“Multiple Loyalties”

(Matthew 22:15-22)

Series: God’s Fulfilled Promise [on screen]

Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD

First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida

July 12, 2020

The Passage

Matthew 22:15-22

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to trap him by what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are truthful and teach truthfully the way of God. You don’t care what anyone thinks nor do you show partiality. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

18 Perceiving their malicious intent, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” They brought him a denarius. 20 “Whose image and inscription is this?” he asked them.

21 “Caesar’s,” they said to him. Then he said to them, “Give, then, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

Introductory Comments:

Many of you remember the Looney Tunes characters Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote (we have a picture to show the two of them). [show picture on screen]  Wile E. Coyote was always trying to trick and capture Road Runner. However, as you know he always failed. Time and time again, he failed.

Well, here we are again with the Jewish establishment trying to trick and trap Jesus. However, they fail time and time again. Spoiler alert: they will fail in today’s passage as well.They just don’t seem to learn their lesson. However, thankfully for us, we continue to learn helpful truths from God’s Word as we study these stories of the religious leaders’ failed attempts to trap Jesus. 

As we prepare to study today’s passage, let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us. 

(prayer)

Ok, here we are back in the Gospel of Matthew and Jesus is interacting with the religious leaders. 

In this circumstance, the Pharisees decide to send their disciples, rather than going themselves. They send their disciples along with the Herodians to try and trap Jesus.Now, a natural question arises: who are the Herodians?

We don’t know everything about the Herodians, but we do know that they were loyal to and supportive of the rule and reign of King Herod, hence the name, “Herodians.”

The Herodians were primarily politically motivated, whereas the Pharisees were primarily religiously motivated. 

Under normal circumstances, these two groups may not even get along. However, when it came to trying to trick Jesus, they seemed to get along just fine. 

So, let’s look at the passage and see two types of loyalties that emerge. Look at Matthew 22:15-22:

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to trap him by what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are truthful and teach truthfully the way of God. You don’t care what anyone thinks nor do you show partiality. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

18 Perceiving their malicious intent, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” They brought him a denarius. 20 “Whose image and inscription is this?” he asked them.

21 “Caesar’s,” they said to him. Then he said to them, “Give, then, to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

In a moment, we’re going to discover two directives from this passage that will help us know God’s way for us. Before we do, let’s talk a little more about the passage. 

Notice in verse 16 that these folks are really trying to butter-up Jesus. 

They say, “we know that you are truthful and teach truthfully the way of God. You don’t care what anyone thinks nor do you show partiality.”They’re basically saying, “We know that you care so much about t