Tribute to God – Matthew 22:15-22

I Cor 3:19 returns to mind with today's text in view. Proverbs 8:15-16 also is relevant to the situation at hand... “by me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just, by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly...” Our text displays the wisdom of Christ in deftly thwarting the hypocrite’s attempts to entangle Him. Instead He leaves them befuddled and demands they pay tribute to God. This exchange will eventually lead up to the most dramatic judgement language in the record as Christ pronounces 7 woes on factions of this type in Chap 23. This preacher tries not to make a habit of directly debunking misuses of various texts, but rather to focus most of our attention on the contextually verifiable merits of each passage, with the goal to equip the hearer to do his own debunking with exposition enhanced discernment. Today's message may contain an exception or two to this practice simply because of the all too common cherry picking of Mat 22:15-22 for ulterior motives. Modern sensibilities inflamed by political questions and tensions have forced this passage by stretching and twisting through the proof text juicer. Let us seek to understand it on its own terms...