“Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to Elohim the things that are Elohim’s.” (Mat 22:21)

I began part 1 of this “Render to Caesar …” series of articles by saying how troubling it is to me that people use a story or stories in the New Testament to trump what the clear teaching of Torah is. This next, much misused portion of Matthew picks up on just this thought and is found in Mat 12:15-21. It begins with this.

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle him [Yeshua] in his talk. And they sent to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do you care about anyone, for you do not regard the person of men. (Mat 22:15-16)

Who are these men that are coming to Yeshua? What do they have to gain by discrediting Yeshua and his message about Yehovah’s kingdom? Is it possible that their goal is to maintain their authority over men; to keep things the way they presently are? Yeshua is teaching about another kingdom where only Yehovah rules over men; these men want to preserve their authority over others. They have no love for their Roman conquers but they have no problem involving Caesar, a greater authority than them, to make Yeshua look bad, so they asked him this question.

Tell us, therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (Mat 22:17) Continue reading Render to Caesar … (2) →