Proper 24
Preaching
PREACHING MATTHEW'S GOSPEL
A Narrative Approach
The opening words of this week's text indicate a change of venue and actor. "Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said" (Matthew 22:15). The venue has changed. Matthew is no longer reporting stories of Jesus in answer to the question of the chief priests and elders concerning his authority: 21:23-27. For the past three weeks we have been dealing with Jesus' stories in response to this challenge. Now it is the Pharisees' turn to speak. The counter-attack is on. They hope to entangle Jesus in his own words. They hope to force Jesus to discredit himself publicly. Entrapment is the name of the game.
We begin in Matthew 22:15 a series of four dialogues in which entrapment is the paramount issue. In the minds of the opponents of Jesus, entrapment will hopefully come about through a series of questions that will be addressed to Jesus. The Pharisees ask if it is right to pay taxes to Caesar (this week's text). The Sadducees ask if there is such a thing as resurrection (Matthew 22:23-33). A lawyer of the Pharisees asks about the great commandment in the law (Matthew 22:34-40). Jesus counter-attacks the counter-attack by asking the Pharisees if the Messiah is the Son of David (Matthew 22:41-45).
Robert Smith asserts that the theme of these passages is Jesus' own radical love for God. "His oneness with God constitutes his authority, and his obedient and trusting love is a glorious example of the fruit God seeks."1
Of these four dialogues only this week's text and 22:32-40 (the question of the greatest commandment) are included in the Matthean lectionary. The question of the Sadducees concerning the resurrection is included in the lectionary for the Lukan year. Jesus' own question about the sonship of the Messiah is included in each of the synoptic gospels but is never appointed as a lectionary text.
Smith makes the following observation on these dialogues:
The words of Jesus throughout all these debates are certainly full of wit and intelligence, but intelligence and wit are at the service of holiness. Jesus is not just flexing his intellectual muscles. Burning in his words is the hard gemlike flame of his own love for God and for the will of God, and precisely that connection is the source of his authority.2
Homiletical Directions
This week's text is clearly a teaching opportunity for Jesus and for us. There are few if any stories in Matthew's Gospel which undergird this teaching of Jesus on rendering to Caesar and God. There are no Matthew stories to tell along with the textual story. So we teach. The standard commentaries will be helpful to us in properly understanding this word of Jesus. We will also want to refresh our memory on what it is that our particular denomination teaches on the subject of God and Caesar. The topic is important in an age when the relationship between state and church is debated from every side.
While there are probably no Matthean stories to tell with this text, we can tell stories from other sources which would help us to make Jesus' point. May whichever way you choose to work with this short story of Jesus help to equip your people to better understand their relationship to God and Caesar.
____________
1. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), p. 260.
2. Ibid., p. 262.
We begin in Matthew 22:15 a series of four dialogues in which entrapment is the paramount issue. In the minds of the opponents of Jesus, entrapment will hopefully come about through a series of questions that will be addressed to Jesus. The Pharisees ask if it is right to pay taxes to Caesar (this week's text). The Sadducees ask if there is such a thing as resurrection (Matthew 22:23-33). A lawyer of the Pharisees asks about the great commandment in the law (Matthew 22:34-40). Jesus counter-attacks the counter-attack by asking the Pharisees if the Messiah is the Son of David (Matthew 22:41-45).
Robert Smith asserts that the theme of these passages is Jesus' own radical love for God. "His oneness with God constitutes his authority, and his obedient and trusting love is a glorious example of the fruit God seeks."1
Of these four dialogues only this week's text and 22:32-40 (the question of the greatest commandment) are included in the Matthean lectionary. The question of the Sadducees concerning the resurrection is included in the lectionary for the Lukan year. Jesus' own question about the sonship of the Messiah is included in each of the synoptic gospels but is never appointed as a lectionary text.
Smith makes the following observation on these dialogues:
The words of Jesus throughout all these debates are certainly full of wit and intelligence, but intelligence and wit are at the service of holiness. Jesus is not just flexing his intellectual muscles. Burning in his words is the hard gemlike flame of his own love for God and for the will of God, and precisely that connection is the source of his authority.2
Homiletical Directions
This week's text is clearly a teaching opportunity for Jesus and for us. There are few if any stories in Matthew's Gospel which undergird this teaching of Jesus on rendering to Caesar and God. There are no Matthew stories to tell along with the textual story. So we teach. The standard commentaries will be helpful to us in properly understanding this word of Jesus. We will also want to refresh our memory on what it is that our particular denomination teaches on the subject of God and Caesar. The topic is important in an age when the relationship between state and church is debated from every side.
While there are probably no Matthean stories to tell with this text, we can tell stories from other sources which would help us to make Jesus' point. May whichever way you choose to work with this short story of Jesus help to equip your people to better understand their relationship to God and Caesar.
____________
1. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), p. 260.
2. Ibid., p. 262.
