . When they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,
16. saying, "What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
17. But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.''
18. And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
19. But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.
20. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.''
*Church: God wants us to respect government whenever possible, and resist government whenever necessary. We must always put God over government, because the Lord deserves our full devotion! So, in vs. 21 Jesus tells us to "render to God the things that are God's." But what does this mean for you and me?
*Well, when it comes to our money, all of us should faithfully and cheerfully give our tithes and offerings. But the Lord isn't just talking about money here, because God owns a whole lot more than our money. And that is especially true if we have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:
19. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20. For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
*Christians, we were bought with a price, -- the highest price, -- the price Jesus paid when He died on the cross for our sins! Now our lives, our souls belong to God, so we must always put God over government. And keep trusting in the LORD with all our hearts.
CONCLUSION:
*John Phillips told a great story about Queen Elizabeth's father, King George VI of England. He was a born-again believer who died in 1952. On one of the king's royal visits to Canada, local officials thought he might like to meet an Indian chief, and Chief Whitefeather was chosen for the honor. He was asked to sing something for the king, and everyone expected a native war song.
*But Chief Whitefeather was a Christian, and he had something else in mind. Those government officials were shocked when the chief began to sing:
"I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold.
I'd rather be His than have riches untold,
I'd rather have Jesus than houses or land,
I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand.
Than to be the king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin's dread sway;
I'd rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today."
*The stunned officials waited to see how King George would react. Then the king went over to Chief Whitefeather, took him by the hand and said, "I'd rather have Jesus, too." (7)
*The wonderful good news of the Bible is that everyone can have Jesus too! He loves us so much that He died on the cross for all of our sins! Then 3 days later, Jesus rose again in everlasting victory over sin and death. Now He wants to forgive your sins and give you His everlasting life. And that's exactly what Jesus will do, if you will believe in Him and receive Him as your Lord and Savior.
*Call on the Lord to save you, as we go back to God in prayer. Then yes, fulfil your godly duties to our government, but always give your greatest devotion to God.
(1) Sources:
-BARCLAY'S DAILY BIBLE STUDY SERIES - NEW TESTAMENT by William Barclay - Revised Edition - Copyright 1975 - First published by the Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland - The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, PA - "A King's Welcome - John 12:12-19"
-https://bibleportal.com/commentary/section/william-barclay/a-kings-welcome-john-1212-19-7786
-https://bibleportal.com/commentary/section/william-barclay/a-kings-welcome-john-1212-19-continued-7787
-https://biosidmartin.com/how-many-people-were-in-jerusalem-for-passover-when-jesus-was-crucified/
(2) "Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job? - https://www.statista.com/statistics/207579/public-approval-rating-of-the-us-congress/
(3) Sources:
-"Show me the man and I'll show you the crime" - by Michael Henry - Published 2:49 pm Wednesday, May 9, 2018 - https://www.oxfordeagle.com/2018/05/09/show-me-the-man-and-ill-show-you-the-crime/
-"Lavrenti Beria Executed - Stalin's security chief was executed on December 23rd, 1953" by Richard Cavendish - Published in History Today Volume 53 Issue 12 December 2003 - https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/lavrenti-beria-executed
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_killings_under_communist_regimes
-"How Many People Did Joseph Stalin Kill?" by Palash Ghosh - @Gooch700 - 03/05/13 AT 8:55 AM
-https://www.ibtimes.com/how-many-people-did-joseph-stalin-kill-1111789
-https://www.victimsofcommunism.org/
(4) Sources:
-WORD PICTURES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT by Archibald Thomas (A. T.) Robertson - Published in 1930-1933 - Matthew 12:14; Mark 3:6
-Got Questions: Who were the Herodians? - https://www.gotquestions.org/Herodians.html
-Got Questions: Who are the various Herods mentioned in the Bible? - https://www.gotquestions.org/Herods.html
-Got Questions: What was Herod's temple? - https://www.gotquestions.org/Herod-third-temple.html
-GotQuestions.com - "Who were the Scribes?" - https://www.gotquestions.org/scribes-Jesus.html
-https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jesus/Scribes-and-Pharisees
(5) AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL by Ben and Candy Carson, 2012, p. 33: Source: In Other Words - March 2015 #2 - Produced by Dr. Raymond McHenry - www.iows.net
(6) "In wake of apology, ex prosecutor calls for end of death penalty" by Vickie Welborn - March 23, 2015 - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/22/ex-prosecutor-apologizes-wrongfully-convicted-man/25183319/
(7) EXPLORING THE PSALMS - VOL 1 by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "The Portion of the Godly Man" Psalm 16:5-6 - Downloaded to "Bible Study 6" from Olive Tree Bible Software, Inc.
