What happens when we ‘take matters into our own hands,’without trusting or depending on God?
That’s our guiding question today, a pretty hard one for us to consider! How did we get there, why does this question come up for us today?
We’re thinking about this interaction Jesus has with the Pharisees (Matthew 22:15-22), how he answers their question about paying taxes, and his response takes them by surprise as well doesn’t it!
So we’re going to dig into that this morning, taking a closer look at how this conversation goes and what it means for us.
And we’re going to consider that in light of our guiding question:
What happens when we ‘take matters into our own hands,’ without trusting or depending on God?
Let’s walk through this interaction first >
The Pharisees have a dodgy intent don’t they, they want to ‘trap’ Jesus in his words! Matthew gives us that important bit of context before we jump in.
They want to make him say the wrong thing, they want to discredit him and slow down the growing following he’s building up.
But at the same time, they actually address him with respect and give him a few compliments before they ask him their sneaky question >
They call him ‘teacher,’ a sign of respect there. And they tell him that they know he’s a ‘man of integrity’ and that he ‘teaches the way of God in accordance with the truth’ – these are kind words, they are saying this guy knows what he’s talking about!
We can’t know the tone of how these things were said though, maybe they didn’t actually mean what they said here as Matthew points out.
A quick side note here >
We can actually use these same words when we address Jesus.
He is our ‘teacher,’ he is a ‘man of integrity,’ he does ‘teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.’ Actually a very good representation of who Jesus is, we can use that!
The problem is the dodgy intent of the Pharisees, we can come to Jesus with open hearts and minds rather than trying to catch him out or prove him wrong, that’s what we practice doing as we gather in worship. Open hearts rather than ‘hardened’ hearts, as the Pharisees are described as having.
A ‘hardened’ heart will reject God, but God calls us to have open hearts so he can use them.
Back to the passage >
Then the Pharisees ask for Jesus’ opinion, on financial matters on this occasion:“Is it right to pay tax to Caesar, or not?” they ask.
And then Matthew lets us know that Jesus already knows their intent > a good reminder that even though God knows all things he still gives time to questions from those who would seek to discredit him, how gracious and patient Jesus is!
And Jesus being gracious and patient doesn’t mean he won’t call them out on their dodgy intent! He does exactly that in his next words:
‘You hypocrites,’ Jesus says. ‘Why are you trying to trap me?’ he asks them.
What’s a hypocrite? The word historically refers to actors, one who act behind a mask.
And it’s also taken to mean ‘spiritual pretender.’
How does that hit you as you hear it today! They are called – by none other than Jesus himself – ‘spiritual pretenders.’
That’s a decent warning shot isn’t it, Jesus knows their plan and he calls them out on it, that must have been a decent hit to the Pharisees’ public image here! Jesus has this way of cutting right through people, he cuts right through to our core, because he knows who we really are. Powerful stuff.
Then Jesus asks them to bring him a coin, and show him whose face is on said coin.
Of course it’s Caesar’s image and inscription the Pharisees answer, and Jesus has an answer for them that stops them I their tracks, as his questions often do!
Jesus says, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
And what’s their response to that? They’re speechless! They ‘left him and went away,’ not only leaving him Matthew says but they also went away. That didn’t go how they thought it would go!
“Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” – This is a huge line from Jesus, there are so many ways we can interpret and apply this to our own lives.
One thing we can bring in here is Luther’s teaching on the two kingdoms, the left hand kingdom of the ‘temporal realm’ – simply put as in what we can see around us – and the right hand kingdom of the ‘spiritual realm’ – the things we can’t see, what’s in God’s hands.
Two realms, two hands, but one God working in both ways.
God call us his children on the right hand, and we live the world that is managed by governments and leaders and institutions on the left hand.
We could say Caesar’s stuff goes in the left hand, and God’s stuff goes in the right – but we don’t forget that God rules over all, right and left hands, right and left kingdoms are all part of God’s one kingdom.
So back to our guiding question:
What happens when we ‘take matters into our own hands,’ without trusting or depending on God?
If we do that, we end up with one hand!
We end up in the kingdom of the left only, we’re only seeing half of the picture, half of God’s work in the world.
God has a whole extra side of the equation for us to see, to know about, to live in. Temporal and spiritual go together, they’re not separate things, God works in both because they are both his realms, his hands at work.
Unfortunately we’re all guilty of taking matters into our own hands.
We’re all guilty of failing to trust what is already held in God’s hands.
We’re all guilty of thinking we could do a better job of managing our own lives than he could.
The bad news is it’s not just the Pharisees who are guilty of being hypocrites – we’re all guilty of being ‘spiritual pretenders.’
But as we know God loves us enough to do something about that. Jesus is not ok with that, he calls it out!
He does the same for us, he calls us out on our dodgy intent, on our mistakes and failings, on our lack of vision to only see one hand when he actually has two hands at work.
What if our eyes could be opened – not always a nice process as the Pharisees find out!
It might involve some difficult conversations and some challenging words, but this is what God does for us and in us, opening our eyes and opening our hearts too.
He softens our hardened hearts to be able to get ourselves out of the way and receive him in.
What if we could see how God is at work, in both realms, on both hands, in what can see AND what we can’t see?
What if we knew he was right there with us, calling us to trust in him and depend on him even if we can’t see or understand what he’s doing in our lives?
This is faith, taking a ‘leap of faith’ we could say from only seeing one side of the equation to tapping into God’s perspective on us, on our church, on the world around us, on all things! It’s a whole new world when we look at it like that.
Here’s a question to take away with you today, to ponder, to chat about with those around you:
What is God calling you to ‘release into HIS hands?’
For the Pharisees, they were called to take a glimpse of the whole picture, of both of Gods’ hands at work. Jesus cut through to their core, and he does the same for us.
See what God is really doing, not only in a physical sense but in a spiritual sense, the work of the Spirit in us and through us.
I’d encourage you to pray about that, if you don’t already know what you’re holding onto ask God to help you see it, and release it into his hands.
After all that’s where we all already are isn’t it > we’re all in God’s hands.
Heavenly Father we thank you for holding us in your hands. We thank you for your work that is both seen and unseen, help us to trust in you when our human eyes can’t see the whole picture. Help us to release what we are holding onto into your hands, hands that made the world and hands that hold us in your tender love and care. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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