Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

There’s always been a lot of confusion about Jesus and what He came to do.

Before He came, they expected him to be born into a royal household as a clear successor to David.

He was going to be the King.

When He came, they were looking for a political and military revolutionary that would topple the Roman oppressors of Israel and reestablish Israel as the preeminent world power.

Since He’s come, Kings have conquered nations in his name and crusades have taken place in his name and Empires have risen and fallen claiming him as their divine establisher.

And, the confusion comes in because Jesus didn’t come to do any of those things in the way He was expected.

Jesus didn’t come to build an empire, but a church.

He didn’t come to establish a geographical nation, but a holy and spiritual nation, a temple of Living Stones.

Jesus came to build a church, and He came to build a church right in the middle of Rome.

And, that’s our struggle, isn’t it?

Wouldn’t it be so much easier if there was a nation one earth that you could go and live where Jesus was the physical King and just live under his gracious and benevolent rule?

One day....

But for now, we live as people in tension.

We are citizens of heaven but residents of earth.

And so there are all of these tensions that we face.

What do we do when the government of our country supports things that our King condemns?

What do we do when residence on earth seems to be in conflict with our citizenship in heaven?

Jesus gives us just the beginning of this answer this morning, and it’s actually answer that the NT answer very, very thoroughly as you continue to read.

So, let’s go to together.

God’s Word

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Pressure Points and Crowd Pleasing

“the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words” Now, remember where we left things.

We left things in conflict.

It’s still Tuesday of Passion week, as it’s the Tuesday before Jesus is to be crucified on Friday.

Jesus has flipped the tables in the Temple, and he’s used three consecutive parables to flip the consciences of the Temple leaders in on themselves.

And, they are hot.

So now, they are seeking a way to have Jesus arrested.

They want him gone.

Long gone.

But, they have a problem.

Jesus is too popular with the crowd.

The crowd has liked the miracles too much.

They’ve shouted, “Hosanna!

Hosanna!” They’ve listened as Jesus has taught with a supernatural authority unlike anything they’ve ever heard before.

So, as bad as they’ve wanted him arrested, they’ve been held back because they don’t want the crowds to turn on them, and they know that the crowd thinks too highly of Jesus.

So, they set out on a smear campaign against Jesus.

And, what we’re going to see over the next few weeks is a series of well thought out questions put together by Jesus’ opponents for the purpose of turning the crowds against Jesus so that they can have Jesus put away and arrested.

We see the first one this morning.

“we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and....do not care about anyone’s opinion” Now, I want you to notice how they approach Jesus.

First of all, they sent their students.

They didn’t go themselves, but they sent their students.

Most likely, they’re thinking that Jesus would be less suspicious of a question coming from a student and that perhaps these students are beginning to be won over to Jesus’ way of thinking and teaching.

And so, they send these students under the guise of admirers.

Man, they come in, and they’re just gushing with good things to say about Jesus.

They say, “Oh Jesus, you are such a man of integrity!

You are the man that all the rest of us wish that we were.

You just say it like it is, and you don’t even worry about whether or not it causes this person or that person to not like you!

We admire you, Jesus, because we know that you will tell the truth even if it means turning the crowd against you!” Now, this is a brilliant move.

First of all, it camouflages their attack to the crowd.

They don’t look like attackers trying to ensnare Jesus; they look like admirers seeking his transcendent wisdom!

It’s a great PR move to keep them from looking petty.

Second of all, it creates a pressure point for Jesus.

It puts him on the spot.

He has to answer.

If Jesus goes with a classic, diplomatic, “No comment” here, then he looks like he really does care about the crowds, and he really does care their opinions more than the truth.

So, they’re covering themselves on one hand, and pinning him down with the other.

The Dilemma

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” Now, when we get to their question, you need to understand that this is a perfectly crafted question asked in a perfectly crafted room.

Let me explain.

First of all, let’s look at the question.

“Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?” Obviously, the Law they are referring to here is the Law of Moses, the Law of God, for it is clearly not against the Law of Rome to pay the Roman tax.

And so, we’d have to ask why would it be against the law of God for a Jew to pay the tax.

The Jews utterly despised the Roman occupation.

Being occupied by Gentiles was almost more than they could bear.

And, a zealot from Galilee named Judas had attempted to lead a revolt against Rome just a few years prior to this.

His primary reasoning?

The poll tax that was in question here.

You see, on the denarius used to pay the tax was the picture of Tiberius, and it identified him as both the son of god and as the high priest.

And, the Jews viewed the tax as blasphemous and the coins as idols, and in their minds, to pay the tax, it was the equivalent to pagan worship and submission to pagan slavery.

So, if Jesus says “Pay the tax,” they will say to the Jewish crowd, “He does not love God’s law and is a willing blasphemer.”

If Jesus says “Don’t pay the tax,” they all too happy to run to Rome, and tell them that they have another Galilean revolutionary trying to stir up a revolt over the poll tax.

They’re setting perfectly for an arrest.

“along with the Herodians” It’s also a perfectly crafted room.

Notice who’s asking this question.

It’s the Pharisees and the Herodians together.

The Herodians are probably a group that you’re not as familiar with as the Pharisees.

They’re only mentioned a few times, but they’re a group of Jews that are very loyal and big time supporters of King Herod.

And, they are not friends of the Pharisees.

You see, Herod had his power only at the discretion of Rome, and his power and influence was as much or as little as a Rome allowed.

So, the Herodians were all about the Roman way, and were big supporters of the Jews paying the Poll Tax, and didn’t want any more revolts that would potentially cause Rome to reign in Herod’s authority.

So, what’s strange is that the Pharisees probably hated the Herodians more than they hated the Romans, but they both hated Jesus more than they hated each other, and so regardless of how Jesus answered the question; somebody is going to tattle tail.

Either the Herodians are running to Rome, or the Pharisees are running to Jerusalem.

The Rebuke

“Show me the coin for the tax.”

Now, what’s fascinating in these situations is how quickly they always turn on Jesus’ interrogators.

They think they’ve got him.

They’re proud of their question, and they’re expecting Jesus to be taken back.

But, Jesus doesn’t stammer, and Jesus doesn’t hesitate.

With the precision of a surgeon, He cuts through their empty flattery, and diagnoses the wickedness in their souls.

He calls them hypocrites.

They are literally saying one thing to his face and meaning something different in their hearts.

They are wearing a mask, and He is about to rip the mask from their faces in a way that every person in the crowd can see.

“Whose likeness and inscription is this?

They said, ‘Caesar’s.”

Jesus calls for a denarius, a Roman coin, but, you see, Jesus doesn’t just ask them for the coin to have a cool object lesson.

Jesus isn’t just trying to make an awesome illustration.

Jesus is ripping the mask off of this hypocritical, religious monster that was the Temple of God.

Knowing that they had issues with caesars being gods and the coins being idols, Rome allowed the Jews to make their own coins and to essentially have their own economy.