Untitled Sermon (2)

Matthew 22:15 NBS

Alors les pharisiens allèrent tenir conseil sur les moyens de le prendre au piège en parole.

Matthew 22:15–22 NBS

Alors les pharisiens allèrent tenir conseil sur les moyens de le prendre au piège en parole.Ils envoient leurs disciples, avec les hérodiens, pour lui dire: Maître, nous savons que tu es franc et que tu enseignes la voie de Dieu en toute vérité, sans te soucier de personne, car tu ne regardes pas à l’apparence des gens.Dis-nous donc ce que tu en penses: est-il permis ou non de payer la capitation à César?Mais Jésus, qui connaissait leurs mauvaises intentions, répondit: Pourquoi me mettez-vous à l’épreuve, hypocrites?Montrez-moi la monnaie avec laquelle on paie la capitation. Ils lui présentèrent un denier.Il leur demande: De qui sont cette image et cette inscription?— De César, lui répondent-ils. Alors il leur dit: Rendez donc à César ce qui est à César, et à Dieu ce qui est à Dieu.Etonnés de ce qu’ils avaient entendu, ils le laissèrent et s’en allèrent.

T1

Opposition croissante...

envoi de disciples par les pharisiens

leur approche

leur hypocrisie

l ‘attitude du Maitre

Leçons à tirer

Pages 52–53

Dear Alan,

Sorry to disappoint you, but this is one passage where knowing some historical background is crucial.

First, remember that the question is actually a trap set for Jesus by the Pharisees and Herodians, not a sincere question about whether Jews (let alone Christians) should be upright tax-payers. How does the trap work? Well, if you read Josephus (Ant. 18.23; Wars 2.118; 7.410) you’ll see that some zealous Galileans had a motto, ‘No king but God’, and since paying taxes to Caesar meant recognizing him as king, paying taxes was in fact a type of blasphemy or cowardly betrayal of their religion. So when Jesus is asked about paying taxes to Caesar, he’s put in a Catch-22. If he says, ‘Yes, pay them’, Jesus will look like he’s compromised and sold out. If he says ‘No, don’t pay them’, then the Herodians can have him arrested on charges of sedition as forbidding the payment of taxes, which was an offence—precisely the claim they fabricated against Jesus at his trial (see Lk. 23:2).

Second, notice Jesus’ response: he doesn’t try to bluff his way through an answer. Instead, he requests a denarius, and asks, ‘Whose image and inscription are on it?’ (See attached image.) Now various coins were minted in Palestine, mostly without imperial images, usually with floral designs; only Pontius Pilate printed coins depicting pagan cultic utensils (see Kindler 1973, 37–8, 94–103). But this denarius is probably a Tiberian tribute penny which had on one side an ‘image’ of Tiberius’s bust with an inscription that read, ‘Son of the divine Augustus’; then on the other side it said ‘High priest’, accompanied by a depiction of Tiberius’s mother Livia posing as the goddess Roma. The rub is that if Caesar is ‘divine’, and if this is his image, then it is a violation of the second commandment (see Ex. 20:4; Dt. 5:8). In other words, Jesus is saying, you guys are carrying around pagan money which is an affront to our religion, so give the pagan king back his pagan money.

Third, perhaps there is even more to it. Perhaps Jesus is saying that Caesar should receive taxes because he should get EVERYTHING that he deserves, and he means everything! Much like how the father of Judas Maccabaeus could urge his fellow-Judeans to ‘Pay back the Gentiles in full’—by which he meant violent retribution (1 Macc. 2:68)! So, far from acquiescing to the view that Jews or Christians should pay taxes, Jesus is being subversive, affirming a critique of pagan power over Israel, and avoiding the trap set for him.

Now do you see the value of historical background knowledge?

The grace be with you

1 Wright, N. T., & Bird, M. F. (2019). The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians (pp. 52–53). London; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic; SPCK.

Pages 52–53

Matthew 22:21 NBS

— De César, lui répondent-ils. Alors il leur dit: Rendez donc à César ce qui est à César, et à Dieu ce qui est à Dieu.

Dear Alan,

Sorry to disappoint you, but this is one passage where knowing some historical background is crucial.

First, remember that the question is actually a trap set for Jesus by the Pharisees and Herodians, not a sincere question about whether Jews (let alone Christians) should be upright tax-payers. How does the trap work? Well, if you read Josephus (Ant. 18.23; Wars 2.118; 7.410) you’ll see that some zealous Galileans had a motto, ‘No king but God’, and since paying taxes to Caesar meant recognizing him as king, paying taxes was in fact a type of blasphemy or cowardly betrayal of their religion. So when Jesus is asked about paying taxes to Caesar, he’s put in a Catch-22. If he says, ‘Yes, pay them’, Jesus will look like he’s compromised and sold out. If he says ‘No, don’t pay them’, then the Herodians can have him arrested on charges of sedition as forbidding the payment of taxes, which was an offence—precisely the claim they fabricated against Jesus at his trial (see Lk. 23:2).

