Jesus gets to the meat of the matter...Matthew 22:15-22
Another shot of the barn with a little more snow. I have been trying to salvage this lack-of-snow season with the cool mornings when the snow is still good for snowshoeing. Who knows, maybe we will have some late season snows to take advantage of. I would like to fill in my map a little more before hiking season starts.
Here is a bridge over the Onahu Creek that had not been gone over for awhile. No tracks and the depth of the snow on the deck of the bridge was about 30 inches deep. It is a short spur trail that many don't access. I broke trail on this day and later others started using it. Here is another view of the bridge on my trip back.
Jesus is in the testing stage of the Passover lamb stage. He is fielding all kinds of questions from the chief priests and elders, Pharisees, Herodians and Sadducees. I marvel at the way He takes what they throw at Him with corrupted hearts and intentions and turns it around to bring about a more important spiritual truth. He uses their bad for His good. It was never really about taxes in this passage but really about their commitment to be given totally over to God. Their trap turned into a time of be convicted of recognizing the image of the man-made son of god, Caesar, but not recognizing the God-given Son of God before them. This passage leads right into the next when Jesus deals with the resurrection of the dead with the Sadducees.
I spend some time in the sermon speaking about the joining of forces of the Pharisees (a religious group) and the Herodians (a political group). This combination was not good then and it is not good now. What happens is the cause and the leader of the political group will take priority over the cause and the leader of the religious group. The mission of the religious group and the political group are not the same. The make-up of the religious group and the political group are not the same. It is like that passage speaking about being unequally yoked. I am not saying that we shouldn't be involved in the political system individually but when it comes to the church, we need to make sure that our cause is salvation and our king is Jesus. We need to guard that nothing takes us off this path. If we speak to the evils and injustices of this world, the church's response and support needs to come from "the Bible says." Later this alliance will lead the whole group to tell a bold face lie relating to Jesus and this question. These alliances cause the church not to uphold the instruction of God but rather compromise it to win the earthly race.
Jesus gives us the easy thing to do, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Jesus then gives us the hard thing to do, render to God the things that are God's. To give of oneself to God means you are now directed by His words and ways. You don't "butter up" Jesus with your flattering and shallow words but rather you hang on to His very words to direct your next step. An easy step because the options are now limited even though it might be a hard follow through but if it is following Him, you have the promise that He is with you through it.
Lately breaking trail with snowshoes I have come across others who have been traveling behind me stepping in my very tracks. I am going through and back to create a well defined trail so others can enjoy it but they are just concentrating on the actual depressions in the snow. I think as we follow in the steps of Jesus we realize at some point that there are others following behind us as we follow Christ. Paul said, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1, NKJV). Saying that is very intimidating. The saying, "Do as I say, not as I do" is not a statement that Jesus would endorse for one of His children. Our witness is both what we say and what we do and the point is they both match up and are in line with what Jesus says and does. By your following of Jesus, you are packing down the trail that others will benefit from so they don't veer to the right or to the left.
Adam
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