Sermon: Whose Image Is This?

Matthew 22:15-22

Whose Image Is This?

James Sledge                                                                                       October 22, 2017

In the time of Jesus, Palestine was a colony under Roman rule. Rome allowed a certain level of self-governance, but they retained ultimate power. They levied heavy taxes, a burden that often fell especially on the poor. Many Jews resented the Romans, their armies and taxes. Open rebellion had broken out around the time of Jesus’ birth, and would break out again 30-some years after his death. 

At the same time, many Jews found Roman occupation beneficial. It brought peace and stability to an unstable region. Commerce benefited from Roman presence. Besides, except for brief periods here and there, Israel had been occupied by some power for centuries.

In our gospel reading this morning, pro-Roman Herodians become unlikely partners with Pharisees in an effort to trap Jesus. Normally you wouldn’t expect these two groups to have anything to do with one another, but here they join forces against Jesus, hoping to force him into either a pro-Rome or anti-Rome statement. “Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”

The question is more difficult and volatile than it may appear. These taxes could only be paid with Roman coins such as the one pictured on the bulletin. Its inscription says “Caesar Augustus, son of God, Father of His People” on one side and “Tiberius Caesar, Son of Augustus, High Priest” on the other. For Pharisees, who meticulously tried to keep the Commandments, this coin, with its divine pretensions and graven image, violated a couple of them. They objected to using such coins at all. Perhaps that’s why they needed the Herodians’ help, but our scripture simply says they brought (Jesus) a denarius, and “they” seems to include the Pharisees.  Strange that they appear unfazed by this idolatrous coin. 

“Whose head is this, and whose title?” Jesus asks. That is not in dispute; it is the emperor’s. “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”  Or as some of us learned from an earlier Bible translation, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s…”

Speaking of Bible translations, I’m not sure why our Bible translates Jesus’ question, “Whose head is this?”  The word Matthew uses is the same word in his Bible’s creation story where God says, “Let us create humankind in our image.”

When the Emperor Augustus or Tiberius put their image on coins, it is an explicit statement about whose coins they are. It’s not unlike the branding that companies practice today when they emblazon their names and logos on their buildings and equipment. 

“Whose image is this?” asks Jesus. “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 

But as so often happens when people try to trap Jesus, he does not really answer their question. He doesn’t say what things are the emperor’s and what are God’s.  Does the emperor’s image on the coin really make it his? And what of the image of God that we bear? 

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it.  So begins Psalm 24, a psalm that Jesus no doubt knew well. “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 

In just over a week it will be the 500^th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the church door, unintentionally sparking the Protestant Reformation. Around twenty years later, John Calvin joined the growing Reformation, and his work would give rise to the Reformed tradition, of which we Presbyterians are a part. Reformed and Lutheran teachings shared much in common but diverged significantly over the Lord’s Supper. 

As these two movements spread, they bumped into each other at the German town of Heidelberg. Tensions between the two groups worried the ruler of that area, and so he asked two prominent Christians in Heidelberg to come up with a theological statement that would be acceptable to both sides. The result was the Heidelberg Catechism, published in 1563 and one of the faith statements in our Presbyterian Book of Confessions.

The first question of that catechism reads, “What is your only comfort, in life and in death?” The answer begins, “That I belong – body and soul, in life and in death – not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ…” These words are echoed in “A Brief Statement of Faith,” the most recently written statement in our Book of Confessions. It begins, “In life and in death we belong to God.”

I wonder if we realize what counter-cultural statements these are. We are much more likely to hear the opposite. “It’s my money and I’ll spend it however I want!” Or, “It’s my life, and I’ll decide what I want to do with it!”

We Americans value freedom and autonomy. When the late Franks Sinatra used to sing, “I did it my way,” millions of Americans nodded in agreement and hoped the same could be said of them. Even in our religious lives, we tend to function as autonomous actors, choosing to participate because we see some benefit or agree with the teachings. More rarely do we acknowledge the image of God that marks us as God’s own.

If we did, if we routinely thought to ourselves, “I belong – body and soul, in life and in death – not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ,” this year’s stewardship theme of Fearless Giving would probably be unnecessary. If we truly thought of ourselves as belonging to God, and all that we have belonging to God, we likely wouldn’t find it so difficult to give even a tiny portion of “our” money and time to God. If we trusted that Jesus is the good shepherd who cares for us, the lambs of his flock, we wouldn’t be so perpetually worried about not having enough.

Whose image is this? On a coin, on me, on you.

“What is your only comfort” (your only hope, assurance, and joy), “in life and in death? That I belong – body and soul, in life and in death – not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ…” who gave absolutely everything for me, for you. In gratitude and in love, let us give to God the things that are God’s.