“How Much Do I Owe?”
Text: Matthew 22:15-22
10-22-2023
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, Oh Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. When I was stationed in Germany, I quickly learned a few basic German words that were essential for communicating when I left the Army base. For example, when asking where the restrooms were, I had to learn “herren” and “damen”—men’s and women’s—so that I chose the right door! And I learned the all-important, “Ein bier bitte”: one beer, please. But when you go to pay for something, you’ll want to know “wie viel”: “how much?” Whether you’re paying for supper or buying a souvenir, you need to know how much you owe.
Well, I’m quite certain that the folks in our Gospel Lesson (aside from Jesus) didn’t know German. But this is their question to Christ about taxes. “Wie viel?” “How much do I owe?” And more precisely, “How much do I owe and to whom?” The answer Jesus gave caught them all off guard. But it answers a very important question about our debt to the government, and more importantly, our debt to God.
Our reading makes it clear that the fellas who were asking this question didn’t have innocent motives. Matthew tells us they were trying to entangle Jesus. The Greek word there is a snare-trap used to catch a bird. By now, the Jewish hierarchy hated Christ. And they’d do anything to get rid of Him. This was their latest ploy. What adds intrigue to this whole plot was the crew that was sent to pose this question. It was made up of Pharisees and Herodians. The Pharisees were the hyper-religious, legalistic Jews who focused on the law and their proud ancestry. The Herodians were supporters of King Herod who was the puppet king of Israel that the Romans had put on the throne. He wasn’t even a real Jew which really irritated the Jewish people. Plus, Herod was in cahoots with the Romans. All the more reason for the Jews to hate them.
And yet, here you have this oil and water mixture of people coming together to question Jesus. It would be like having a contingent of Republicans and Democrats approaching you with a question. These guys normally hated each other. They didn’t get along. So why would they join forces to attack Jesus? Well, have you ever heard the saying: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend?” That was the case here. They were united in their disdain for Jesus and their goal to get rid of Him. This strange union in and of itself would’ve been enough to tip Jesus off that something fishy was going on.
To disguise their intent, they start off by trying to butter Jesus up with the hopes of luring Him into their trap. The question they posed seemed innocent enough. “Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” It sounded like a legitimate concern. By paying this tax, weren’t they acknowledging the validity of this earthly, Roman Emperor and thereby, insulting God who was supposed to be their only true King? Folks, do yourself a favor. Don’t ever try to trap God with a trick question. You’re going to lose and be made to look stupid. This crew thought they had Jesus nailed. Either way that He answered, they figured He’d be in trouble. Their trick question would be like asking me, “So Pastor, are you still beating your wife? Yes or no?” If I say yes, then I’m confessing that I’m currently harming my wife. If I say no, then I’ve just admitted to abusing Gayleen in the past. I never have nor would I ever think of doing such a thing. (Besides, she knows where all my guns are.) But the question would trap me either way. It’s a no-win situation. Jesus was asked a similar type question. If He said “No, you shouldn’t pay your taxes” then the Romans would arrest Him for treason. If He said “Yes, you should” then the Jews would think that He was a traitor to their cause.
It seemed like the perfect trap; for a simple human, that is. But not for the Son of God. Jesus was truly God in the flesh. He could see the motives of their hearts and knew what they were up to. So after all their schmoozing, Jesus cuts right to the chase. He calls them “hypocrites.” That Greek word is very fitting for these guys. It was used to describe actors on the stage. In those days, the actors would wear a mask to play their characters. This crew who was trying to trap Jesus were wearing a mask too. They came with smiling faces and compliments but underneath was their wicked, evil intent. It must’ve stung having their false pretenses being stripped off. Jesus exposed that their real motive was to trip Him up. Here’s where it gets fun though. Like in the game of football, they thought they were on Offense. But now they’ve been stripped of the ball and are scrambling to play Defense.
Jesus used this opportunity to teach an important lesson which was much deeper than the tax question. So He asked to see the coin used to pay the tax and He asked, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” Those folks must’ve thought it was a dumb question. Couldn’t He see for Himself? It was Caesar’s image and name stamped on there. You need to know something significant about this piece of money. When a new Emperor came into power, he’d mint a bunch of coinage with his face and name on it and they were viewed as HIS property. Jesus basically tells them, “You say this is Caesar’s coin then give him what you owe to him.”
This half of Jesus’ answer was quite easy for the Jews to calculate. Every adult had to pay this yearly tax. It was equivalent to one day’s wages. Even though they resented this tax, they knew exactly what they owed and to whom they owed it. Whether they liked to admit it or not, they enjoyed many benefits under Roman rule. Paved roads which made trade and travel easier, an army which protected them from robbery or violence, aqueducts that brought clean water, a justice system, and much more. Did they owe anything to the Roman Government? Most certainly! And it was nothing less than stealing to take these benefits without paying for them. Then Jesus hit them with the more difficult half of His answer. He said to give to God the things that are God’s. The questioners had come to Jesus with an either-or question. But Jesus answers with an AND. “Give to Caesar what you owe him, and give to God what you rightly owe Him.” This wasn’t just a clever answer to escape their trap. It wasn’t some riddle to get Him off the hook. This was a divine truth. And everyone listening was then forced to ask the obvious question: “I know what I owe to Caesar. But what do I owe to God?” Jesus didn’t tell them the answer. He left it for them to answer by faith, because only faith can answer it properly.
And that’s the question that we are now asked: Wie viel? How much do we owe and to whom? We know how much we owe to our government. Jesus says it’s only right to pay what you owe for all that we receive from this earthly authority. But how much do we owe to God? What do we owe Him for all our material and spiritual blessings?
Some Christians would say, “Oh, that’s easy! The Bible says we owe God 10%.” That’s only partly true. In the Old Testament God commanded His people to give 10% back to Him from the bounty of their crops. But here’s the part that gets missed. That 10% was simply a token reminder of Who really owned their whole crop. That was God. When we look at the all the material blessings we have, we need to remember that we don’t “own” anything. God owns everything in this world. He created it. We’re merely allowed to use it and manage His resources.
But that’s just our material possessions. What about our body and soul and all the blessings we have received? With that in mind, we need to ask, “How much do we owe God for them?” Before we can answer that we have to revisit the ownership question again. Pro-abortion feminists have a saying, “My body, my choice!” Homosexuals claim the same thing. They can do whatever they want with their bodies because it’s their sole possession. Those who advocate assisted suicide claim the same thing. To a certain extent, we all get rather possessive of our bodies, don’t we? But do we really “own” our bodies? No, God still owns them. In our text, if we apply what Jesus was teaching then He’s telling us, “Give to God what your rightly owe Him. If God owns your body, then honor Him with your body and don’t use it to indulge your own sinful impulses.”
But more importantly, we need to ask, “What do I owe God for the great spiritual blessings I have received? What do I owe Him for the salvation of my soul?” Jesus holds up your soul like that coin and says, “Whose image is stamped on it? Whose name is inscribed on it?” In your Baptism, God stamped on you the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. He inscribed His holy name on you as He claimed you as His possession by washing away all your sins. But you are more than a piece of property. You are His beloved child. Jesus paid the price on the cross to buy us back from sin, death, and the devil. Luther reminds us in the Catechism of the currency He used to purchase our freedom, “Not with gold or silver, but with His Holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.”
Jesus tells us to give to God the things that are God’s. We belong to Him. All that we can give Him is our total trust. All that we can give Him is our whole self—mind, body and soul—in humble service to Him. What we “owe” Him is our endless love and eternal thanks and praise. May God, who has claimed us as His own, strengthen our faith so that we may honor Him in our lives with all that we say and do. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!