1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:05,600 Matthew chapter 22. We are in verse 15. 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:11,120 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in 3 00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:14,360 his words, and they sent their disciples to him along with the 4 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:19,400 Herodians saying, Teacher, we know that you are true and teach 5 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:22,640 the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's 6 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,760 opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:31,240 Tell us then what you think, Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar 8 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,800 or not? But Jesus, aware of their 9 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,080 malice, said, Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 10 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,480 Show me the coin for the tax. And they brought him a Daenerys. 11 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:47,160 And Jesus said to them, Whose likeness, whose inscription is 12 00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:49,720 this? And they said Caesar's. 13 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,720 Then he said to them, Therefore render to Caesar the things that 14 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,800 are Caesar's, and to God the things that are gods. 15 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,960 When they heard it, they marvelled, and they left him and 16 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,760 went away. The same day Sadducees came to 17 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:09,480 him who say there is no resurrection. 18 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:14,920 And they asked him a question, saying, Teacher Moses says, If a 19 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:19,040 man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and 20 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:20,880 raise up offspring for his brother. 21 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:23,240 Now there were seven brothers among us. 22 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:26,120 The first married and died, and having no offspring left his 23 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:29,960 wife to his brother, and to the second and third down to the 24 00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:32,880 7th. After them all the woman died in 25 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,920 the resurrection. Therefore, of the seven, whose 26 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:38,360 wife will she be? For they all had her. 27 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:43,520 But Jesus answered them, You are wrong, because you know neither 28 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,120 the Scriptures nor the power of God. 29 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,360 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in 30 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,520 marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:54,960 And as through the resurrection of the dead. 32 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:57,880 Have you not read what was said to you by God? 33 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:02,280 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of 34 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,280 Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, 35 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:08,240 but of the living. And when the crowd heard it, 36 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:10,440 they were astonished at his teaching. 37 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:13,200 Jesus, we thank you for being so pure. 38 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,640 We thank you for being so perfect, for being so righteous, 39 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,600 for being a Lamb who was well qualified to be the sacrifice 40 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,000 tested by those who had no credentials to test him. 41 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:27,480 And still, Lord, you exposed your enemies and you revealed 42 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,160 yourself to be the perfect, spotless Lamb, qualified in 43 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,400 every way and worthy of all praise, glory, honor, and 44 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,880 reverence to receive all authority now and forever. 45 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,160 We honor You this morning. Open the eyes of our hearts, not 46 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,520 just so we would understand the context of what took place that 47 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:46,640 day, but that we would understand what it means for us 48 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:50,160 here, now, today, that we could out, that we could walk with 49 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:52,520 deeper obedience and deeper love for you. 50 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:56,080 Lord, if possible, would you deepen our admiration for Jesus? 51 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,560 Father, would You help us to see Him with even more glory? 52 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:01,840 Would You help us to see Him with even more splendor? 53 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:04,080 Lord, only You can do that thing. 54 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:06,920 We already love Him, we already honour Him, we already treasure 55 00:03:06,920 --> 00:03:09,520 Him so highly. Lord help us to somehow, someway 56 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,760 treasure Him even more highly today, to recognize His 57 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:16,000 greatness, His beauty, His power and His goodness. 58 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:19,480 Our Good Shepherd, we love him, we honor him. 59 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:21,760 In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 60 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:25,920 So remember, we're still in the middle of Holy Week. 61 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,680 The Lord the King is courageously going to the cross. 62 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:32,400 He is fulfilling his mission. It's probably Wednesday and 63 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,840 we're very likely still in the temple court with 100,000 64 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:37,960 people. The mobs are everywhere. 65 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,320 Jesus is the attention thing of this Passover week. 66 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,800 This rabbi is going off. He has cleansed the temple. 67 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,520 The Saggis are super mad, the Pharisees are super mad, the 68 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,440 Herodians are super mad. He has found a way to poke 69 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,640 everybody in the eye. It hasn't been on accident, it's 70 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,560 been on purpose. He's saying, because he loves 71 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,840 the people, because he loves the humble flock who are trying to 72 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:04,160 follow these people. They're like the Pharisees. 73 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:07,080 They seem religious, but they crush us with heavy burdens. 74 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,960 They're like the best of the group, and they're still 75 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:12,560 terrible fools. And then we got the Sadducees 76 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,200 and we got the Herodians. They're just very much political 77 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:19,720 elites, and Jesus is very much just dethroning everybody and 78 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:24,280 enthroning himself as as humble people worship him and honor him 79 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:26,600 as they should. So it's probably Wednesday. 80 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:29,640 That means he's got tomorrow. And then tomorrow night he's in 81 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:32,600 the garden praying and he's bleeding and he's sweating great 82 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,920 drops of blood as he is experiencing the pressure and 83 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,840 the stress of an innocent man going to the crucifixion, going 84 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:43,720 to the Roman whip, going to the torture that he came for on his 85 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,880 mission. So the Pharisees, let's get 86 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:48,120 quick context, context on these groups of people. 87 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,120 We just read about Pharisees. They are religious teachers. 88 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,400 They are they're operating in the synagogues. 89 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,200 So the little local Jewish churches all throughout the 90 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,240 region, all throughout Israel, Pharisees are traveling and 91 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:02,360 doing these things. They have no temple power. 92 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:04,880 They are respected, but they burden the people with 93 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,800 traditions. The Pharisees hated Roman 94 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,120 taxation, the Herodians. So these are these are the 95 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,360 people under King Herod. So King Herod is the puppet king 96 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:17,960 that the Romans put in place. Hey, all right, we'll let the 97 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:19,880 Jew, we've conquered the Jews. We'll let them kind of have 98 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:21,640 their thing. We need somebody to kind of like 99 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:23,560 rule over the Jews and be our puppet. 