¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said.¹⁶So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. ¹⁷Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ ¹⁸But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ ²¹They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ ²²When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.                                                                                                   Matthew 22:15-22

            The professional advisor is a growing vocation.  I typed in the word “Advisor” into a search engine on the internet and came up with 313 million relevant results.  There are financial advisors and sub specialties in that category related to debt, investment, and estate planning.  There are legal advisors and their sub specialties related to real estate, marriage, and corporate mergers.  There are political advisors, travel advisors, insurance advisors, and even spiritual advisors.  Most Christian books will use Jesus as the supreme advisor for a lot of these areas, but one area where he seems most referenced is that of Spiritual Advisor.  This is an area that we could find materials at any time during Jesus’ ministry, but nowhere more powerful than in the last week.

Jerusalem was a very spiritual place in Jesus’ day, but it was not a unified focus of spirituality.  There were Sadducees who focused on the Temple and worship that occurred there.  There were Pharisees and their sidekicks, the scribes, who were more about the Law of Moses and how carefully it was being observed.  There were Essenes who wanted to separate from the depraved society around them.  And there were the Zealots, militant nationalists who sought liberation from the oppressive Roman Empire.  They were ready for the Kingdom of God to be established on earth, particularly their spot on the earth.

Every year before Easter I am amazed at how quickly things turned for Jesus.  One Sunday morning he was walking down the road from Bethany to Jerusalem and thousands of people were cheering, “Hosanna!” and then just five days later the crowds were crying out, “Crucify him!”  Do you ever wonder how the tables turned so quickly?  I do.  As I look at the scriptures, I discover that it happened even more quickly than that.  In just one day, Jesus seemed to clarify to these leading groups, who the Messiah (the King) truly is, what his Kingdom looked like and what expectations there were for the subjects.  

For the next three Sundays we will look at Jesus’ advice dispensed to these spiritually charged groups.  The Sadducees, Pharisees, and Zealots were not an easy audience.  They had their own ideas about the King, the Kingdom, and the subjects.  They were people with a cause.  Most of us can identify with this aspect.  We are people with a cause, or perhaps causes.  We know what we like in worship and what we don’t like and are ready to stand up for it.  We know how we want our neighborhoods to look and are ready to stand up for it.  We know what our thoughts are about health care and are ready to stand up for it – or move to Costa Rica.  It is difficult, if not impossible, to be a person without a cause.  So before we demonize these groups of religious leaders, we may want to identify with them as people with a cause.  Then, and only then, we can heed the warning that is found in this section of scripture, Be careful not to confuse your cause for the Christ.  Be careful not to confuse your cause for the Christ.
 

Your cause can corrupt your means to an end.

Zealots were not mentioned in this passage.  In fact, they don’t get a lot of press in the Bible.  The group is only mentioned four times in the New Testament and each time is a variation of one reference, one of the disciples of Jesus is known as Simon the Zealot.  Matthew includes him in the list of the twelve in chapter 10 when Matthew himself is listed with a descriptive title – Tax Collector.  What a curious entourage Jesus had assembled.  Zealots were not all that fond of tax collectors.  At best, tax collectors were seen as minions of the evil and oppressive Roman Empire.  At worst, they were extortioners and ruthless thieves.  The Zealots were fairly prevalent in Jesus’ day and especially in Jerusalem.  They were always looking for some sign indicating that the time was right to strike down the occupying Roman army and establish an independent kingdom like they had back in David’s day.  Thirty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection the Zealots did revolt and got the attention of Rome who came into Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple.  The Zealots were not finished, however, they stormed and overthrew Masada, Herod’s fortress by the Dead Sea, where they remained for three years, despite multiple and significant attempts by the Roman army to regain control.  All this is an interesting study, but what does it have to do with the passage before us?

The Pharisees knew of this tension from the Zealots and if they could get the Zealots to abandon and perhaps even eliminate Jesus, they wouldn’t have to.  Matthew had already stated in the previous chapter that the Pharisees wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds.  Perhaps an inescapable dilemma would cool the crowd’s opinion of this prophet.  So they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians.  This is also an interesting alliance.  The Pharisees were actually somewhat sympathetic to the Zealots and their desire for a purified nation without Roman occupation.  The Herodians were the Tories of the day, supporting the existing structure.  Apparently, they subscribed to the maxim, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”  They approached Jesus with acknowledgment of his virtues – he was sincere, he taught the way of God with truth, he did not play favorites.  The literal reading of “you do not regard people with partiality” is “you do not look on the face of anyone”.  That is, Jesus was not swayed by outward appearances.  They were right about all of this, but this means of flattery to paint Jesus in a corner for the end of discrediting him was corrupt.  They finally got to the punch line, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?”  A simple “yes” or “no” would suffice.  It was like asking him if he stopped beating his disciples.  If he said, “Yes, it is lawful.” Then the Zealots would know that this is not their Messiah.  If he said, “No, it is against God’s law,” He would be arrested for treason.

