Matthew
22:15-22
- Reading the Text:
- NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
- Greek Interlinear Bible, ScrTR, ScrTR t, Strong, Parsing, CGTS, CGES id, AV.
- The Bible Gateway: NRSV, RSV, NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
- The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Greek text with concordance, commentaries.
- The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary & sermons.
- Historical
References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
- The Five Gospels Parallels, John W. Marshall, University of Toronto.
- Comparative texts about Pharisees & Sadducees from Josephus, Tosefta, Mishnah & Babylonian Talmud. At (Rutgers University Dept of Religion) Mahlon H. Smith's Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus companion to the historical study of Christian texts.
- Chapter, XVII, The First Apology of Justin Martyr. (c 150)
- XXXIV.1-3, 5-7; Tatian's Diatessaron (c. 150-160).
- Chapter XIV, The Martyrdom of Polycarp (ca. 156).
- III.VIII.1, Adversus Haereses, Irenaeus of Lyons. (c. 180)
- II.1, III.12, Paedagogus, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
- Chapter XIV, On Idolatry, Tertullian (c. 211)
- Chapter XXII, On the Resurrection of the Flesh, Tertullian (c. 211)
- Chapter XII, De Corona, Tertullian (c. 211)
- Concerning Flight in Persecution (paragraph 12) Tertullian (c. 212)
- Chapter XIV, Scorpiace, Tertullian (c. 213)
- XIV.16, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Origen. (c.247)
- II.23, Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius of Caesarea, (c. 320).
- Homily LXX - Matthew 22:15, Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew, St. John Chrysostom (c. 380)
- From the Catena Aurea, Patristic Commentary by St Thomas Aquinas.
- Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity, Matthew 22:15-22, Martin Luther, c. 1521.
- "Render to Caesar," Martin Luther, c. 1522.
- From the
Geneva Notes.
- "The penny was paid to the Romans for tribute, according to the proportion they were rated at, and the drachma was payed by everyone to the Temple, which also the Romans took to themselves when they had subdued India."
- From
Matthew
Henry's Commentary.
- "Christ did not interpose as a judge in matters of this nature, for his kingdom is not of this world, but he enjoins peaceable subjection to the powers that be."
- From
Wesley's
Notes.
- "The current coin of every nation shows who is the supreme governor of it. Render therefore, ye Pharisees, to Cesar the things which ye yourselves acknowledge to be Cesar's: and, ye Herodians, while ye are zealous for Cesar, see that ye render to God the things that are God's."
- From the
Commentary on the Whole Bible
(Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
- "...and to God the things that are God's--How much is there in this profound but to them startling addition to the maxim, and how incomparable is the whole for fulness, brevity, clearness, weight!"
- Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
- Radical Gratitude, lectionary-based stewardship, Northwest United Methodist Foundation. (.pdf)
- "God, Caesar, and the Power of a Good Question," David Lose, Dear Working Preacher, 2011.
- "...what if, this Sunday, we reversed that trend and impression by asking people to wrestle with what Jesus says by asking, 'What do you think Jesus means? What things are Caesar's and what are God's? How does our faith shape our economic decisions -- our buying, saving, giving, and the rest?'"
- Commentary,
Matthew 22:15-22, Clayton Schmidt, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org,
2011.
- "It is God who claims us, who made us in his own image. We do not belong to anything or to anyone else."
- "The Heavy Cost of Paying 'The Emperor,'" Matt Skinner, ON Scripture, 2011.
- "In our increasingly complex existence, Jesus’ statement about attending to “the things that are God’s” prompts us to recognize how all-encompassing that category is. It overshadows the rights and allegiances any empire might demand for itself."
- Question about Paying Taxes, audio telling, story in episodes, graphic, audio and written commentaries. Go Tell Communications, Biblical Storytelling for the Global Village, 2011.
- "The Things That Are God's," Fr. Rick Morley, a garden path, 2011.
- "If we gave to Zeus the things that belonged to Zeus, and to God the things that are God's…what would WE end up giving to Zeus?"
- Holy
Textures, Understanding the Bible in its own time and in ours, Matthew 22:15-22, David Ewart, 2011.
- "How can a Jew be faithful and observant and also stay alive under Roman rule? Yikes. But it is precisely this position of being caught in a bind of irreconcilable, conflicting obligations and duties that make real life so interesting. The desire to make the tension go away, to solve it, is the enemy of true faithfulness. "
- "The Empire Cannot Love You," Russell Rathbun, The Hardest Question, 2011.
- "What belongs to Caesar?"
- Comentario del Evangelio por Andrés Albertsen, San Mateo 22:15-22, Working Preacher, 2011.
- Commentary, Matthew 22:15-22, Jeannine K. Brown, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.
- Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
-
"God and Caesar," Rev. Todd Weir, bloomingcactus.
- "Many churches pray weekly for our leaders to act morally and govern righteously. There is a great paradox here, since we want godly leaders, yet we do not want leaders who claim divine right in the naked exercise of power."
-
"Paying Taxes to Caesar," Gospel Analysis, Sermons from
Seattle,
Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle,
Washington. Detailed background and exegesis.
- "A denarius was part of the Roman monetary system. Many scholars believe that the Roman coins with their images of the emperor on them were not permitted to be used in the Jerusalem temple for offerings."
- Exegetical
Notes by Brian P. Stoffregen
at CrossMarks.
- "We cannot say that "this part belongs to God, so I will give it to God." Everything we are and everything we have belongs to God. Everything we are and everything we have we are to give (back) to God. We are but mere managers or stewards of these gifts God has given to us."
- "With this passage we must expose the fallacy of dividing reality into God's area and other areas."
-
Commentary, Matthew 22:15-22, Frederick Douglass Haynes, III,
The African American Lectionary, 2008.
- "This text challenges us to engage the political process, remembering that our ultimate allegiance belongs to God."
-
"Allies or Enemies?"
Daniel Deffenbaugh, Seeds of Shalom, 2008.
- "I realize that our commitment for the future will necessarily lie in a posture of perpetual discernment, for if the past is any guide, it is likely that we will continue to confuse our steadfast devotion to God with our compulsory obligations to the state."
- "Show Me The
Money: Unconditional Allegiance to the Unconditioned God," The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself, Daniel B. Clendenin, Journey with
Jesus Foundation, 2005.
- "As a friend of mine once observed, civilization is expensive, and taxes pay the tab. But absolute allegiance to an ultimate God, rendering our entire selves to Him without preconditions or limits, without hedging our bets, demands a higher order of magnitude. That takes a lifetime."
-
"Balance Sheet," Judith Johnson-Siebold, The Christian Century,
2005.
- "Jesus? admonition to render unto Caesar what is Caesar?s is a clever response, perhaps one that is appropriate for those of us who have trouble deciding what goes to Caesar and what to God."
-
Dylan's Lectionary Blog,
Proper 24. Biblical Scholar
Sarah Dylan Breuer looks at readings for the coming Sunday in the lectionary
of the Episcopal Church, 2005.
- "...when Jesus asks the Pharisees and Herodians who are questioning him to produce a denarius in that setting, they do so immediately. In other words, THESE GUYS CARRIED AN IMAGE OF CAESAR INTO GOD'S TEMPLE! And these are the people who were going to teach Jesus a lesson about devotion to God rather than selling out to Caesar if Jesus failed to condemn paying taxes to Rome?"
- "Fair Taxes," Resources for Prophetic Worship, Speaking to North Carolina Justice Issues, North Carolina Council of Churches, 2008.
- Matthew in the Margins, by Brian McGowan, Anglican priest in Western Australia.
-
Sermon
Preparation Thoughts and Questions by Wesley White, 2005.
- "May we astonish ourselves in thundering forth, 'Hypocrite!' and be willing to be astonished at the truth when finding it thundered back at ourselves. We need to model both corrective words and corrective actions that build community."
-
"Give
to God the Things that Are God's,"
Jerry Goebel, One
Family Outreach. "Focus on scripture from a justice perspective." Exegesis, study, and teen study
and activities.
- "I need to look into the change purse of my own heart and see the coinage to which I cling. Can I honestly say; 'In God I trust?' Or, is it more like: 'In this money I trust?' 'In me I trust.' What or who is on the face of my coin?"
- "The Question about Paying Taxes," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed textual notes.
-
"Conflicting
Priorities,"
Larry Broding's Word-Sunday.Com: A
Catholic Resource for This Sunday's Gospel. Adult Study, Children's
Story, Family Activity, Support Materials.
- "Have you ever been trapped by conflicting priorities?"
- Wellspring of the Gospel, Ordinary 29A, Catherine McElhinney and Kathryn Turner, Weekly Wellsprings.
-
"Pledging
Allegiance," Susan Pendleton Jones. Commentary from The
Christian Century, October, 1999. At Religion Online.
- "Faithful service to God is always costly."
- Articles & Background:
- "Render unto Caesar," Pharisees, Herodians, wikipedia.
-
"Caught between God and Caesar," Joseph A. Califano, Jr., America,
2004.
- "When God and Caesar claim controlling jurisdiction over public policy in America, public servants who are Catholic can get caught between a religious rock and a public policy hard place."
-
"Divine
Folly: Being Religious and the Exercise of Humor," Doris
Donnelly. Theology Today, 1991.