100 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,200 We're still going to have pilot there, but we still need like, 101 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,400 we'll let you have your little oh, oh, pick me. 102 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:30,120 He's not even a full blooded Jew. 103 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,640 He's he's not really a religious Jew much at all. 104 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,160 He's just like, I'll be the guy. I think think like tax 105 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:36,840 collectors. Hey, I'll sell my people out. 106 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,800 And King Herod's the same way. So faithful Jews hate Herod as 107 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,160 well because they're like, this guy has betrayed us. 108 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,000 So the Herodians, these are political supporters of Herod 109 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,840 and of Rome. They've compromised to keep 110 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:52,440 power. Therefore they support Roman 111 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:55,080 taxation. Now we have the Sadducees. 112 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:57,960 These are wealthy. These are the wealthy temple 113 00:05:57,960 --> 00:05:59,840 elite. These are the chief priests. 114 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:02,760 These guys deny the resurrection. 115 00:06:03,280 --> 00:06:07,120 They deny eternal life. They think when you die it's 116 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,200 just lights out like a bug. He's squished, he's gone. 117 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,880 He just don't no more. He's all finished. 118 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:14,880 There's nowhere for him to go. He's on. 119 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:17,600 There's no consciousness. They don't believe in angels. 120 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:21,120 They only believe the first five books of the Old Testament, 121 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,040 which they do not understand, but they think that they 122 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,920 understand. They're considered experts, but 123 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:29,160 they're they're largely unpopular. 124 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,520 So if you're an average Jew in Israel, you're the Pharisees are 125 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:34,400 more your role model than these other two groups. 126 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,480 But even still, the Pharisees like something still ain't quite 127 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:38,920 right. But you can never pinpoint it. 128 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,360 And then Jesus shows up and humiliates the Pharisees in 129 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,280 front of everybody for their pride, for their presentation, 130 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:47,320 for the weights, the extra laws that they put on top of God's 131 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,400 laws to say, well, God says this is holy, but we say this is 132 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,800 holy. So Jesus has exposed everybody. 133 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:55,720 That's the context of these people. 134 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:57,760 All these groups hate each other. 135 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:02,280 They hate each other, but they have found unity now in hating 136 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:06,320 Christ together. They've united around. 137 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:07,720 We got to do something with Jesus. 138 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:11,000 He messed up the money system. He threw over the tables of the 139 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,240 money changers and said to all the people, this is wrong. 140 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:15,680 This should be a House of prayer. 141 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,160 And the Sadducees are going, OK, you just started messing with 142 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:19,720 our money. Now this guy has to die. 143 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,560 Like, it's not like he just made a mess in the temple. 144 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,080 He's speaking against the whole process of everything that 145 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:28,440 they're doing this. I told you, you were going to 146 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:29,560 understand more. Why? 147 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,680 Like why did they kill him? Like I thought Jesus was just a 148 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:34,120 nice hippie. I know y'all know better. 149 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:36,640 I thought Jesus was just a nice hippie who just went around like 150 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:38,920 doing good. Well he did go around doing good 151 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:41,560 unless you were prideful and hard hearted and then you didn't 152 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:44,600 think it was good at all because he was calling out your lies 153 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,480 with the truth. He called everyone to repent. 154 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:49,640 That's how the ministry of Jesus began. 155 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:53,480 Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. 156 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:55,920 And then of course, he shows what the Kingdom of heaven looks 157 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:57,640 like. He's done that for three years. 158 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:01,480 He has built momentum, He's built steam, and now he has come 159 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,680 for the week of Passover. The Passover lamb has to be 160 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,840 sacrificed. But remember, hundreds of 161 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:10,240 thousands of lambs are being sacrificed in Jerusalem this 162 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,520 week, hundreds of thousands of them for all these different 163 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:14,720 families that are represented there. 164 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:17,360 Of course, they don't realize that there's one Passover lamb 165 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,520 that's finally going to fulfill what started back in Exodus. 166 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:26,000 Kill the Passover lamb and put the blood on the doorpost and 167 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:31,200 then the death Angel will pass over your household that is 168 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:33,240 finally being fulfilled. They think they're just supposed 169 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:35,120 to do it forever and ever and ever and ever. 170 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:38,200 No, no, no, it's fulfilled. There is coming one perfect lamb 171 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:40,400 so that we can stop with these animals. 172 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:44,760 These animals were innocent and still their blood is can only 173 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:46,800 can only provide a temporary sacrifice. 174 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,960 Oh, if only we could have a permanent sacrifice. 175 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:52,720 He's finally here. The thing that would happen with 176 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:55,280 Passover lambs is they would be inspected during the week. 177 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:59,440 The priests would inspect them. And because they were liars and 178 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:03,640 manipulators and greedy men, you would bring the land that you 179 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:05,800 perfectly selected from a flock. You purchased it. 180 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,360 And then they would inspect him to go, oh, I found this problem 181 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:10,360 here. But you can buy a temple 182 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:14,360 certified lamb over here at this table and pay a lot more money 183 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:15,840 for it. So they're extorting the people, 184 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,320 they're manipulating the people. It's disgusting. 185 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:21,000 God hates it. It's really, really wicked. 186 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,600 But they have power and they got a decent, they got a decent gig 187 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,320 going here. Jesus is ruining, ruining all of 188 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:27,800 that. They would have let him heal 189 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,000 some folks and heal some folks and not that. 190 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:31,760 But now he's getting all up in their business. 191 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,160 He's saying, I'm changing, I'm turning over everything that 192 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:35,920 you're doing and I'm exposing you in front of the people. 