Andrew Lloyd Webber picked up on this tension in his musical Jesus Christ Superstar where Simon the Zealot got his own solo.  Webber placed it just after the Palm Sunday celebration of Hosanna.  The people started singing, “Christ you know I love you.  Did you see I waved? I believe in you and God so tell me that I’m saved.”  This revealed the superficial allegiance that could turn in such a short period from shouts of acclamation to screams for execution.  Seeing the excitement of the crowd, Simon sings to Jesus, “There must be over fifty thousand, screaming love and more for you.  And every one of fifty thousand would do whatever you asked them to. Keep them yelling their devotion, but add a touch of hate at Rome. You will rise to a greater power. We will win ourselves a home. You'll get the power and the glory forever and ever and ever.” 

Jesus stops this musing over potential political revolution when he confronts his visitors as hypocrites wearing their masks of insincerity.  They acknowledged his virtues, but not to further his kingdom rather to undermine it.  He was aware of their malice, their desire to inflict injury.  Their cause had corrupted their means to an end. 

It is easy to happen.  It has happened to me more than once.  I am a strong believer in community, in particular Christ-centered community found in the church.  I think one way to achieve that is by doing things together – things like a church softball tournament.  Have you ever played in a church softball tournament?  I have – several.  They generally begin as a fun activity with laughter and horsing around.  Then there is always that competitive person who wants to win.  That person plays with a little more intensity and focus than others.  Inevitably there is a play at the plate that is going to be very close.  Granted the cause has shifted somewhere between third base and home plate.  It is gone from being an exercise for enhancing Christ-centered community to a competition to be won at all costs.  Just as the cause has been altered so too the means have been corrupted, actually becoming anti-community somewhere around the time that the collision occurs to dislodge the ball from the catcher’s mitt.  “Dude, it’s a church softball tournament!” cries the voice of reason.  Be careful not to confuse your cause for the Christ.

Of course, none of you would do that.  But you may have your own cause that would prompt you to level someone who disagrees with you.  I’m sure that you would not physically bowl them over, but you could be tempted to talk about them and discredit them.  That cause could actually corrupt your behavior toward another in order to further your cause.  Be careful not to confuse your cause for the Christ. It can corrupt your means to an end.
 

Your cause can obstruct your view of the Christ.

Jesus asked his inquisitors to show him one of the coins used to pay the tax.  They brought him a denarius, payment for one day’s work for a common laborer.  He looked at the petty coin upon which they had placed so much value and asked them, “Whose head is this and whose title?”  Literally, it could be translated, “Whose likeness is this and whose inscription?”  This is an important thing to be notice, because after Jesus instructed them about giving back to the emperor the things that belonged to the emperor, he insisted that they give back to God the things that are God’s.  So whose likeness is found in Jesus and whose inscription? God’s.  Immanuel, God with us, was with them, and they could not see it.  Their cause had obstructed their view of the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah.

Verse 22 informs us, “When they heard this they were amazed and they left him and went away.”  I have a feeling that more than the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians left him and went away.  I believe that the Essenes, who were separatists, and the Zealots, who were militant nationalists, left him as well.  I can almost hear the Zealots muttering, this is not my Messiah.  They had been so committed to their cause of bringing about the Kingdom of God, that they actually missed the King and his Kingdom.

In Webber’s musical, Jesus responds to the ambitions of Simon the Zealot by saying, “Neither you, Simon, nor the fifty thousand, nor the Romans, nor the Jews, nor Judas, nor the twelve, nor the priests, nor the scribes, nor doomed Jerusalem itself, understand what power is, understand what glory is, understand at all, understand at all..”  The disciples nearly missed it.  They were on their way to Jerusalem and arguing over which one of them was the greatest in the kingdom.  Their cause of self promotion obstructed their view of the Christ. 

It is easy to happen.  We are people of great causes.  We express them in political campaigns, church council meetings, backyard barbecues, and the kitchen table.  But heed the lesson to the Zealots.  Be careful not to confuse your cause for the Christ.

Is it possible to be a Zealot and be a Christian?  Yes, but it is very difficult.

Is it possible to be a Pharisee and be a Christian?  Yes, but it is very difficult.

Is it possible to be a Herodian and be a Christian?  Yes, but it is very difficult.

Is it possible to be a Sadducee and be a Christian?  Yes, but it is very difficult.

Is it possible to be a capitalist and be a Christian?  Yes, but it is very difficult.

Is it possible to be a socialist and be a Christian?  Yes, but it is very difficult.

Is it possible to be a communist and be a Christian?  Yes, but it is very difficult.

Is it possible to be a Democrat and be a Christian?  Yes, but it is very difficult.

Is it possible to be a Republican and be a Christian?  Yes, but it is very difficult.

Is it possible to be an environmentalist and be a Christian?  Yes, but it is very difficult.

Why is it so difficult?  Because it is easy to confuse our cause for the Christ.  When we do this the cause will corrupt our means toward the end and will obstruct our view of Christ.  Jesus provided some spiritual advice to the Zealots.  Be careful not to confuse your cause for the Christ. Amen.