The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 373

Vera. 15-22.-Tribute ta Oresar. It is ea.ey to aee the trap that the Pharisce11 induced the Harodians to set for our Lord. If he refused to sanction the paying of tribute to Cmsar, ho could be accused of sedition against the Roman government; if he consented to sanction it, he could be held up to tb.e Jews as unpatriotic, and therefore not fit to be thought of as the Messiah. His skilful answer set the question in its true light, and also Jirted it into a higher region, and added what his tormentors could not refute, although they were far from being prepared to carry out all that the words of Christ involved. I. THE DUTY TO C..ESAB IS NOT TO BE DENIED, The words and actions of Christ implied an affirmative answer to the question of the Herodians. But they went further, justifying his reply by deducing it from their conduct. The coinage of Cresar wa.s accepted by the Jews. The image of the gloomy Tiberias was on the denarii that circulated in their metropolitan markets. This fact shows that the Jews were submit- ting to the Roman yoke. Then they must act accordingly. 1. We owe duties to the civil government. Religion, which makes us citizens of heaven, does not allow us to renounce our citizenship on earth. It is a duty for Christian men to take part in politics. To refuse to do so is to hand over public affairs t.o those who are not guided by Christian principles, i.e. to degrade the state. Those good people who are too holy to touch politics are not above profiting by the good laws and just government that other men have laboured to bring about. Under a tyranny the authorities claim tribute; in a free country the people claim self-sacrificing service. 2. J~us (Jhrist did ,wt;come to produce a political revolution. The fanatics expected this of the Messiah ; the zealots tried to effect it; but Jesus always behaved as a law-abiding citizen. We cannot say that he would never sanction revolution, or the attempt of brave people to throw off the yoke of a cruel tyranny. There was no opportunity to do this in the days of Christ. Nor did our Lord come as a political agitator. He ea.me to regenerate the state as well as the individual, but he wrought at this task from within and spiritually, by inspiring the principles on which good government must be carried on. II. TnE DUTY TO Gon IB NOT TO BE NEGLECTED. This was ignored by the Herodia.ns in their "wickedness n (ver. 18). 1. God has claims upon us. If Ciesar has his due, so-nay, much more-has God. His claim, like Cresar's, is one of rule and authority. He expects obedience. While Cresar also expects tribute, God too claims tribute-tribute he seeks from men; and this is nothing less than their hearts. What is due to God is the surrender of ourselves and all we have. 2. There is no collision between th.e secular and the religi()tJ,8. We can render Ciesar's due while we are also rendering God's, and God's while we a.re rendering Ca!Sal"s. Politics do not exclude religion, any more than religion can dispense with politics. Each subject has its own function. Yet they are not co-ordinate, and if there were a conflict, the duty to God must prevail, as in the case of the Christian martyrs. But then Ciesa.r required of the martyrs what was not his due. 3. Politics must not be substituted/or religion. The best service rendered to Cresa.r will not free a man from his duty to serve God. There is a fascination in public life that threatens to absorb a man's total energy. This is a temptation that must be resisted. The great name of Cresar dominated the old world; other exacting influences go far to rule our own age. We need to be on our guard lest they crowd out the thought of God.-W. l!', A. Ver. 32.-The God of the Uving. According to his wonderful custom, Jesus turns the conversation from a. frivolous, unworthy course to a subject of loftiest import. The unseemly Sadducea.n jest (vers. 23-28) is rebuked, and a great thought is suggested in its stead. Our Lord utterly repudiates the notion that the resurrection will be a return to such a life as we now see on earth. But that there is a future life he dis- tinctly teaches, and here he gives us a reason for expecting it. Let us examine this. L 'l'IlE NAME OF GoD IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PATRIARCHS. Thus we have a familiar Divine title, for God is known by his revelation to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. We worship the same God whom our fathers worshipped. All that they dis- covered of God remains to us as an inherited possession of knowledge. Thus we have not to feel after an unknown God if haply we may find him. History has revealed God. Not the patriarchs alone, but our own Christian o.ncestors have handed down to us an experience of God. They knew and loved him, and he is presented to 'llll for S,8 TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MAT'l'HE\V, [oH. x.xn, 1--46,