193 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,880 And they're like, OK, now he has to die. 194 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:42,440 We have to kill him because he's going to chase like the Romans 195 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,600 are going to come like, oh, what's going to happen to our 196 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:47,720 system? What's this going to mean for 197 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:49,840 us? Instead of honoring the King as 198 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:53,240 they should. So now these people have united. 199 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:56,200 Do we see people uniting against the name of Jesus in our day and 200 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:57,760 age? We most certainly do. 201 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:01,720 The hatred, hatred for Christ still unites people in our day 202 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,040 and age. The LGBT community, feminists, 203 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:08,360 Islam, those are three odd bedfellows. 204 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,240 You would not find these groups together all the time, but they 205 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:14,960 can unite easily against the name of the Lord Jesus Christ 206 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:17,280 and go, I hate him. Why do you? 207 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:21,000 Why do you hate him? The the friend, The enemy of my 208 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,880 enemy is my friend. So that's the approach that that 209 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:25,600 we face in our modern day. So we're going to make some 210 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:27,360 applications here for our moment. 211 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,320 But the first Test comes from the Pharisees and the Herodians. 212 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:34,200 They want to put Jesus in a no win situation over taxes. 213 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,200 Why is this a no win situation? Why do they think it is? 214 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:39,160 Because on one hand, Rome demands money. 215 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,400 On the other hand, the Jews hate being forced to pay it. 216 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:45,520 And that's the tension. You and I feel those same 217 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:48,000 tensions. We hate paying taxes to a 218 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:50,840 government that uses our money for wicked purposes. 219 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:54,720 And we know our government uses money for wicked purposes and we 220 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:58,360 know our government uses money for foolish purposes, maybe not 221 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:00,080 always wicked, but sometimes foolish. 222 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,680 And we go, I paid for what I paid for what. 223 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:05,600 You know, we think about that the all the things that Doge 224 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,760 exposed over, you know, over the past, what was that six months 225 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,080 ago, all the things that came out that that Elon and his team 226 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:14,040 found, we paid for this. We paid for this and we won. 227 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,600 I knew we were doing some dumb stuff, but like I would have 228 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:19,760 never imagined it was that insane. 229 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:22,240 I would have never imagined the depravity. 230 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,360 I would have never imagined the the the transgender demonic 231 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,040 ideologies that we were promoting in foreign nations. 232 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:32,680 I got just how in the world did this happen? 233 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:35,920 And you know, thankfully those things are being exposed, But so 234 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:39,560 I hate paying taxes to that. So now as a citizen, I love the 235 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:41,880 Lord. What do I do when it comes time 236 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:43,800 to pay taxes? This is a real question that 237 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:47,000 people go, how can I support this thing? 238 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:49,800 I want to I want to do what's right, but they're going to use 239 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:51,840 it for wrong. What's it look like? 240 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,960 This is a real tension that people lived in that we live in 241 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:57,240 as well. People on the earth still deal 242 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:00,520 with governments that demand things from us and they use our 243 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,440 money for unrighteous purposes. Go to verse 15. 244 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:07,440 The Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his 245 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:10,640 words. So remember, we got enemies 246 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:14,040 here, Pharisees and Herodians, Pharisees with religious elites. 247 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:15,760 Herodians are the political loyalists. 248 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,520 They hate each other. They've joined forces because 249 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:21,480 Jesus has threatened them with their money, their theology. 250 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:25,280 The first thing you need to remember here, the application 251 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:28,280 that you can make is everyone who asks you a question isn't 252 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:31,600 necessarily your friend. I have a question and you're 253 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,160 thinking this is my chance to share the gospel. 254 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:37,720 Maybe, maybe. Or maybe you're naively walking 255 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,360 into a trap. The nature of the question, who 256 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:42,480 is it coming from? Do you have any context with 257 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:44,760 this individual? Jesus has context for the 258 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:46,520 Pharisees. He has context for the 259 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:48,760 Herodians. This isn't a random Jew going, 260 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:51,760 hey man, me and my wife and my kids, we're trying to figure all 261 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:53,320 of it out. We got you as a rabbi. 262 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:55,040 We got them. We that's different. 263 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:57,640 That's a humble guy going, I'm trying to figure it out. 264 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,400 Tell me the truth. Jesus has context for these 265 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:01,640 folks. When you got context for 266 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:03,840 somebody, when somebody is showing you over and over who 267 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,720 they are and you're like, I know kind of who this person is, then 268 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,040 believe them. Stop being naive. 269 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:12,400 Be as wise as a serpent. Have no venom. 270 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:17,240 Be as innocent as a dove, but be as wise as a serpent. 271 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,600 Sly, clever, Serpentine. I'm hard to hit if I'm if I'm as 272 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:25,240 wise as a serpent. I've killed a lot of snakes in 273 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:27,080 my day. I hate snakes. 274 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:31,720 I love to kill snakes. It brings me pleasure and joy to 275 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,080 kill a snake because I hate them so much. 276 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:36,400 If you love snakes, you should repent. 277 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:42,560 If you've ever owned a snake. Bradley, he told us as a kid he 278 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:46,920 owned a snake, which I was like, the Lord will forgive you, but 279 00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:49,960 the Lord will forgive you and I'll try. 280 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:52,880 But where? Where were we? 281 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:57,320 I lost the plot. Be as wise as a serpent. 282 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,080 Whenever somebody asks you a question that is not necessarily 283 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:04,120 your friend, sometimes they only want to draw you in and set you 284 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:06,400 up. So now verse 16. 285 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,600 And they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians 286 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,560 saying, teacher, we know you're true and you teach the way of 287 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:15,000 God truthfully, blah, blah, blah. 288 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:18,280 So now blah blah blah to the scriptures blah blah blah to 289 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:20,760 these fools who are think that they're going to trap the Lord. 290 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:22,600 But notice how they sent their disciples. 