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Pastor Tom Johnson, October 22, 2023
Jesus calls the religious leaders hypocrites 13 times. He calls out their hypocrisy 3 times. And that is just in the Gospel of Mathew. This is vitally important for us to understand: Jesus never speaks harshly toward “sinners.” He only speaks strong words toward those who think they are not sinners. Jesus’ harsh words are for those who engage in spiritual abuse—those who use religion to burden the consciences of others—those who make others feel shame, guilt, and condemnation from God.
The Pharisees are mean. They are spiritual bullies. Jesus reads their hearts and is aware of their malice. They come to Jesus with a question: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the Roman Emperor or not?” It’s not an innocent question. The Pharisees’ egos drive them to eliminate the opposition. In this case, their competition is Jesus. He has a growing following. People are attracted to him and his teaching. The Pharisees not so much. Their question is designed to entrap Jesus—to get Jesus into trouble. If Jesus says it’s not okay to pay taxes to Rome, they will accuse him of treason. You’ll remember they’ll say to Pilate, “We have no king but Caesar?” Truly hypocrites.
If Jesus says it is okay to pay taxes to Rome, they will accuse him of treason against his own people. They will accuse Jesus of promoting idolatry since there is a graven image of the Emperor on each coin and an inscription saying he is a god. It’s a lose-lose question. It is what some would call a conundrum, a “Catch-22,” or a “darned if you do, darned if you don’t.” Jesus knows their malice. He knows they are trying to play Jesus, to lure him into a trap, and say “gotcha.”
Jesus immediately responds by calling them hypocrites. It other words, whatever fault they are trying to find in Jesus is a fault that they carry in themselves. They are projecting their own guilt upon Jesus. And what are they guilty of? Paying taxes to the Roman Emperor. They are in the same pickle—the same unfortunate predicament and messy situation as everyone else. Rome has forcibly taken control of Israel. They must pay taxes to Rome—or else! They must pay the Jewish Temple tax. Everybody felt badly that they had to pay taxes to a tyrant—well maybe not everyone. Tax collectors maybe loved it because of how wealthy they became. And is that not ironic—that the Gospel of Matthew is written by a former tax collector?
Jesus never condemns tax collectors and sinners. He pursues them. He loves them. He lays down his life for sinners and hypocrites. He calls us to to follow him and experience the life-transforming work of the kingdom. But hypocrites—in this case the Pharisees—try to make everything black-and-white—an either/or reality. The truth is that we live in a broken world where things do not fall so easily into the categories of good and evil. That is the great insight to Jesus calling the Pharisees hypocrites. Jesus would make a great psychotherapist. At the very least, they subconsciously feel the same shame and guilt they want to project on Jesus. Jesus’ great insight is that the Pharisees are not even consciously aware of their own hypocrisy. That is a scary truth for all of us: that our judgmentalism—our bigotry—our prejudice can blind us to our own sin and maliciousness. And so by calling the Pharisees hypocrites, Jesus calls them and us to pay attention to our own judgmentalism. Why are we so zealous to point the finger at others where there are wrong? When we condemn others, what does it say about us?
The Navajo people have a saying, “when you point a finger there are three fingers pointing back at you.” Could it be that whatever it is reminds us of what we don’t like about ourselves? Or as Jesus says in his Sermon on the Mount, “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? …You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5). Jesus’ great insight should lead us to a greater awareness of our own hypocrisy—that whatever we are most against is what we feel the most shame or guilt about. As the proverb says, “The guilty dog barks loudest.”
Jesus response to their question is genius. He asks for a Roman coin. He asks whose depiction it is on the coin. “The emperor’s,” they say. “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” In other words, Jesus says, “We are all in this together.” Jesus gives everyone the freedom to give the emperor what belongs to him and to God what belongs to him. The punchline is that everything and everyone belongs to God—the King of kings and Lord of lords—the living and true God—the good and gracious God.
To comfort and to bless,
To find a balm for woe,
To tend the lone and fatherless
Is angels' work below.
The captive to release,
To God the lost to bring,
To teach the way of life and peace,
It is a Christ-like thing.
(“We Give Thee But Thine Own,” LSB 781, vv. 4-5)
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