Today we continue the series about Jesus replying to questions with unexpected answers. In this series we have seen that, often, there is an unspoken motivating question behind the spoken one. In this case it is: Why is this fair?

A disciple of the Pharisees

The question: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?

The answer: (a) Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscriptions are these? Caesar’s? (b) Then give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s

This encounter takes place during Jesus’ last teaching “marathon” in the Temple precinct. The way I count it, this takes place Tuesday of Holy Week. His time is short. He knows He is going to get arrested, tried, and condemned to die on the cross.

And He knows that many of the people hanging on His every word here in this crowd today are going to cry out at His trial: “Crucify him!” They will get carried away by the flood of hatred stirred up by the religious leaders that day. Why? Why will they go along with it?

To understand the dynamic, let’s go to that passage in Matthew:

Matthew 22:15-22 (NASB) Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said. And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and do not care what anyone thinks; for You are not partial to anyone. Tell us then, what do You think? Is it permissible to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?”

But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

Then He said to them, “Then pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.” And hearing this, they were amazed; and they left Him and went away.

Because their aim was to trap Jesus into saying something that they could accuse Him with, they have picked a question that in their minds has no “good” answer. They couch it in terms of asking what is lawful or right in the eyes of God – the typical kind of questions that Rabbis would be asked – but they pick a subject that is not a Scriptural debating point. Instead, it is a subject that is sure to inflame the crowd listening to Him. Because none of them enjoyed paying taxes to Caesar. It was a constant reminder that their nation was, really, still under bondage. If Jesus says it is “right”, they can accuse Him of being a Roman collaborator, like the hated Tax collectors. If He says it is “wrong”, then they can accuse Him to the Romans as an inciter of rebellion against Caesar.

Yes, it is a trap devised by the Pharisees and Herodians, but it is also a “trap” hidden in every heart within that crowd.  Because if God is True, and He still cares for them, and He still has a Promised future for their nation… AND since He is Almighty – certainly much more powerful than Caesar: Why are we all still here… Why are we still subject to this Caesar?  

Have you ever asked yourself a question like that?

It is a question that only a believer can ask. It presupposes that I believe in God; that I believe He exists, and that he loves me and that he wants the best for me. It is only from that vantage point that anyone can ask of God:

Why is this fair?

Why aren’t You doing anything about this?

I have prayed and prayed and prayed…

Jesus’ answer is unexpected to the Pharisees because He found a way to answer which avoided both sides of their trap. You see, the Pharisees assumed that God was on their side: They were offended, angry, at the fact that they – the children of Israel, children of the Promise – had to pay money to this pagan king. And because they were offended at that “unfairness” then surely God had to be offended at it too.

The fallacy in that thinking (which they could have easily discovered if they had reasoned it through) is that, whether or not God is offended by it, is the least of your problems: Because if you want to have an argument about it, the fact is, that the Almighty God, that I believe in, has allowed this to happen to me… It is Him who has left me sitting in this miserable state.

And this is the paradox, the deeper question that Jesus is addressing:

It makes no sense to ask of anything that happens in this world if it is fair because, by definition, this world we humans are stuck living in is not fair. Everyone in that crowd – and most of all the religious leaders – know full well the story: the way this world became what it is back in Genesis and the way every prophet since then has confirmed it: We live in a fallen world.

Whose fault is that?

It is my fault.

It is the fault of every single living person in this world that has, at any time, chosen to love himself above his fellow human being, that has chosen to find the loophole in the law that will allow him to benefit where others don’t, that has been willing to do whatever it takes (cheat, lie, hurt) to become a “king” in his own little kingdom in this world… and forget everybody else.

So, what is my excuse? Why do I think that is fair? “Well,” I say, “whatever I have done, whatever I have achieved on my own, they could have done it too! If they are too scared, or too weak, or too stupid to take advantage of the things I took advantage of, how is that my fault? It is not my job to take care of all of them, is it? How could that possibly be fair?”

And, you know what? If there is no God, then that argument is solid. If there is no God, then everything in this world is predicated on the survival of the fittest.

Who cares if philosophers, or idealists want to claim there is a better way to live because it leads to “the greater good” for the overall society? Why should that matter to me? I am going to die someday and after that, who cares what happens to this society?

But if there is a God… Then Abel’s blood is still crying out from the very ground reminding all of us of that fateful conversation back in Genesis between God and Cain:

Genesis 4:9 (NASB) Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

What was Cain’s sin? Was it that he murdered his brother? No, that was the consequence of his sin. His sin is right there, confessed: He did not consider himself his brother’s keeper. Because of that he allowed his anger – at his perceived unfairness of God (read the whole story)– to turn into hatred. And hatred eventually bore its fruit.

Jesus  made sure we recognized that slippery slope from selfishness to destruction…

Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be answerable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable to the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell…”

We live in a fallen world…  but it is not our home

This is the key to understanding and accepting Jesus’ answer. If there is a God, and this physical reality is a fallen world, then – as He has told us – there is another reality where He dwells, and it is in that reality that He wants us forever as part of His family.

How do we get there? Well, because we were born in this reality, He had to come up with a Plan that would allow us to leave this reality behind and then enable us to enter into the Real one. He came up with that Plan, and His Son carried it out. It is the Plan of Salvation. There is no other way to do it.

And there is no way to challenge that fact with the “Why is this fair?” question.

Because, seeing as the whole mechanism of Salvation has to deal with a transition from our physical reality to an eternal reality, that mechanism is completely beyond our power to comprehend or influence; asking such a question is truly pointless.

That, as the saying goes, is way way beyond our paygrade.

The meaning of Jesus’ answer:

Therefore, if we are required to pay money to Caesar while we are in this world… So what? What is money anyway? Why are we so hung up about it. And before I say, “well, I need money to live…” I need to remember that I am listening to Jesus’ answer as a believer. If I really believe in God, then I know He will take care of me. So: Money cannot possibly be all that important. Remember these verses from The Sermon:

Matthew 6:31-32 (NASB) Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But the Pharisees asking the question had a different perspective, as Luke reminds us when he records the words of the same teaching:

Jesus said…

Luke 16:13-14 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were ridiculing Him.

Jesus’ outlook toward living in this world is that you have to live in it: So, if taxes are required of you, then pay them. Material things really have no value in the Kingdom of God. What has value is what is going on in our spirit.

Refusing to pay taxes to Caesar would be an act of disobedience in this world. Why would that be bad? Because of the effect it would have on our spirit: If we did that, we would be telling ourselves that disobedience is OK. I would be telling myself that the law of the land may apply to other people but not necessarily to me. And if I do that, I would willingly and knowingly be placing myself at the edge of another slippery slope… keep going that way and eventually I am going to conclude that I am a law unto myself.

That is dangerous because there is only One Lawmaker, and Obedience to His Law is one of the key virtues in the Kingdom of God.

Strangely enough, to the surprise of the Pharisees, giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s can be the same as giving to God what is God’s.

Jesus’ answer only makes sense if and only if we accept that there is a distinction between the kingdoms of this world and the Kingdom of God. And if, as a consequence, we accept that demanding “fairness” in this world is a losing proposition.

I asked early on in this post: How could some of the people in that crowd, who were there following Jesus and eagerly listening to His every word, end up swept into the crowd that demanded His crucifixion at the end of that week?

I think it all goes back to that obsession with demanding fairness in this world. Because when the world doesn’t give it to us, we want to blame somebody. And perish the thought that I might blame myself. No… It is just easier to blame Jesus.