291 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:24,720 So everybody has disciples. They would all have young men. 292 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:26,800 Jesus had young men. The disciples were very likely 293 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:29,920 teenagers, but they they send their young men. 294 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:31,280 Why? Because maybe they're tired of 295 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:35,440 getting spanked is my suspicion. They're like, hey, hey boys, 296 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,760 here's what we want you to go. You guys send your guys and you 297 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:41,800 guys say y'all send them like I don't want to get humiliated in 298 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:45,120 front of everybody anymore. So that's what I'm guessing is 299 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,640 going on here. So they send the young men 300 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:50,000 probably because they don't want to face humiliation again, where 301 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,480 Jesus dismantles them in front of everybody and they think they 302 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:54,680 can hide behind their students. They begin with their flattery. 303 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:59,040 Teacher, we know that you are true and you teach the way of 304 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:01,880 God truthfully. They're just flattery. 305 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,480 Beware of flattery. Flattery is not a compliment. 306 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:08,720 Flattery is manipulation. Oh, you know what? 307 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:10,280 You're so good at? Mowing the lawn. 308 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:13,720 Mow my lawn. It's just like it's a trap. 309 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:17,240 It's not sincere. It's not actual praise, it's 310 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:19,960 mockery. So they're coming in, but they 311 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:21,880 they think that Jesus doesn't see through this. 312 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:24,480 They think that Jesus can't recognize what's happening here. 313 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:27,440 We know that you're true and you teach the way of God truthfully. 314 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:29,680 This is supposed to be a compliment and you don't care 315 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:31,960 about anyone's opinion for you're not swayed by 316 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:33,880 appearances. Isn't it interesting that at 317 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,400 this time period, when when this was being said, that was a 318 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:38,800 compliment that was supposed to be a compliment. 319 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:40,680 Nowadays this would be an insult. 320 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:42,920 John Michael, you know what your problem is? 321 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:46,880 You don't care about any what anyone thinks like that would be 322 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:48,600 the that's the way it would be used against you now. 323 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:50,600 Like you don't take other people's feelings into 324 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:53,160 consideration. They were actually praising 325 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:55,880 Jesus accurately going like, teacher, we know you're just 326 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:58,240 going to tell the truth. Back to a Charlie Kirk 327 00:15:58,240 --> 00:15:59,840 reference. I'm not sorry for referencing 328 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:01,400 Charlie Kirk. He's a great man. 329 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:03,600 Everybody listening on the podcast, Charlie Kirk was a 330 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:05,040 great man. I hope to be half the man he 331 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:07,840 was. So he's rejoicing with King 332 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:15,000 Jesus in heaven right now. So where were we? 333 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:19,400 Pastor's going on three hours of sleep. 334 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:23,320 So they were flattering him. They're flattering him because 335 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:25,880 he always tells the truth, because he tells the truth. 336 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,560 In our day and age, you're not praised for being the truth 337 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:31,240 teller. There it was. 338 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:33,160 You're not praised for being the truth teller. 339 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,040 That's the thing that makes you a bad person. 340 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:37,280 That's the thing that makes you a hateful bigot. 341 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:41,400 That's the thing that makes you an Islamophobic, homophobic, 342 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:47,000 white supremacist, A misogynist. Like insert accusation here. 343 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:50,520 If you just say, hey, this is a truth, this is a reality. 344 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:53,040 And people go, wow, that's really close minded. 345 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:54,880 But it's just funny how in this moment they're going like, 346 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,640 teacher, we know you're just going to focus on the truth and 347 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:01,200 dismiss what everyone else says. Well, that's that's high praise. 348 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:03,880 That's actual being a truth teller and a truth seeker. 349 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:08,000 We don't want to do it to condemn anyone, but the truth 350 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,240 does cut and we recognize that. Hey, we're going to come in with 351 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:12,880 the healing balm. It's called the gospel. 352 00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:15,880 So you felt like garbage. Hello, bad news. 353 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:18,560 You are good news. I was too. 354 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:22,040 Better news. Jesus will forgive and Jesus 355 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:25,440 will make us a new creation so we don't stay garbage. 356 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:28,480 He will make us something. We were dead and he will bring 357 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:31,240 us in to life. He makes us new. 358 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,080 Keep going here verse 17. Then tell us what you think. 359 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,800 Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not. 360 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,800 So the trap is set. If Jesus says yes, here's why 361 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:44,840 this is a trap. If he says yes, pay taxes to 362 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:48,680 Caesar, then the problem is he's going to be honoring Caesar as 363 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,000 God. I don't have time now to go into 364 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,040 the context all the as I'm probably getting ready to do it. 365 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:56,480 So the denarius, I don't have time. 366 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:57,920 You'll be late for lunch. You'll be OK. 367 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,800 The denarius coin that they had to carry. 368 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:04,880 This is a coin that honored Caesar as the Son of God. 369 00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:09,200 So for a Jew to have to carry this coin on you is a constant 370 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,800 reminder of the blasphemy and the idolatry of Rome who has 371 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:15,320 conquered you. Like the very coin that you're, 372 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:17,800 you're required to use this actual coin. 373 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:20,880 You can't even use other coins. You can't use, you know, some, 374 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:24,440 some sort of other currency. You have to pay with a denarius 375 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:26,760 for this particular tax. There were many taxes just like 376 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:28,160 us. There are many different kinds 377 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:30,040 of taxes. But with this particular tax, 378 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,440 you have to pay with this coin. So the Jewish man has to walk 379 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:36,560 around with this coin saying Caesar is the son of God. 380 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,760 And now they brought this coin with a claim, a man claiming to 381 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:42,600 be the Son of God to the actual Son of God. 382 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:46,520 And they're saying, what do we do with this? 383 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:51,160 So if Jesus says pay taxes to Caesar, then all the Pharisees 384 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,320 and the more conservative theological people are going to 385 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:57,320 go. He's honoring Caesar as God like 386 00:18:57,440 --> 00:18:59,840 this. This was a hot, hot button 387 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:03,480 issue, this tax, this thing. Like there was full context for 388 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:05,920 all the hearers and all the listeners around this tax and 389 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,400 around this coin. There was actually a rebellion 390 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,920 before from a man from Galilee because of this particular tax, 391 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:17,120 and they killed him. He led an uprising, and now we 392 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:20,560 have the man from Galilee who's going to answer with certainty 393 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,920 and clarity if he says no, don't pay the tax. 394 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:26,600 Well, now the Herodians are there listening as well. 395 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,120 So the Pharisees go, you better not say pay to Caesar, and the 396 00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:30,880 Herodians going, you better say pay to Caesar. 