The dishonesty behind asking compromises any answer Jesus may have to the question

a Homily for Proper 24A  |  Text: Matthew  22:15-22

The Trap

This is not a story about taxes. This is a story about a trap that backfires. A trap set to deal with authority. And every time we go near the question of taxes, we spring the trap.

This trap is creative, devious, and very, very dangerous. And simple. Elegant. Like a mouse trap. It is a simple mechanism with a cunning purpose.

This trap they’ve set for Jesus is just as simple. Some disciples of the Pharisees and followers of King Herod set up a simple binary choice: either one thing or the other. Easy enough. Just answer the question, Jesus, we can almost hear them salivate like gotcha journalists. All we need is a yes or no. That’s it.

The elegance of their handiwork is found in how it guides Jesus into a trap: both paths lead to derision. So it is a false choice. If Jesus goes one way, he will be discredited as a false-prophet. If he goes the other way, he will be condemned as a traitor.

Jesus is their prey. They have set the trap so that there would be no way out. No way if Jesus follows their script. But he doesn’t. He lures them into their own trap.

The elements of the trap

This decision that the Pharisees and Herodians hope Jesus will make is about the Jewish relationship to their occupiers.

It is very important to remember that there is no separation of church and state for 1st Century Jews living in Jerusalem. Herod is their GOD-appointed king, even if he isn’t seen as a credible authority by many of his subjects. Nevertheless, GOD is responsible for this authority.

They also are living under occupation by Rome: an empire clearly not led by GOD. And worse, an empire that demands it’s emperor be worshipped as a god. Replacing, superseding, above their own GOD of Israel. The GOD that liberated them from Egypt, gave them a home, and gave them David. The GOD that saved them from Babylon and led them to build and rebuild the Temple. Their GOD, who is responsible for all things, is supposed to play second-fiddle to some guy with a lot of soldiers.

It would be very tempting to see separation here, and see Jesus’s response as prudent. We might hear

“give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s”

as if he actually said yes, pay your taxes. As if the second sentence were Your GOD will still love you if you are stuck doing what you have to do to survive. But he doesn’t say that. Because he is not really talking about taxes. Instead, he deals with that sense of separation. Can there even be things that are not GOD’s?

Running into the trap

The trap the disciples of the Pharisees and the servants of Herod set for Jesus goes off for us the second we try to deal with this question of taxes in precisely the way they intend Jesus to. In other words, when we read this text, get to the question about taxes and then say yeah, Jesus! What are we supposed to do about our taxes? When we ask it, we are at the same crossroads: are we asking because we want an honest response, or will we punish Jesus for the response we receive?

Our own problem, then is to deal with the expectation we have that Jesus presents a gospel that is easy. That Jesus’s teaching will lead us to simple solutions that dovetail nicely with the way the world already is: with the way we are used to doing things. Even with the things we’ve been taught in church.

Instead, we might follow Jesus’s example and turn into the challenge the way a driver turns into a skid. Stanley Hauerwas writes

“You know you have a problem, at least if you are a disciple of Jesus, when you do not have a problem.”

Ditching the trap

The trap set for Jesus was created out of dishonesty. These people try to butter up Jesus with flattery, calling him sincere and honest. They hear that he is supportive and impartial. So they want to trick him.

Jesus, on the other hand, deals with them directly and honestly. The Mennonite Pastor Michael Danner writes:

How do we answer dishonest questions? Honestly. That is what Jesus does. An honest answer to a dishonest question addresses the whole picture. It refuses to accept the ruse. It says, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?” Then it reveals. It uncovers. It lays bare.

And it does something else.

It creates space for an honest dialog to occur around a good question.

This story we’ve received of Jesus, a question, and a coin is, at its roots, about honesty. It is about the way we are together and how we approach each other. It is about respect and getting rid of our suspicion. It is about dealing with issues directly and openly. It is about relationship.

In a few moments, Jesus will be asked what the greatest commandment is. He is going to say it is exactly that: relationship. Love. Not abstract love, or the idea of love, but the love that we give to GOD and to our neighbors. Our greatest commandment is to be in a healthy relationship with GOD and one another.

It is only when we are honest with one another in healthy community that we can rehabilitate that really good question about taxes. That we can begin to address our own questions of financial health, our future, and living into our hopes and dreams.

May we continue to build those healthy relationships, may we build healthy space in this community and in our lives, and may we become open to honestly wrestling the hard questions of our faith.