Render unto Ceaser

Jofes said:

In three of the gospels, why do we see the exact story of the taxes?
What does money have to do with the gospel?
Is not all of the Gold and Silver, God's?
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[Haggai 2:8 – The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.]

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Matthew 22:15-22
Mark 12:13-17
Luke 20:20-26

All of these passages of scriptures end with:

22 When the heard this they were amazed...
17 And they were all amazed at him.
26 ...And astonished by his answer, they became silent

Just wondering, Jofes

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Just another example used by Jesus to show that we as Christians must obey the laws of the land, as far as they do not go against the Teachings in the Holy Bible.

Jofes said:

So why were they so amazed?
Had not Jesus just whipped all of the money changers out of the temple?

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Amazed at the Wisdom of Jesus! He Spoke with Authority. The money changers were corrupting the place of worship.

Jofes said:

Keeping a close eye on Jesus they sent spies who pretended to be honest.
How do you pretend to be honest?

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by being self-deluded!

Jofes said:

Can you continue to explain more, how one is self-deluded
deluded meaning > believing something that is not true.

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people can believe anything that they think, to be the truth, even when it is a lie. Like when people reject that Jesus Christ is the ONLY Way to get to heaven, and that ALL religions in this world are of the devil and false! That the Holy Bible ALONE is THE Word of Almighty God to the human race. These are self-deluded into believing that they are right!

Jofes said:

In three of the gospels, why do we see the exact story of the taxes?
What does money have to do with the gospel?
Is not all of the Gold and Silver, God's?
==========================================

[Haggai 2:8 – The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.]

Click to expand...

There is a joke about a man that wanted to take it with him when he died. So he had a coffin fashioned of gold. When he arrived in heaven, he started laboriously dragging the coffin up to the gates. St. Peter looked incredulously at him and said, "You brought pavement?"

Jofes said:

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Matthew 22:15-22
Mark 12:13-17
Luke 20:20-26

All of these passages of scriptures end with:

Click to expand...

Jofes said:

22 When the heard this they were amazed...
17 And they were all amazed at him.
26 ...And astonished by his answer, they became silent

Just wondering, Jofes

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To understand this, you have to take the whole passage in context. Jesus' argument was that the money was made by Ceasar and had Ceasar's image on it. Therefore return to Ceasar what is Ceasar's. From Genesis we know that we were made by God in the image of God. So we should render unto God, what is God's.

"Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him."

The tax belonged to Caesar, as it has his inscription on the coins. So they were to give back to him what in a way belonged to him. This also means, that they should not give any worship to Caesar, which was quite common, as they were seen as "gods". All Worship was only to be given to the God of the Bible, Who ALONE is Worthy!

Jofes said:

In three of the gospels, why do we see the exact story of the taxes?
What does money have to do with the gospel?
Is not all of the Gold and Silver, God's?
==========================================

[Haggai 2:8 – The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.]

==========================================
Matthew 22:15-22
Mark 12:13-17
Luke 20:20-26

All of these passages of scriptures end with:

22 When the heard this they were amazed...
17 And they were all amazed at him.
26 ...And astonished by his answer, they became silent

Just wondering, Jofes

Click to expand...

It's not about the money, but what the money represents.

Money is just an object. In their day a 'shiny' object, in ours a piece of paper.

What it represents is something else entirely. It may be that a gold coin meant a piece of bread to one person, while it meant a month of bread to another.

The point being, Jesus put absolute zero value(to Him) on the money while the Pharisees saw it as very valuable.

I did hear it once taught(whether I agree or not is still up in the air) that they were amazed because they learned something they never had before. Being, that the image on the coin was that of Caesars and anything that bore his image belonged to him. Whereas we bear the image of God, so we belong to God.

However, not that I do not disagree completely with that, I just do not find that to be the case here really.

I think their 'amazement' came from the simple fact that Jesus called them out on their hypocrisy coupled with the fact He could care less about their money.

It's basically an object lesson that Jesus was illustrating with a coin. It's not precisely about the value of money or whether you need to pay taxes. It's about putting our loyalties and obligations in the right order. Those dealing with Caesar are routine while those that concern our relationship with God are of supreme importance.

Jofes said:

You are correct, Money is just an object, yet it is the confidence in that piece of paper that makes it valuable. Money used to be backed by gold and therefore had an intrinsically value. It has always been understood that the gold is the Kings money and the silver is the common folks. You say, " He could care less about their money. "
I have a problem with this statement. I believe God is very concerned about the money he has allowed man to have and use. Again why is this story said three times in such clarity.

Are we wiser than they in their day. Is not the ownership of your valuables a constitutional right? Are unjust taxes not the fuel to every modern rebellion. Shall a corrupt government not only steal from it's people but command their subjects to bow down and worship them.

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Money is man's institution, not God's.

There are a lot of "constitutional rights" that God is not pleased with.

Don't confuse man's institution with God's. This is the whole point Jesus was making.

Jofes said:

Nathan
I hear you, but I am having a hard time finding any scripture to support a differentiation between Man's and God's institution.

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It's right there in front of you.

"Render unto Ceasar the things that are Ceasars, and unto God the things that are God's."

He was telling them the money belonged to Ceasar, pointing out that that it was Ceasar's image that was on the money.