397 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:32,960 And they think we got it. We're brilliant. 398 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:36,600 We've trapped the Lord because they're going to say he's 399 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,760 rebelling against Caesar. But Jesus sees right through 400 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:43,720 them and he doesn't say boys, boys, you're misguided, He says, 401 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:48,520 you hypocrites. He doesn't call them friends. 402 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:51,040 He doesn't call them misguided. He doesn't call them confused. 403 00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:52,920 He calls them what they are, deceivers. 404 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:55,920 What can you see? What can you learn here? 405 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,600 Sometimes the most Christ like thing you can do is to call sin 406 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:02,680 exactly what it is. Let me say it in a different 407 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:03,760 way. Let me say it in a different 408 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:04,880 way. Let me say it a different way. 409 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,160 My brother is in Christ, My sister's in Christ. 410 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,560 If you're dealing with a dog and a pig, which Jesus said you are 411 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:16,840 to judge and determine if folks are, there ain't no way you can 412 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:19,000 say it. It ain't because you didn't say 413 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:20,960 it good enough. It ain't because you said it 414 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,080 bad. It's not anything because of 415 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,440 you. It's because in their 416 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:29,760 unrighteousness they suppress the truth, as Romans one told us 417 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:31,480 that they would, as you and I used to do. 418 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,760 And we love them and God loves them. 419 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:39,760 And also at the same time we honestly assess the situation 420 00:20:40,120 --> 00:20:44,800 and we say you're a hypocrite and we say this is nothing but a 421 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:47,040 trap. You have no sincerity in your 422 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:48,960 question. You don't actually care what the 423 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:51,520 Lord wants. You want to somehow incriminate 424 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:55,280 me of being a bad person, which is ironic because you have no 425 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:58,320 objective standard for what good or bad even is. 426 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:02,360 I have the word of God to say this is good and this is bad. 427 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:05,400 You have nothing except a changing society that changes 428 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:08,640 its mind. You are your own God and that's 429 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,000 the reason that you hate the living God. 430 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,520 But he still loves you and I still loved you. 431 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,400 At this point, they're already foaming at the mouth. 432 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:17,760 You probably didn't maybe weren't able to get that far, 433 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:21,720 but that's what it looks like to deal with a dog, a pig, a liar, 434 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,760 a snake. And we want them to repent as 435 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,960 such we once were. But for the grace of God we 436 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:31,280 would still be. But we tell the truth like 437 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:34,720 Jesus. He was full of truth and grace 438 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:38,160 both. And but we will not let the 439 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,920 opponents of Christ tell us all how to act and how to behave and 440 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,080 how Jesus acted and how Jesus behaved. 441 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:47,360 Because spoiler alert for them. We've already read the Bible and 442 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:49,920 we see who Jesus is. He's the right thing at the 443 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,360 right time for. So for enemies, we don't deal 444 00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:57,120 with them the same way as we deal with a genuine question. 445 00:21:57,120 --> 00:21:59,040 Hey, I got a question, something I'm confused about. 446 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,200 What is it about? Like, is homosexuality a sin? 447 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:04,320 And you say, oh, you know what, let's go to the Scriptures. 448 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:06,880 There you go. You're not the great answerer. 449 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,520 You're not the great decider of this hot button issue. 450 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:12,720 Hey, is this a sin? I've heard people say this. 451 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,120 Hey, you know what? I got my Bible in the car. 452 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:16,440 Hey, you know what? I got my Bible on my phone. 453 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:18,520 Let's pull it up right here. The Scripture says this. 454 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:20,960 The scripture says that. And now folks have to go. 455 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:23,680 Well, I don't believe that. You go, Oh, well, I believe 456 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:27,120 that. I know, but it's about belief. 457 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,880 It's not you versus me, friend. It's there is a king and we're 458 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,480 under his rulership. Well, I don't like his laws. 459 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,000 That's up. That's up to you to deal with. 460 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:39,000 That's between you and the king. I just want you to know his laws 461 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:41,120 are actually really good. Just so you know, they're 462 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:42,960 actually really good. They're actually for our good. 463 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:46,760 So everything he says is good and right and perfect and he 464 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:49,800 wants what's best for you. So he's actually super loving. 465 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,160 And I don't want you to be confused by the fact that he has 466 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,440 standards because people who love people have standards for 467 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:56,440 people. And God loves us more than 468 00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:59,000 anything. So Jesus sees through them. 469 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:03,120 He calls out their lies. Why is it so hypocritical of 470 00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:04,400 them? It's so hypocritical of them 471 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:06,560 because they're pretending to seek truth while plotting 472 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:08,320 against them. They're pretending. 473 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,080 Hey, we really want to know the right thing to do. 474 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:14,520 No, no, no, no. Like, serious question, Mr. 475 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,240 Rabbi, Seriously, if you could, like, answer it. 476 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,680 But they're not. It's completely false. 