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Matthew
22:15-22
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Reading the Text:
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| Historical
References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
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The
Five Gospels Parallels, John W. Marshall, University of Toronto. |
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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. |
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Chapter,
XVII, The First Apology
of Justin
Martyr. (c 150) |
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XXXIV.1-3,
5-7; Tatian's
Diatessaron
(c. 150-160). |
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Chapter
XIV,
The
Martyrdom of Polycarp (ca. 156). |
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III.VIII.1,
Adversus
Haereses, Irenaeus of Lyons.
(c. 180) |
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II.1,
III.12,
Paedagogus, Clement of Alexandria
(c 200) |
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Chapter
XIV, On
Idolatry,
Tertullian
(c. 211) |
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Chapter
XXII, On the Resurrection of the Flesh,
Tertullian
(c. 211) |
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Chapter
XII, De
Corona,
Tertullian
(c. 211) |
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Concerning
Flight in Persecution
(paragraph 12)
Tertullian
(c. 212) |
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Chapter
XIV,
Scorpiace,
Tertullian
(c. 213) |
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XIV.16,
Commentary
on the Gospel of Matthew,
Origen.
(c.247) |
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II.23,
Ecclesiastical
History, Eusebius of Caesarea, (c. 320). |
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Homily
LXX - Matthew 22:15, Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew, St.
Chrysostom (c. 380) |
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From the
Catena
Aurea, Patristic Commentary by St Thomas Aquinas. |
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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." |
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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." |
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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." |
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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!" |
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Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
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Comments
(commentary) and
Clippings
(technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican
Diocese of Montreal. |
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"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." |
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"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." |
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"First
Thoughts on Year A Gospel Passages in the Lectionary: Pentecost
22"
William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia, 2002.
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"With this passage we
must expose the fallacy of dividing reality into God's area and other
areas." |
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"God and
Caesar: The Image on the Coin," Rabbi Arthur Waskow.
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"The rabbis drew an analogy between the image a human
ruler, Caesar, puts upon the coins of the realm, and the image the
Infinite Ruler puts upon the many “coins” of humankind. The very diversity
of human faces shows the unity and infinity of God, whereas the uniformity
of imperial coins makes clear the limitations on the power of an emperor." |
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"Show Me The
Money: Unconditional Allegiance to the Unconditioned God," The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself, Daniel B. Clendenin, Journey with
Jesus Foundation.
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"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." |
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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.
| "...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?" |
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"Fair Taxes,"
Resources for Prophetic
Worship, Speaking to North Carolina Justice Issues, North Carolina Council
of Churches, 2008. |
| 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." |
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Exegesis,
Proper 24A, by
Richard Donovan at lectionary.org.
| "Caesar's realm is but a speck within
God's realm. The days of Caesar's realm are numbered, but God's realm is
eternal." |
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Matthew in the Margins, by
Brian McGowan, Anglican priest in Western Australia. |
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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." |
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"Conflicting Claims," Edgar Krentz, The Christian Century, 1996.
| "Every claim on our commitment is a
call to ask how God's will in Christ should work its way out in a specific
situation." |
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"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.
| "They were two completely opposing
groups bound together by a hatred of the revealing truth of Jesus Christ.
One group was ideologues, committed more to their opinion than to God or
his people. The other group was pragmatists, more committed to following
approval ratings than leading by values. Combined, they excused each
other’s “excesses” for the sake of a common enemy; the truth. In this
reading both parties dined at the same feast and fed each other candied
fancies and the drugged wine of power." |
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"The
Question about Paying Taxes," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible
Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed
textual notes. |
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"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?" |
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Wellspring of
the Gospel, Ordinary 29A, Catherine McElhinney and Kathryn
Turner, Weekly Wellsprings. |
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"Pledging
Allegiance," Susan Pendleton Jones. Commentary from The
Christian Century, October, 1999. At Religion Online.
| "Faithful service to God is
always costly." |
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"To
Whom Do We Pay Tribute?"
analysis and reflection by Michael Hoy, in Sabbatheology, from The Crossings Community
of St Louis, Missouri.
| "'Is it lawful?' Our
own dealings can be quite spurious, containing deeper agendas, even
passive-aggressive attempts to legally bury someone else. Indeed, such
agendas may be even more malicious than we realize -- even malicious to
ourselves in the final analysis." |
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| Articles & Background:
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"Render unto
Caesar," wikipedia. |
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"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." |
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"Preach
Politics?" Walter J. Burghardt, S.J. at The Living Pulpit.
| "The church is inseparable
from society and must promote the common good." |
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"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." |
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"Ethics
as Deconstruction, and, The Ethics of Deconstruction," David
J. A. Clines, On the Way to the Postmodern: Old Testament Essays
1967-1998.
| "Where deconstruction touches
upon ethics, I am concluding, it serves to render venerable verities
shaky, to preclude systems, and to muddy the waters. But at the same
time, the problematization of ethical foundations does not imply the
abandonment of them; rather, in making ethics more of a problem, it
makes it more of a problem for you and me-which is to say, it tends
to locate ethics in praxis, to remove it from the realm of ideas to
the realm of lived experience, to make it the product of the human
subject, to disaggregate it from the commonality, to foreground
personal responsibility." |
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"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?'" |
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Christian
Anarchy: Jesus' Primacy Over the Powers, by Vernard Eller. Full
text of book at House Church Central. |
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| 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. |
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| Sermons:
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"'What God
Has Put Asunder, Let No Man Join Together!" The Rev. Dr. William L.
Self, Day 1, 2006. |
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"God and Caesar, Then and Now," Dr. N.T. Wright, Lecture - Jubilee
Reflections at Westminster Abbey.
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"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. |
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"The Coin
that God Wants," Selected
Sermon, Proper 24, the Very Rev. Charles Hoffacker in Worship that Works,
ECUSA, 2005. |
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"Paying Taxes to Caesar,"
Sermons from Seattle,
Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle,
Washington. |
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"What Is God's?"
Fr. Patrick
Brennan, 30 Good Minutes,
Chicago Sunday Evening Club, 1993. |
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"Nansemond Shepherd's
Rebellion," the Rev. Alex Joiner, Day 1, 1996. |
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"Thy Kingdom Come,"
Dean William Willimon, Duke
Chapel, 1999. |
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"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
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| With Children:
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"Kids Pay Taxes, Too!"
Charles Kirkpatrick, Sermons4kids.com. |
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"Stewardship,"
"Paying Taxes," Fr Max Bowers, Kids Church. |
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"Jesus & the IRS,"
Jim Kerlin, childrensermons.com. |
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"The People Pay Taxes to Caesar," Sunday School
Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc. |
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| Drama:
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"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. |
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| Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
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Clip Art Images:
Matthew 22:15-21, Misioneros Del Sagrado Corazón en el Perú. |
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Matthew 22:15-22, Liturgical Drawing,
Maria d.c. Zamora,
Claretian Resources, Philippines. ("Download and use
these for free.") |
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Matthew 22:14-21, at
Cerezo Barredo's weekly gospel illustration.
Liberation emphasis. |
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| Hymns and Music:
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| 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: |
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Study Links and Resources for the
Book of Matthew |
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