I'm preaching this week, so thought I would share it here. It's always good as a resource and a place for me to revisit later.
Matthew 22:15-22
Today's Gospel begins with a question, but it isn't an honest question.
The Pharisees aren't looking for wisdom. They're looking for a way to get rid of Jesus. They come to him with a question that seems impossible to answer:
"Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
Now that might not sound very exciting to us. Most of us don't spend much of our week thinking about Roman taxation, but this was a loaded question.
If Jesus says, "Yes, pay the tax," ordinary Jewish people will think he's siding with the Roman occupiers.
If he says, "No, don't pay it," then he could be reported to the Roman authorities as a troublemaker or a rebel.
It's a trap.
Whatever answer Jesus gives, somebody will be unhappy. At least, that's what the Pharisees think.
The trouble is that Jesus sees the trap coming. In fact, before long, the trap has completely turned around. Jesus asks them for the coin used to pay the tax.
Then Jesus asks:
"Whose image is this? And whose inscription?"
"Caesar's," they reply.
That's the moment everything changes.
The Pharisees came to question Jesus. Suddenly they are the ones being questioned. They came hoping to expose him. Instead, Jesus exposes them. The very people trying to trap Jesus are carrying around the very coin that demonstrates their participation in Caesar's system.
The trap springs shut.
Only now it isn't Jesus who's caught in it.
All of this happens because of a coin.
A coin with a particular image and mark.
I understand that because Hannah and I are collectors of geeky things.
Some of you know that Hannah collects Care Bears. Not every one, type, or colour. They need to be the right Care Bears with the correct tags.
The details matter. The mark matters. They're genuine.
I'm exactly the same with He-Man figures.
In fact, for my birthday on Monday I was fortunate enough to receive a couple more for my collection, but Hannah had trouble getting them. They're not all the same, and collectors know better.
I don't want just any version. I want the original Mattel figures from the 1980s.
Like the Care Bears, you know they're genuine by the Mattel stamp.
The mark tells you where it came from, what it is, and who made it.
If you love something and are passionate about it, the details matter.
That's exactly where Jesus takes this conversation.
He points to the coin and asks:
"Whose image and mark is on it?"
When they answer, "Caesar's," Jesus says:
"Give Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
More Than a Coin
Jesus isn't talking about coins anymore. The coin is simply the doorway into a bigger question. Caesar's image is on the coin, so it belongs to Caesar.
But what bears God's image?
You do.
I do.
Every person does.
The image of God is stamped onto humanity. We belong to God.
That's what Jesus wants his listeners to see.
The Pharisees are interested in politics. Jesus is interested in identity. The Pharisees are arguing about taxes. Jesus is talking about belonging. The Pharisees want to know what Caesar deserves. Jesus wants them to remember what God deserves.
If the mark on something tells us where it comes from and who it belongs to, then God's image tells us the same thing.
Unfortunately, life has a habit of putting other labels on us.
Some are wonderful.
Parent. Grandparent. Husband. Wife. Friend. Volunteer. Church member. Train enthusiast. Collector.
We get professional ones too.
Teacher, carer, accountant, builder, musician, artist, and leader.
Some labels are harder.
Bereaved. Disabled. Anxious. Lonely. Unemployed. Rejected. Struggling.
Sometimes those experiences become so heavy that we start to believe they define us. Sometimes we begin to think that our labels define us. But Jesus points us back to something deeper.
Before any other label, before success or failure, before good news or bad news, we bear the image of God and belong to him.
Remember Whose Mark You Carry
This coming week, some of us will have a wonderful week. Others will face challenges. Life will happen. That's what life does.
Yet if even a collector can recognise the value of something because of the mark it carries, how much more does God, the greatest collector, value those who bear his image?
As we go into the week ahead, let us remember whose mark we carry. We bear the image of God, and we belong to him.
What labels do you carry? Which ones help you, and which ones threaten to overshadow the deeper truth that you are made in the image of God?
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