not at all aware of the drift of his question, answered, " Caesar's;" thereby unwittingly acknowledging that they were under the dominion of Caesar ; seeing, that on no other supposition could they acknowledge his money as the current coin of the king- dom. Thus they were taken in their own snare : for on their answer to him was his reply founded : " Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." Thus, both the parties were disap- pointed in their malignant endeavours: and they departed from him, greatly wondering at the wisdom that had extricated him from the snare, in which it seemed impossible but that he must be taken d.]
But, in considering this reply, we must especially notice,
II. The importance of it, as a precept for general observance —
In it we see,
1. The extent of God's requirements —
[Towards our earthly governors we have special obligations. They are God's representatives and vicegerents upon earth: and the authority which they sustain, is no other than God's own authority delegated to them. What our duty to them is, we may see fully set forth by St. Paul, in the Epistle to the
Romans e And that duty we must discharge, "not only
for wrath, but also for conscience' sake." Whilst we " fear God, we must honour the king."
Towards God himself we are, of course, bound to render all possible obedience. All that we are, and all that we have, is his. We are his by creation, and his in a more especial manner by redemption. "We are bought with a price, even the precious blood of his only dear Son ; and we are, there- fore, bound to glorify him with our body and our spirit, which are his" ]
2. The harmony of them —
[These duties are by no means opposed the one to the other. The two tables of the law are in perfect harmony with each other. Doubtless God is to be obeyed in the first place: and if man's requirements be contrary to his, the point is determined for us, (indeed every man's own conscience will at once determine it.) " We must obey God rather than man." But we should not without necessity place them in opposition to each other. We should rather place our duty to man in
d See the last clause of the text.
e Rom. xiii. 1 — 7. Cite this fully, and with a brief comment on it.