Matthew 22:15-22
Whose Image Is
This?
James Sledge October
22, 2023
I saw an online post the other day that
said the gospels report people asking Jesus 183 questions but that he only
answered three of them directly. I haven’t done any research to see if this is
in fact the case, but it certainly is true that Jesus often answers questions
with a parable or a question of his own or, as in our case today, with a little
verbal sleight of hand.
It’s easy for us to miss some of this
because we aren’t familiar with the nuances of the tax in question. This
particular tax paid to Rome was generally detested by people in Israel. To make
matters worse the tax had to be paid in Roman coin which typically had an image
of the emperor and included an inscription that said, “Emperor Tiberius
Augustus, son of divine Augustus.” The coin was regarded as blasphemous by many
devout Jews because it could be considered to be breaking the first two
commandments, one against having other gods and the other against idols.
Because of this, the coins and the tax
could be political hot potatoes. Some, who advocated resisting Roman rule urged
people not to pay the tax. Such a stance was considered treasonous by the
Romans of course, and those who question Jesus are using this to get him in a no-win
situation. By asking if it’s lawful to pay the tax – lawful referring to the
Jewish law – they hope Jesus will either make a treasonous declaration by
saying it’s not lawful, or to take a stand that would be unpopular with his
audience.
But Jesus puts his questioners in a bad
light right at the start. He asks them to produce this blasphemous coin, and
they have one on them. They’ve already revealed their hypocrisy before Jesus
ever gives an answer.
Jesus then gives
his answer that really isn’t an answer. “Give to the emperor the things
that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” I’ve seen
this taken to mean that Jesus is saying it’s okay to pay the tax, but I’m not
at all sure that’s what he does.
Way back when I was middle school age, in
a time when we didn’t think much about crime, our home was broken into twice in
quick succession. My father suddenly took home security seriously, and he
upgraded the locks, created a homemade alarm system, and he borrowed an
engraving tool and engraved our name into anything valuable that had a place to
do so. These inscriptions were obvious claims of ownership. Should a television
set turn up at the pawn shop, we could prove it was ours.
In similar fashion, parents write names
inside children’s jackets and libraries stamp their name onto books. Jesus
refers to this sort of thing when he asks his questioners, “Whose head is
this, and whose title?” Both things would seem to attest to their being
the emperor’s, and so Jesus’ answer could seem to support the tax.
But this is one of far too many places
where Bible translators don’t do us any favors. When Jesus says, “Whose
head is this,” the word translated head has a more literal meaning
of image. And in the Greek Old Testament that was the Bible for the first
Christians and the gospel writer, it is the same word found in the creation
story in Genesis where God says “Let us create humankind in our image.
So if having an
image on something is a claim of ownership, what indeed are the things that
belong to God? In addition, Jesus’ opponents and his audience know well the
psalm that says, The earth is the Lord’s
and all that is in it, the world and those who live in it… If the earth
and all that is in it belong to God, what actually belongs to the emperor?
We Presbyterians have what is called the Book
of Confessions. Confessions here refers to professions of faith, and the
book contains ten such professions beginning with the Nicene and Apostles’
Creeds and ending with “A Brief Statemen of Faith,” which was written to
celebrate the 1983 reunion of two Presbyterian denominations who had split in
1859 as the Civil War loomed.
Amond the faith statements in this book is
something called the “Heidelburg Catechism.” It dates back to the 1560s and is
laid out in question-and-answer format. The very first question reads, “What is
your only comfort in life and in death?” The accompanying answer begins, “That
I am not my own, but belong – body and soul, in life and in death – to my
faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”
This sentiment is echoed in the opening of
“A Brief Statement of Faith,” formally approved by our denomination in 1991. “In
life and in death we belong to God.”
We belong to God. So say our theological
documents as well as scripture and Jesus, but I’m not sure many of us believe
it. Modern people are more likely to think of themselves as autonomous
individuals. We are independent actors who in large part create our own
destinies, something that has become a big part of the American mythology about
the self-made man or woman.
Notions of being self-made are of course
patently absurd. No one creates their own talents, their own country of birth, their
own family, their own access to resources. Life and much that goes with it is a
gift, and Christian faith says that life is a gift from God to be used well for
the ends of God. We are not our own to do whatever we will. We belong to God,
and we have callings, purposes that we must live into if we are to make
faithful use of the gifts God has given us.
What are you doing with your life that
gives glory to God and advances Jesus’ agenda here on earth? We Presbyterians
have long spoken of all people having vocations, callings that we are suited to
and that in some way benefit the common good. You still hear such language
occasionally with respect to things such as being a teacher or nurse or
firefighter, but I’m not sure the average person thinks much about what they
are called to do.
Vocation is one
facet of stewardship, of life that is lived toward God and neighbor. So is how
we use our money. Is money simply something to get me the things I want, or is
it a way to express love of God and neighbor? And so I can ask the same
question that I asked you about your life. What are you doing with your money
that gives glory to God and advances Jesus’ agenda here on earth?
Jesus looked at the denarius and asked, “Whose
image is this?” So too Jesus looks at us and asks whose image is on us.
You have been wonderfully made by a loving God and fitted to be a blessing to
those around you. What are you going to do with your life and your money to
love God back and to continue Jesus’ work in the world?