Two
Rivers Pastoral Charge
Sunday October 18, 2026
Scripture Readings: Isaiah 45:1-7 and
Matthew 22:15-22
After taking a break for Thanksgiving last weekend, our Bible reading today bring us
right back to the last week of Jesus’s life. Jesus has entered the city of
Jerusalem riding on a donkey accompanied by people waving branches, spreading
out their cloaks on the road ahead of him, and crying out to him, “Hosanna!
Save us!”
And right away, Jesus starts poking the bear – doing and saying things that are
going to provoke the people with the power, the temple officials. He flips over the tables in the temple, the
dwelling place of God, accusing the money-changers of turning a house of prayer
into a den of robbers. He restored the
sight of people who were blind, and strengthened the legs of people who were
lame, right there in the temple, in the place where he had no official
authority. He told some very pointed
parables that accused the actual authorities of not truly knowing God. And it’s still only Monday!
The authorities then have their chance to have a go at Jesus, and the reading
that we heard today is the first of a series of trick questions that they are
going to be asking him, trying to get him to say something blasphemous – trying
to get him to say something that will allow them to officially arrest him.
I can almost picture this scene playing out in a movie. A group approaches Jesus and they start to
flatter him, buttering him up, and then at the very end comes the catch. “Tell us then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or
not?”
So here is where the catch lies. The
people who are questioning him are two groups who would normally not have
anything to do with each other. The
Pharisees were intent on holding up the Law, the Torah. To them, the idea of owing anything to a
foreign dictator was blasphemous. You paid your tithes to the temple, and that
was it. But to the other half of his
questioners, the Herodians, the answer was, of course you have to pay your
taxes. The Herodians were those who
supported King Herod, the puppet king representing the Roman Emperor, and law
and order and taxes were at the core of their beliefs.
So no matter which way Jesus answers their question, he is going to piss off
one group or the other. Say that it’s
lawful to pay taxes and the Pharisees are going to be upset and accuse him of
heresy. Say that it’s not lawful to pay
taxes, and the Herodians are going to be upset and accuse him of treason. Heresy or treason. Jesus is in a no-win situation.
Until he gives an answer that doesn’t satisfy either group, but also doesn’t
give them anything to accuse him on either.
We have this well-known scene where Jesus asks for a coin, points out
the image of the Emperor on the coin, and says, “Give to the emperor the things
that belong to the emperor, and give to God the things that belong to God.”
In other years when we’ve read this story, I’ve pointed out that ultimately
everything belongs to God. God is the
creator of all, and reigns over all of creation. Even the emperor is created in God’s image
and belongs to God – on that coin, the people are looking at an image of the
image of God. Our God is the King who
reigns over other kings, the Lord who rules over other Lords.
So in one sense, Jesus is giving a very orthodox answer. Since everything ultimately belongs to God,
we must give everything back to God. But
I want to take this story one step deeper and ask, what is the coinage of the
kingdom of God? Because I really don’t
think that a coin with an image of the Emperor is what is going to buy our way
into heaven.
I apologize to our treasurers and our church stewards, because I’m about to
talk about money in a way that isn’t helpful to church budgets. But I really don’t think that we are able to
buy favour with God through our Loonies and Toonies. Jesus tells all sorts of parables that point
out that material wealth isn’t what counts in God’s eyes; in fact, he warns us
not to store up treasure on earth but rather treasure in heaven. But that brings us back to the question –
what is the currency of heaven? How can
we store up treasure in the kingdom of heaven if we don’t even know what coins
are used there?
But I think that maybe Jesus has told us.
What has his ministry been about?
It’s been about healing people.
It’s been about lifting up the people who were downtrodden by
society. It’s been about feeding hungry
crowds. It’s been about pushing back
against oppressive authorities. It’s
been about building community where people share with one another and care for
one another. These are the things that
matter in the kingdom of God.
So we can give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s – we can give
all the gold and silver coins to the emperor because these things don’t matter
in God’s sight. What matters to God is
that we are doing justice, and loving kindness, and walking humbly on this
earth. I will concede to our treasurers
and church stewards that sometimes these things require money, so I’m not going
to advocate for cutting out the offering.
But ultimately, it is what we do with the resources entrusted to us that
matter. It is about using our resources
– our time, our talents, and yes, our treasure, to be agents of healing and
justice and love and mercy and goodness.
And may it be so. Amen.
A Roman coin
bearing the image of Tiberius Augustus,
Roman Emperor from
14-37 CE.
Image used with permission.
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