477 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:24,360 They're already using Caesar's coin and paying the tax, but 478 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:26,360 they're simultaneously pretending to be zealous for 479 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:27,800 God. That's what the Pharisees are 480 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:29,400 doing. You better not say we're 481 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:31,920 supposed to pay the tax. Hang on, Mr. Holy man. 482 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:33,840 Hotshot. You already got the coin in your 483 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,400 pocket. Don't show me a denarius. 484 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,400 Oh, I have one right here. You were carrying it. 485 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:42,800 You, you use this coinage all the time. 486 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:45,360 I thought you were so righteous and holy. 487 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:47,880 So the whole thing is just stupid. 488 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:50,400 It's like when non believers would be like, I'm going to 489 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:54,120 stump these stupid Christians. Can God make a rock so big that 490 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:59,200 he can't move it? And they think, Oh no, what will 491 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:03,920 we do with this brilliant question that's so profound? 492 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:09,480 It's not, it's super stupid. It doesn't deserve an answer. 493 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,520 Don't answer it. It's an unanswerable question. 494 00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,760 It's a trap. And you go, I just realized I'm 495 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,320 no longer dealing with a person who sincerely wants to know 496 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:22,880 about God, his creation, his expectations, or his son. 497 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,440 So you don't have to play stupid games. 498 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:27,320 The only if you play stupid games, you're going to win 499 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:29,640 stupid prizes. So we don't want to play stupid 500 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:31,360 games. We want to love people. 501 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:33,040 We want to tell people the truth. 502 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,440 And we're going to say I'm going to opt out of the stupidity. 503 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,040 But if you have any sincere questions about the Lord, I do 504 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:39,040 want you to know I really love him. 505 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:41,520 I really love you. He really loves you too. 506 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:43,680 Anything you want to know, I'll do my best to answer. 507 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,520 But no, I'm not going to answer. Your your rock too big for God 508 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:49,320 to move question. I think it's dumb. 509 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:52,040 No, it's really serious. It keeps him up at night. 510 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:56,960 Well, take it somewhere else. Google it. 511 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,600 Good luck. Let's keep going here. 512 00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:04,440 Y'all listening slow, Jesus aware of their mouths. 513 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:06,800 Why do you put me to the test, you hypocrites? 514 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,080 Show me the coin for the tax. They barn the denarius whose 515 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:11,920 likeness? Caesar's. 516 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,040 He says. Therefore render to Caesar the 517 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,040 things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are gods. 518 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:20,280 When they heard it, they marvelled. 519 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:24,880 They left him and they went away. 520 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:28,480 Jesus's answer is brilliant because he sidestepped their 521 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:33,120 trap and he affirmed earthly authority without compromising 522 00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:36,000 loyalty to God. He addressed everything that 523 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,520 needed to be addressed in brilliance and in simplicity. 524 00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:44,680 So the word he even used their rendered render to Caesar it 525 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:49,040 means return to. So if it's got his face on it, 526 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,680 he meant it. It it's his coin. 527 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,680 So Jesus didn't say give generously to Caesar as an act 528 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:02,120 of worship. He didn't say, oh Caesar, I love 529 00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:04,120 you and I honor you as the Son of God. 530 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:09,760 So he even in his brilliance, and of course it's Jesus, but in 531 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:13,360 his brilliance he's even showing them you can pay your tax with a 532 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:16,960 clean conscience and you're not honoring Caesar as the Son of 533 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,960 God. You're giving a coin to a man 534 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:22,880 who once distributed a coin out to you and to the public. 535 00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:25,720 It's his coin. The coin goes back to him. 536 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,200 He was simplifying it and gutting of any power that Caesar 537 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,480 had intended for it to have. Simultaneously, he's honoring 538 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:35,800 earthly authority that he has authority over. 539 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,480 He has established governments. Governments do have the 540 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:45,360 authority to tax for purposes of righteousness and punishing 541 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:47,320 unrighteousness. That should be their focus. 542 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,680 But even still, we've got an unrighteous wicked Rome leading 543 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:54,760 and Jesus says pay your taxes, guys, pay your taxes, render to 544 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:59,720 Caesar, give back to Caesar. What's Caesar's right but give 545 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:03,640 to God what is God's. Well, they're like we weren't 546 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:05,480 asking about God. He's, I didn't say you were 547 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:08,240 asking about God, but I'm telling you about God. 548 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:11,600 And this wasn't about the tithe. This wasn't about bringing, hey, 549 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,680 give to Caesar financial worship and give to God. 550 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:17,320 He wasn't saying pay taxes to Caesar and get financial worship 551 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:18,760 to God. That's a, that's like a 552 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,760 secondary or a tertiary point we could make there and say, yes, 553 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,080 duh, of course. But the point he was making is, 554 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:31,160 if this coin has Caesar's image pressed into it, whose image is 555 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:35,640 pressed into you? You were made in the image and 556 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:39,120 likeness of God. Render to Caesar, give him his 557 00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:42,360 coin back. Here's your coin, big boy. 558 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,920 You can put whatever picture on it you want and call yourself a 559 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:50,680 hero, but give to God what is God's your entire life. 560 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:55,480 You are the image bearer of God. You belong to God. 561 00:27:55,680 --> 00:28:00,040 You owe God you. You owe God you. 562 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,280 What do I owe the Lord what I have to give back to Him? 563 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,800 That breath is not yours. That's his. 564 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:10,320 You will return it to him. It's the last thing you'll 565 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:18,200 literally do on the earth. You return your breath to him. 566 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:20,960 That's the last thing that we'll do. 567 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,200 It's the first thing you do, and it's the last thing you'll do. 568 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,360 Render to Caesar what is Caesar's Pay back to him. 569 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:33,400 Give it back to him what belongs to him, but give back to God. 570 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:36,600 That's the bigger point here, what belongs to God. 571 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:39,880 So honor the honor the government appropriately, but 572 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,400 give to God what is God's. Honor him with your very life, 573 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:45,080 your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength. 574 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:50,800 Here's the heart of it for us, another application we can make. 575 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,440 Christians should be the best citizens of any nation. 