Second, notice Jesus’ response: he doesn’t try to bluff his way through an answer. Instead, he requests a denarius, and asks, ‘Whose image and inscription are on it?’ (See attached image.) Now various coins were minted in Palestine, mostly without imperial images, usually with floral designs; only Pontius Pilate printed coins depicting pagan cultic utensils (see Kindler 1973, 37–8, 94–103). But this denarius is probably a Tiberian tribute penny which had on one side an ‘image’ of Tiberius’s bust with an inscription that read, ‘Son of the divine Augustus’; then on the other side it said ‘High priest’, accompanied by a depiction of Tiberius’s mother Livia posing as the goddess Roma. The rub is that if Caesar is ‘divine’, and if this is his image, then it is a violation of the second commandment (see Ex. 20:4; Dt. 5:8). In other words, Jesus is saying, you guys are carrying around pagan money which is an affront to our religion, so give the pagan king back his pagan money.

Third, perhaps there is even more to it. Perhaps Jesus is saying that Caesar should receive taxes because he should get EVERYTHING that he deserves, and he means everything! Much like how the father of Judas Maccabaeus could urge his fellow-Judeans to ‘Pay back the Gentiles in full’—by which he meant violent retribution (1 Macc. 2:68)! So, far from acquiescing to the view that Jews or Christians should pay taxes, Jesus is being subversive, affirming a critique of pagan power over Israel, and avoiding the trap set for him.

Now do you see the value of historical background knowledge?

The grace be with you

1 Wright, N. T., & Bird, M. F. (2019). The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians (pp. 52–53). London; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic; SPCK.

Matt 22:23-32

T2

Approche des Sadducéens

toujours la même motivation: piéger Jésus

V29: aveuglés...et pour Moi? à méditer...

v 32 ; à méditer sue la nature de Dieu

résultats: les opposants, la foule, moi-même

Matthew 22:34–40 NBS

Les pharisiens apprirent qu’il avait réduit au silence les sadducéens. Ils se rassemblèrentet l’un d’eux, un spécialiste de la loi, lui posa cette question pour le mettre à l’épreuve:Maître, quel est le grand commandement de la loi?Il lui répondit: Tu aimeras le Seigneur, ton Dieu, de tout ton cœur, de toute ton âme et de toute ton intelligence.C’est là le grand commandement, le premier.Un second cependant lui est semblable: Tu aimeras ton prochain comme toi-même.De ces deux commandements dépendent toute la Loi et les Prophètes.

T3 Approche des

Pharisiens

Après avoir envoyé leurs disciples...c’est à leur tour

toujours la meme motivation

une question cruciale...

dans la suite Jésus passe à l’offensive....v41

Tout cela finira par le “Crucifie -le” au yeux des hommes mais victorieux sur le tentateur, le péché, et par la résurrection des morts sur la mort...et pour notre salut...

la réponse de Jésus qui la complète...

Matthew 22:33 NBS

Les foules qui écoutaient étaient ébahies de son enseignement.

Matthew 22:23–33 NBS

Le même jour, des sadducéens, qui disent qu’il n’y a pas de résurrection, vinrent l’interroger:Maître, Moïse a dit: Si quelqu’un meurt sans enfants, son frère épousera la veuve et suscitera une descendance au défunt.Or il y avait parmi nous sept frères. Le premier se maria et mourut, et comme il n’avait pas de descendance, il laissa sa femme à son frère.Il en fut de même du deuxième, puis du troisième, jusqu’au septième.Après eux tous, la femme mourut.A la résurrection, duquel des sept sera-t-elle donc la femme? Car tous l’ont eue!Jésus leur répondit: Vous vous égarez, parce que vous ne comprenez ni les Ecritures, ni la puissance de Dieu.Car, à la résurrection, on ne prend ni femme ni mari, mais on est comme des anges dans le ciel.Pour ce qui est de la résurrection des morts, n’avez-vous pas lu ce qui vous a été dit par Dieu:C’est moi qui suis le Dieu d’Abraham, le Dieu d’Isaac et le Dieu de Jacob. Il n’est pas le Dieu des morts, mais des vivants.Les foules qui écoutaient étaient ébahies de son enseignement.

T2