{"id":3101,"date":"2008-10-19T14:03:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-19T18:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=3101"},"modified":"2020-12-21T14:04:32","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T19:04:32","slug":"minted-by-god-sermon-talkback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/minted-by-god-sermon-talkback\/","title":{"rendered":"Minted by God Sermon Talkback"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermon Talkback<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

October 19, 2008<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minted by God<\/a>\u2014Matthew 22:15-22<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tinged with Irony<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the very beginning of this passage, the conduct of Jesus\u2019 opponents is tinged with irony. By plotting against Jesus, they are, in fact, embodying the very type of behavior Jesus has been teaching against. Apparently, the Pharisees assume it is only a matter of time before Jesus\u2019 verbosity gets him into trouble, that if they can find a way to keep him talking, he\u2019ll eventually entrap himself. The Pharisees hope to pose a question to Jesus that will, in effect, place him between a political rock and a theological hard place. As we see, Jesus is able to think well outside the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cHerodians\u201d were promoters of the family of Herod. They were deeply committed to alliances with Rome and would be hostile to any opposition to the existing Roman taxes and keen to report potential mutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pharisees and Herodians proceed with a little flattery: \u201cTeacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God accordance with truth, and show deference to no one: for you do not regard people with partiality\u201d (v. 16). The statement is incredibly ironic because they are about to ask him implicitly to show deference to someone and to display partiality. The Greek adds a comical element that is not present in our English translation of displaying partiality. More literally, the opponents say to Jesus, \u201cYou do not care for anyone, and you do not regard the face of anyone.\u201d Of course, it is the face of the emperor that will be of particular interest as the passage proceeds. Jesus will ask whose image appears upon the coin, and his opponents are forced to regard the face of Caesar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coins<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus sees right through their evil intentions and addresses them for who they truly are, \u201chypocrites\u201d (v. 18). They illustrate their own hypocrisy by even possessing \u201cthe coin used for the tax.\u201d Neither Jesus nor his disciples have this coin. The coin itself is the denarius, a silver coin stamped with the image of the emperor and used specifically for this tax. Jews had copper coins for daily use that bore no image of the emperor. Yet, these religious leaders had no problem producing this coin with its \u201cgraven image,\u201d especially if they were helping Rome collect the tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The meaning of a \u201cgraven image\u201d is a dead image like a golden calf. God can\u2019t be engraved on something by human hands. God is not an idol, something we can pin down and hold fast forever on a coin. If we tried, we would literally kill God off in our hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything Belongs to God<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus says, \u201cGive therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor\u2019s, and to God the things that are God\u2019s.\u201d From God\u2019s standpoint, what does not belong to God? \u201cFor the world and all that is in it is mine\u201d (Psalm 50:12; Psalm 24:1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, from Rome\u2019s standpoint, this coin with Caesar\u2019s image was Rome\u2019s. The Jewish people, like all other peoples living in the Empire, owed their allegiance to Rome for the benefits that the Empire provided\u2014such as security and an excellent road system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paying Taxes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. In this year of political debates, economical troubles locally, nationally, and globally, and statewide infrastructures in need of repairs, would you be willing to pay more taxes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. If you understand either Obama\u2019s (Redistribution) or McCain\u2019s (No taxes and cut bureaucracy) tax proposals, which one would you support and why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warning! Loose Change Can Be Hazardous to Your Health!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Money can be hazardous to your health. Two medical researchers at the University of Louisville have been looking into the question and have found that 13% of coins and 42% of paper money carry disease-producing organisms. Small denomination coins and bills are more dangerous because of their rapid turnover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Materials from Homiletics<\/em>, Vol. 20, No. 5, pp. 60-62 and Lectionary Homiletics<\/em>, Vol. XIX, No. 6, pp. 24-25)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermon Talkback October 19, 2008 Minted by God\u2014Matthew 22:15-22 Tinged with Irony From the very beginning of this passage, the conduct of Jesus\u2019 opponents is tinged with irony. By plottingContinue readingMinted by God Sermon Talkback<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-3101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donald-ng-sermon-talkbacks","tag-matthew"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3101"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3102,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3101\/revisions\/3102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}