576 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,680 We should pay our taxes. Our government uses our taxes 577 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:00,200 for weakened and unrighteous things, and we should elect 578 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:02,280 better people. And we should get involved in 579 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:05,000 politics because everything belongs to Jesus and we should 580 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:08,280 enforce and expect righteousness that pleases the Lord. 581 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:10,280 We are disciplers of the nations. 582 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:15,200 That includes every part of a nation, civil, religious, and 583 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,200 anything cultural, anything in between. 584 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:20,520 We seek the good of our nation. We seek the good of our 585 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:22,800 communities. We live in a way that honors 586 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:26,320 government where it should be honored, and we honor God above 587 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:28,080 all. You want your coins back? 588 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:32,160 Here's your coins back. It's April, It's tax time, 589 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,920 Here's your dollars back. They got your faces on them, 590 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:37,800 Here's your dollars back. I'm an honor God with what's 591 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,240 God's, and he will always come first. 592 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:43,520 This is exactly what the founders of our nation 593 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:45,760 understood. They wanted to prevent the 594 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,760 government from establishing or controlling the church, but they 595 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,320 never meant to silence the church from speaking into the 596 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,440 government. It's not a two way St. it's a 597 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,160 one way St. Separation of church and state, 598 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,320 which was pounded into my brain in public school. 599 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:01,880 Anybody else? Separation of church and state. 600 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,320 Separation of church and state, which by the way, is not in any 601 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:07,000 of our founding documents. You will find it in a letter 602 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:10,560 Thomas Jefferson was writing to Christians where he was actually 603 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:13,640 explaining, hey, we don't want the government to interfere with 604 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,280 your church. That was the point from actually 605 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:20,080 a godless man who literally like cut his Bible apart to make it 606 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:21,440 say the things he wanted it to say. 607 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:28,200 Not a good move, Thomas. So that's what separation of 608 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:29,320 church and state supposed to mean. 609 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:31,520 It's not supposed to say there should be this massive divorce 610 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:33,480 between the two. They're saying state you have no 611 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:36,360 power over the church and no influence yet state, you can't 612 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:38,000 establish a church. It's not your job. 613 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,080 And state you don't. You don't set a primary church. 614 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:44,560 Our founders had in mind that Christian denominations should 615 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:46,800 not be said. They would have never imagined 616 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:50,320 that the government should not establish Christianity over 617 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:54,160 Islam or over Buddhism. Like no way in the world would 618 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:55,600 they have ever tolerated a thought like that. 619 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:59,200 The point was, hey, we can't say America is Presbyterian. 620 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:04,200 We can't say America is Methodist. 621 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:06,280 We can't say America. Well, not all those 622 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:07,480 denominations existed at the time. 623 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:09,480 Yet we can't say America is Anglican. 624 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:11,720 That was their point. They were saying we can't say 625 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:15,560 America is 1 church. But of course all the principles 626 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:18,240 that they founded our nation on were Christians. 627 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:20,800 That was the expectation. What's the point here? 628 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,760 The point is that Christians should seek the good of their 629 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:25,480 nation. That includes paying taxes. 630 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:28,400 But I'm connecting some dots here for you so you understand. 631 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:32,120 What is Jesus's expectation? We love God above all and that 632 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:34,320 will have implications for the way we pay our taxes. 633 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:36,640 That will have implications for the ways that we vote. 634 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:39,040 That will have implications for the things that we expect our 635 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:43,200 government to do and not do. Trying to figure out how to wrap 636 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,880 it up because we don't have time to go into the whole section on 637 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:49,400 the Sadducees. They were very sad, you see. 638 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:54,800 So I had to get had to get it in at once today. 639 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:00,520 No pastor has ever preached and talked about the Sadducees 640 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:02,600 without using that joke in the sermon. 641 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:04,600 It's required. It is required. 642 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:07,000 They probably teach that in seminary. 643 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:10,920 You have to do it. Yeah, there's probably a verse 644 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:13,440 for that. Man, this was going to be good. 645 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:15,240 It's going to have to be good next week. 646 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:29,540 All right, let's close then. 647 00:32:31,220 --> 00:32:33,500 So of course, we see all throughout the Scriptures 648 00:32:33,500 --> 00:32:35,580 they've tried to trap Jesus. All throughout Matthew, they 649 00:32:35,580 --> 00:32:37,460 keep trying to trap him. They keep trying to trap him. 650 00:32:37,460 --> 00:32:38,860 They keep trying to trap him over and over. 651 00:32:39,180 --> 00:32:41,440 They fail. The king of glory. 652 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:46,360 He's so perfect. As much as we love him, to love 653 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:48,720 him more, he would be worth it to love him more. 654 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:51,520 He would be deserving of it. To be in all of him and just say 655 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:54,200 he's just awesome. He's just awesome. 656 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:56,840 There's nobody like him and he's perfect. 657 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:05,560 They're inspecting him. They don't know that's what 658 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:07,040 they're doing. They're they're trying to just 659 00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:08,600 expose him. They're like, we got to kill 660 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:10,120 him. They don't know that they are 661 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:14,360 actually cogs in God's wheel and that they are fulfilling the 662 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:17,840 sovereign will of God and that Christ will be crucified by his 663 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:19,680 enemies. They don't realize that's what's 664 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:20,640 happening. They don't realize they're 665 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:23,720 inspecting the Passover lamb to make sure there's no any, 666 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:25,560 there's no spot, or they're trying to trick him. 667 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:28,240 No one's ever been grilled or inspected like Jesus. 668 00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:30,080 No one's ever been through what he went through. 669 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:32,520 And they're going, we can't find any faults in him. 670 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:34,760 Of course, he's eventually going to go all the way to his trial 671 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:36,840 and they're just going to make up lies. 672 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:41,000 They just make up lies at his trial, at the false sham trial, 673 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:44,560 back and forth through the night, Herod and Pilate and the 674 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:47,200 chief priests and all the, all the lying back and forth. 