- "Robert Funk also points out that there is no indication that Jesus returned the coin to the Pharisee. According to Funk, as Jesus proclaims the punchline-"and render to God the things that are God's"-he pockets the coin and has the last laugh."
-
"What
Belongs to God?" Marcus Borg, at Beliefnet.
- "The people identified as Jesus' opponents were not questioning taxes in general. Their question was more specific: 'Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?'"
- Christian Anarchy: Jesus' Primacy Over the Powers, by Vernard Eller. Full text of book at House Church Central.
Recommended articles from ATLAS, an online collection of religion and theology journals, are linked below. ATLAS Access options are available for academic institutions, alumni of selected theological schools, and clergy/church offices. Annotated list of "starting place" articles at ATLAS for this week's texts (includes direct links).
- Donnelly, Doris, "Divine Folly: Being
Religious and the Exercise of Humor," Theology Today, 1991.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Geisler, Norman L., "A Premillenial
View of Law and Government," Bibliotheca Sacra, 1985.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Giblin, Charles Homes, "'The Things
of God' in the Question concerning Tribute to Caesar (Lk 20:25; Mk
12:17; Mt 22:21)," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1971.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - "Homiletical Helps on LSB Series A," Concordia Journal, 2005. (Section on this text begins on page 247)
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerial - Johnson-Siebold, Judith, "Balance
Sheet," The Christian Century, 2005.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Jones, Susan Pendleton, "Pledging
Allegiance," The Christian Century, 1999.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Krentz, Edgar, "Conflicting Claims,"
The Christian Century, 1996.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Owen-Ball, David T., "Rabbinic
Rhetoric and the Tribute Passage (Mt 22:15-22, Mk 12:13-17, Lk
20:20-26)," Novum Testamentum, 1993.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Reviews:
- Wilson, Alistair I., When Will These Things Happen?: A Study of Jesus as Judge in Matthew 21-25. PaterNoster Press, 2005. Review by Samuel Subramanian, Review of Biblical Literature, 2006.
- Sermons:
- Faith Formation Journeys Matthew 22:15-22, 2011.
- The Wedding Dress, Mary Sue Dehmlow Dreier from SermonStudio
- "'What God Has Put Asunder, Let No Man Join Together!" The Rev. Dr. William L. Self, Day 1, 2006.
- "God and Caesar, Then and Now," Dr. N.T. Wright, Lecture - Jubilee Reflections at Westminster Abbey.
- "Who Gets What!" 22 Pentecost - 16 October 2005, Walter W. Harms, Göttinger Predigten im Internet: Every Sunday Sermons based on the RCL by a team of Lutheran theologians/ pastors.
- "Paying Taxes to Caesar," Sermons from Seattle, Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington.
- "Nansemond Shepherd's Rebellion," the Rev. Alex Joiner, Day 1, 1996.
- "Anatomy of a Spiritual Disaster - How To Shoot Yourself in the Foot," John Jewell, 1999.
- Father Andrew M. Greeley, "Priest, Author, Sociologist," Commentary and Homily
- With Children:
- Worshiping with Children, Proper 24, Including children in the congregation's worship, using the Revised Common Lectionary, Carolyn C. Brown, 2011.
- "Children's Literature: A Resource for Ministry," October 16, 2011, Union Presbyterian Seminary. Connections: Matthew 22:15-22 and A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams.
- Giving God what belongs to God, CSSPlus
- "Kids Pay Taxes, Too!" Charles Kirkpatrick, Sermons4kids.com.
- "Jesus & the IRS," Jim Kerlin, childrensermons.com.
- "The People Pay Taxes to Caesar," Sunday School Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc.
- Drama:
- Mustard Seeds, Proper 24, 2008. A lectionary-based ideas resource for leaders of contemporary worship, Ann Scull, Gippsland, Australia.
- "For God or For Caesar," from A Certain Jesus by Jose Ignacio and Maria Lopez Vigil. Ideal for catechetical and liturgical dramatization of today's gospel. Claretian Publications.
- Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
- Clip Art Images: Matthew 22:15-21, Misioneros Del Sagrado Corazón en el Perú.
- Matthew 22:15-22, Liturgical Drawing, Maria d.c. Zamora, Claretian Resources, Philippines. ("Download and use these for free.")
- Matthew 22:14-21, at Cerezo Barredo's weekly gospel illustration. Liberation emphasis.
- Hymns and Music:
- Hymnary.org, hymns, scores, media, information.
- Contemporary/Praise Song suggestions, Together to Celebrate, David MacGregor.
- "A Wealth of Words," Brenton Prigge, NewHymn, new, relevant hymn set to traditional tunes.
- Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
- Movies scenes with the following themes, listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
- Study Links and Resources for the Book of Matthew