675 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:48,760 I don't, I find nothing wrong with him. 676 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:50,640 Oh, you got to crucify him. But what's he done wrong? 677 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:53,520 Well, he said some stuff and he's he's going to raise an 678 00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:56,200 uprising against see, there's no legitimate accusation. 679 00:33:56,200 --> 00:34:01,720 He is the spotless Lamb of God. He is qualified to be the 680 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:05,600 sacrifice for your sins and for the sins of the whole world. 681 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:12,000 He became sin on the cross, who knew no sin, so that we could 682 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:13,800 become the righteousness of God in Christ. 683 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:15,600 That should give you confidence for you. 684 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:19,040 That should give you confidence in love for your friends, for 685 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:22,480 your family, for your neighbors, for your enemies, for those who 686 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:25,520 hate Christ, for those who hate you, for those who hate us 687 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:27,440 together. It should give you great 688 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,320 compassion for them and go. But there's a sacrifice. 689 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:33,000 It should change the way you pray for people, but there's a 690 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:35,600 perfect sacrifice. So no matter how dark you see 691 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:38,600 somebody's darkness is, and you'll see it, it will grieve 692 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:40,199 you. Haven't you been grieved by 693 00:34:40,199 --> 00:34:42,040 people's darkness? Haven't you seen darkness? 694 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:46,199 I mean, you're like man, man, and you hate wickedness. 695 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,280 You hate wickedness. You love this person, but you're 696 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:54,320 grieved by it. But then you should come back to 697 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:55,480 hope. You should come back to the 698 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:56,480 cross. You should come back to. 699 00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,640 But there is a sacrifice. Lord, save them. 700 00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:02,720 Lord, rescue them. Don't let Jesus death be in 701 00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:04,800 vain. Lord, breakthrough, pull the 702 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:07,800 veil off of their eyes so that they would see. 703 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:11,400 The enemy is blinding them. Their own pride is blinding 704 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:13,600 them. Lord, wreck them and bless them 705 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:17,520 with your goodness so they would receive the righteousness of the 706 00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:21,520 Lord Jesus Christ, so that their sin is dark and as awful as it 707 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:24,840 is that you would remember, Saints, it was put on Christ on 708 00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:27,200 the cross. That's why he was sweating those 709 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:28,680 great drops of blood in the garden. 710 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:33,120 He knew what was coming. Not just the physical torment, 711 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:36,560 but all the the things that will always be impossible for us to 712 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:39,760 ever understand. The weight of the separation of 713 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:42,080 the Father, where the Father turns his face from the Son and 714 00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:44,840 Jesus cries out, why have you forsaken me? 715 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:50,640 As he quotes the Psalms that were prophesied about him and 716 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:53,600 for him to become sin who had known no sin. 717 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,680 So the Father putting all the weight of sin, all of your sin, 718 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:01,240 the thing you don't want anybody to know, the thing you're most 719 00:36:01,240 --> 00:36:04,880 ashamed of, the thing you're like, that thing the Father 720 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:08,920 treated Jesus like he did it so that he could take all of Jesus 721 00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:12,480 righteousness for you. Remember that when you're 722 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,000 looking out at the world, when you see filth and disgust and 723 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:20,760 perversion and hatred and fear and demonic activity, it's all 724 00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:22,880 there. Remember that when you see that 725 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:26,120 it's not too great, It is not too great for the cross. 726 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:29,800 It is not too great for Jesus. Nothing is too much for him. 727 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,440 That Passover lamb was enough. There's no other sacrifice to be 728 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:37,160 made. Bulls, goats, lambs, doves. 729 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:41,200 Unnecessary. We don't have to pay money for 730 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:43,080 our sins to be relieved and forgiven. 731 00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:46,760 We just have to give honor to God. 732 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:49,560 Give to Caesar what's Caesar's, but give to God What is God's 733 00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:51,800 God. We give you our lives. 734 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:56,000 Yes, we give you our lives afresh. 735 00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:00,960 Your image has been stamped upon us. 736 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:04,400 We have been made in your image. We belong to you. 737 00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:11,000 You own us, You deserve us, You deserve more than us, but 738 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:13,760 somehow in your great love and your affection, you love us. 739 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:20,280 God, Thank you for your love. Thank you for loving us. 740 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:22,160 Thank you for forgiving us of our sins. 741 00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:27,640 Jesus, thank you for paying it all, carrying it all, relieving 742 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:33,520 us of it all. Remind us of the image on us at 743 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:37,920 all times as image bearers of God. 744 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:40,080 As humans. That's true for every human. 745 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:43,560 But as Christians in particular, we are image bearers of the sun. 746 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:48,440 And we don't carry a coin in our pocket with Jesus's face on it. 747 00:37:49,160 --> 00:38:01,200 We carry Christ in us, inside of us, to bring hope Christ in us 748 00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:07,000 to be poured out through us. God has image bearers. 749 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:12,120 It changes the way we think. Like we said earlier, it changes 750 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:17,120 the what thoughts we even allow. We take thoughts captive because 751 00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:22,800 we have the mind of Christ and we have the love of God. 752 00:38:25,240 --> 00:38:33,320 The love of Christ compels us, strengthens us, and enables us 753 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:34,960 to face whatever we may be facing. 754 00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:42,080 God, strengthen your people today as they carry their cross, 755 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:45,680 as they follow you in obedience all the way up the hill of 756 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:51,120 Golgotha, laying down in obedience on the cross to be 757 00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:56,120 living sacrifices. Lord, we're yours, we live in 758 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:59,680 you, we die in you, and we live forever in Christ. 759 00:39:00,720 --> 00:39:06,280 There is a resurrection. We will enjoy it when we leave 760 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:07,800 this body. We'll be present with you. 761 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:15,520 Thank you for fresh hope today. Thank you for the sunshine that 762 00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:17,400 even came out during the preaching of your word. 763 00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:30,760 The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face Shinedown 764 00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:33,240 upon you, and be gracious to you. 765 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:40,840 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you great 766 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:47,600 peace in Jesus name. The name above every name. 767 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:49,400 Amen.